Stu's Fly Shop & Stu's Superior Flies

NZ Deadly Dry fly Month, Hi Viz Dry flies , The new improved Deadly Ninja Nymph, Stonefly , may fly nymph, Fly fishing fun clip

2012-02-23T18:56:00.000-08:00

THE WEATHER

In the last week the weather has been up and down .
A few of the days i was out guiding i had 5 layers of thermals on and a gortex jacket on top. The wind was bitterly cold.
Then about 2pm the sun came out and all the layers had to come off again. Its been the worst no constant weather for a February that i have known. Yesterday it rained for 18 hours!!

Stu's Deadly NZ Blow fly - Nails another monster!

THE RIVERS

18hrs of Rain- Matarua river Athol!

Today all the rivers are high and dirty- ok- dirty means high and chocolate brown- a few tail waters coming out of dams will be clear and the odd wee spring creek. But for most systems it will be a couple of days at least before they become fishable again. So the flows will soon be back to normal in a few days and all will be gin clear again and the fish will be looking for small and giant cheese burgers on the surface.

Stu's Deadly Barred Smelt Booby Flies

NEW DEADLY FLIES THAT YOU WILL LOVE USING!

The Superior range is gradually growing and getting better and better! The designs are getting more durable and realistic. The New Deadly Hi- Viz range focuses allot on white easy to see white calf hair sight posts.

NEW Heavy Durable- HOT ORANGE KILLER NYMPHS!

The Hooks - slight changes have been gradually made to the nymph range with even stronger wire TMC hooks being used and all chosen to give each fly the best hook up rate- just look at the clearance you have on Stu's Superior fly range compared to any others on the market- This can only be achieved by Stu being a pro fly tier and in charge of the Quality of his own Superior designs!

You will not find a better quality designed pulsating Bait fish design- Stu's deadly Minnow!! a must for every fly box.

THE CONDITION OF TROUT!

Nearly all the trout have been fat and healthy looking on all the Southland river systems that i guide on.
As usual many of the trout on the Oreti in the upper reaches are hot and exhausted looking especially the long skinny snake type ones found in the shallows along riffles! They are the old worn out trout of previous years.
Fish not sitting in the shallows are are healthy and fat looking and full of fight, although i have seen a few more marks on many of them where bad handling practice by some fishermen it could have only been.
Plus the Oreti in Feb is under allot of fishing pressure as everybody is looking for a big fish on a dry fly!
The rainbow trout that up to now have been in not so good condition are all back on form and are jumping out the water like crazy when hooked.

One of my clients trouts, a great condition southland willow grub feeding trout
Notice the way i,m holding it so that it looks like its 15lb!! :)

ORETI ! Pressure!

The other day i had a lovely client who always wishes me to guide him on his favourite river the Oreti.
Nowadays i hardly ever go there when guiding as it is getting allot of pressure. Sure enough i picked a great sunny no windy day for him and off we went. We went to 12 different access points before we found one that gave us only 1 klm of river to fish but it was better than nothing . we only managed to fish two riffles when some other fishermen came down on top of us. So we had to leave and go to another river.
OH! Bugger! i thought! well nobody owns the river- that can only be a good thing!
There seems to be some overseas guiding operation dropping clients off and not leaving any other fishermen any way of knowing that there are others in front of them, until they catch up with them - like poor Silvio (from the source dvd) got the other day which he was not too happy about!

Check out the Deadly Daddy(crane fly)

Which unless there is some system on the access for warning anglers ,it will always be that way! Maybe that's something for F&g to help with maybe a white board at each access- or better still a beat system extension would be the best option- especially if the cycle trail goes ahead down the banks of the river! Food for thought!

Thanks for your great support everyone and if you are not a supporter of Stu's fly shop- if you are reading this blog, my work! its about time you supported me and at least buy a little as i do need your support ! :) or tell a friend about my wee shop and work , get them to buy you something ! :) that's only if you are too miserable to spend your own money with me :)

I hope that made you all smile !! :)

Thanks for the comments and photos everybody! Remember and sign up for the Stu's News! Fun news letter out next week
Cheers
Stu

NZ & Australia Willow Grub trout feeding Frenzy- Stu's Deadly Blow fly- NZ river report, Southland fly fishing fishing report

2012-02-15T00:29:00.000-08:00

Hello !
As you all know by now, Its the busiest time in the year for me and this month i,m booked out with guiding , NZ fly fishing schools and casting lessons.
But i have some great friends helping me for the past few weeks and keeping everybody coming in to the shop happy and entertained.
As well as answering all the phone calls and some of the emails from all my great customers.
Nothing has stopped every-order going out that day thanks to me getting up very early and into the office and more so my awesome little helpers- More about the dream team later- AKA- Dad , Ela and Mum !!

NEW IN STOCK CHARTREUSE FLOATING GRUBS!

THE SHOP-

The shop has just started to tick again with passionate fishermen from all over the world. Some of the old faces have returned again with reports of great fishing throughout NZ.
A few fishing club groups have been staying around the area and using the Garston pub as a base- Good food, beer,wine and trout!! what more could the guys ask for!

THE WEATHER-

AH! It was for the past few weeks its been up and down a bit- long fine hot Feb,spells have still not arrived. Every other day we have had low cloud and no wind!
At least once or twice a week- we have also had sunny days and as soon as we do usually on the second sunny hot day the bugs start to fly and fall on the water and the fishing gets easier.
The forecast for the next week after a few sunny days looks like no real sun overcast with some rain, Normally Feb, its long hot fine spells!

THE RIVERS

All the rivers are clear and sexy.
Some of the smaller streams are running but after the 2 month drought earlier in the year, the trout population in these has been severely knocked around, best to stick to the main river systems for the chance of success.

WHATS HATCHING!
Pretty much , due to the slightly crazy weather and temperatures- Everything seems to be hatching and happening at once. Yesterday guiding on the waters surface in the space of one hour- i watched - Blowflies,willow grubs, spent spinners and mayfly duns going past me.
On the odd hot day the grass and river banks are load with the shrill of cicadas, but i still have to see them on the water, the fish down this way are still not regularly recognising them as a good food source- they seem to be later than normal hatching down this way.

64 WILLOW GRUB TROUT- FRENZY!

Over the past few weeks i have had the usual awesome fun passionate clients , We have been having a ball on willow grubbing trout with 64 trout fooled into eating grub imitations.!

Its been so much fun to introduce my clients to this amazing hatch in In NZ. This year the willow trees are covered more than normal with the brown small homes of these little grubs and boy have they been hatching.

Black nz deadly blowfly, with various Stu's Superior grubs!

For many of my clients its all about the challenge of fooling willow grubbing trout with very fine tippet , fine strong size 18 tiemco fly hooks and very accurate casting. Some of my clients have caught many huge trout, but when they fool a willow grubbing trout with a willow grub imitation - its worth 10 big trout they tell me.
Most of the trout that i see feeding and that get caught on grubs are in the 1-3lb class and for me 3-5lb brown on a grub is a real trophy- On saying that- any trout on a grub for most is a trophy!! and the ultimate!

Everyday i will loose about 20 flies when willow grubbing with clients as even with the best casters they will be casting into gaps in the willow tree branches and with some many branches in the path of the flies , flies will end up being lost- but at the end of the day that is where the trout are , and sacrifices of flies to the branches have to be made! or my clients will not be in the grub zone!
So if your reading this and want to experience the willow grubbing addiction get in amongst the willows.

WILLOW GRUB FLIES & WILLOW GRUB RIGS

Some of the secrets!

MY first choice is my foam one on a 10 inch length of 3.5 Rio fluroflex plus attached to the bend of the hook on a NZ hi-viz deadly blowfly -black-size 12- The deadly blowfly acts as an indicator as to where your wee foam grub is. I always put float-ant on both flies to help repel any water and keep them sitting as they should in the surface film.
Then the cdc design floated in the surface, then the cdc willow with the cdc cut off ,so that it sinks beneath my deadly blow fly.
Other times if the water is fast or the fish down deeper who i think have been feeding on drowned grubs in the water column. i will use the brighter heavier HOT killer nymphs in yellow, chartreuse and green.
Or the standard killer nymph in yellow or insect green always suspend bellow a NZ hi hiz deadly blowfly.

Happy Grubbing! CLIENT COMMENT!

Thanks again for a great day out fishing! Your willow grub flies are working well on the browns down here in the lower Mataura when I can find any of them. Now if I could just figure out how to get them to bite during that evening 'mad Mataura rise' I'd be in business!

Thanks.

LARS - NZ

The New awesome strike indicator pack

Oh i forgot to mention the new strike indicator tool that has been selling very well - comes in a small pack with spare tubing and two different samples of the indicator wool i would say enough for about a months of fishing. The packs of spare tubing and indicator wool can be bought separately as well on my site.

Thanks you all for supporting Stu's fly shop - Without your support and comments it would never happen!
Cheers
Stu

RISE FLY FISHING FILM TOUR,NZ TROUT,NEW STRIKE INDICATOR, BACK YARD IN NOWHERE, CICADAS, MAY FLIES

2012-01-31T13:56:00.000-08:00

THE RIVERS AND LAKES

At last we had rain after two months, which raised the levels of all the rivers , pretty rapidly again. Now they have all receded and are now all flowing at good levels. But yesterday i just heard that the lower Mataura was still dirty, but even maybe today it will be clear.

Another well condition fish caught on a superior nymph from one of the main rivers.

So basically they are all gin clear and fish able, allot of the smaller streams although looking good now, will be a waste of time fishing as they all basically dried up and fish died and others fled down stream to the mid reaches of the flowing main rivers.

THE LINKS -
At last the links on my blog are working, tanks to some help. :) So you can now click away and go to pastures new and exciting!

WEATHER!

Yesterday ! there was 140klm hr winds!! today is forecast some rain, then the summer looks like kicking back in and there are rows of little sun shine emblems on the weather forecast. For the shop yesterday was a good day at last, with fishermen coming in all day -to complain about the weather and doing some shopping, so i am afraid to say - sometimes i like crap weather- as it helps the retail side!- plus i was not guiding :) .

The down fall though was i had a casting lesson in the casting area at the shop, needless to say ,my client was soon learning how to cast into the wind much earlier than most. But it was a struggle with the wind and at one time i nearly called it off- But hey my client - reminded me its only weather!!!

First light from my office window in Athol the sun is trying!

FISHER FOLKS & GUIDING

For most of the season, there has not been many people around fishermen and general tourist.Having the shop i get to know this and foot traffic this year is down about 30%. Which may not be good for the shop ,but the fishing has been great with many rivers receiving not much pressure compared to other years. February is always a great month for fishing and a busy one for the guiding side , Basically i,m booked out for guiding and fly fishing schools for Feb ,but have plenty of dates in March and April. I can tell that this means there will be allot of fishermen around in FEB and nearly all the guides i know are also booked out. This does not mean that the fishing will be no good- it may mean your usual spot has been fished or taken ,but as i we all know the fish will still be there and they have to feed , you may have to increase your knowledge and skill level to get them - but be positive and you will- fish with confidence.

Tom After missing his plane in London!!! it was worth it!

Why is FEB so busy- At a guess i would have to say the reason is that its normally hot and water levels are getting low and clear and there will be big dry fly stuff on the go.

WHAT FOOD SOURCE WILL BE AROUND IN FEB!!

At the moment , with the water cooling down after the rains, has been washing down and getting the mayflies active.
The fish have nearly all been nymphing and most of my clients have been nailing trout on the tandem rig of a NZ mayfly bomb and a king pogo nymph with an indicator above.
For fish just beneath the surface a deadly blow fly with a NZ realistic brown size 18 nymph below seems to work most times.
Reports have also been coming in of small hatches down south, most fish getting caught on the very small size 18 extra hi-viz grey parachute mayfly. I,m watching more and more fishermen buying these smaller sized parachutes nowadays here for success.
The cicadas have been chirping like crazy and are sure to start next week looking at the new found summer coming. They are in full swing in the north island and at the top of the south island, a small glimmer of them in the central area.
A few fish despite the colder temp of the water have been willow grubbing, but most of them switched back to nymphs after the rain. They should as the water clears and warms up next week start to look sky wards for the tasty little morsels.
Just before the rains i had one client get 17 hook ups on my little floating willow grub , i,m pretty sure where we were fishing the fish had not seen an imitation and did not hesitate in eating them provided they were presented right. Yet 3 days later on another river we had two fish grubbing and had no success.

The-it was worth it- face! Go the king pogo!

Tam , one of the funniest, passionate fly guys i guide returned for some guiding and hook some nice trout and lost many more., that is after he fell over twice just getting to the river on the first day and lost his rental car key, but after the big panic and worry of the lost key -we found it!!! YES it was in the boot lock all along- boy did we laugh- the joys of being human!

RISE FLY FISHING FILM FESTIVAL- Huge in Europe!

If you are in Euro ,NZ or Australia, i advise you to get your tickets soon for the ever in demand seats at Nick Reygaret awesome fly fishing film festival.
He has for the last 9 yrs (wow) been working like a crazy man , making fly fishing films(check out the trailer for his new Hatch dvd on the rise link) and setting up in Europe his Rise fly fishing festival and its just getting bigger and bigger- for example this year Poland has been added with 3 shows scheduled to play, 6 shows in Germany etc.
There are many others popping up in the world - but only the one big American tour and Rise ,have the best films, so not to be disappointed in your night out watching the best new fish porn available, make sure you go to the shows run the main guys and support them after all the years and hard work they have put into giving you that yearly event to look forward too and meet heaps of other like minded people.

NEW STRIKE INDICATOR AVAILABLE

You will all love this easy to use Nz indicator system thats easy to adjust and does not kink the leader!

You will all need and want one of these! the best indicator on the market and new for 2012!! Check them out - click here

COMMENTS

Hi Stu,

It was me that popped by, so great to meet you in person. Loved the shop! Best I have come across and a far cry from the usual boring monotonous shite!

Joe- Australia

Hi Stu.

The flies arrived yesterday.

The look great and I'm extremely pleased with them. Just gotta put them in front of a few fish and all will be sweet.

Thanks for the great service

Cheers

Ross

Check out the largest range of the best fly fishing dvds in NZ & Australia
From past to present.

THE REAL WAY TO LAND A HUGE TROUT!!
Watch this clip and do not give up! watch it to the end and you will realise why- who needs a reel or a rod!!! and you will go wow! click here

Due to my work its looking like this blog will have to be every two weeks for this month, but i will try and do it weekly.

Thank you all for your great support and very kind comments , please keep it all coming. Watch out for the new designs

Happy fishing.
Cheers
Stu

NZ DEADLY BLOWFLY,SUICIDE BROWN TROUT, DYING TROUT, FFF MCI STEFAN, FLOODING RIVERS,

2012-01-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

NEW SUPERIOR FLIES

YES!! I am about to add some New fly designs and sizes to the site, I,m sure you will like my Stu's Elk Hair Caddis, that with my use of a foam body floats much better than a standard one- great as indicator flies as well- on Tiemco large gaped strong fly hooks as well!! and smaller NZ Deadly Blow flies.

A Trophy Trout! Caught on a Stu,s NZ Deadly Blowfly! Again!

NEW DVDS

This week i should be receiving some more DVD's in so - Check them out as well, Connect dvd is still the best seller at the moment.

THE DESERT!

For nearly two months in Northern Southland we had no rain, we normally get the rain over late Dec or early Jan , but it never came. The ground was as hard as rocks and there was not much grazing for the farm animals.

Many rivers had started to dry up , especially the small tributaries, with fish and game rescuing trout stuck in pools on dried up rivers, Everyday people were coming into the shop with stories of dead trout in the small streams. All the major rivers were still holding up like the mataura, but very low up to 80% lower flows than normal. It was not looking good.

Derek had a water proof jacket- but turned it into a fly patch!!

THE RAINS- RIVER DANGERS!

Then last week the wet stuff came from the heavens and the hard ground struggled to soak up the water. So the rivers all came up dramatically. Some within 4 hrs came up nearly 3 mtrs. They were all chocolate brown .

We just made it across- thanxs to the kind NZ farmer!

I had a half day guiding on the Friday this happened and as the Main matarua river was coloring up and too dirty to fish, we crossed it to fish another small river. As i was guiding and near the end of the day, the local farmer i know saw me and raced over on his Quad and told me and my client that we better get back across the river asp and use his mobile sheep bridge as the river was raging now and he was about to pull the bridge away as its on wheels before it got swept down stream.

This is in a way a bit of a warning to others ,especially no locals , if you are anywhere in NZ fishing, and the river starts to rise make sure you are on the correct side for getting home and do not try and cross a raging river- the owner of the land behind my shop did that and drowned a few years ago and he should have known better!! So be careful.

As well as the rain !! yes there was Snow as well- but it has all melted now- NZ weather- be prepared at all times!!

WILLOW GRUBS BEFORE THE RAINS!!

Just before the rains, the willow grubs were falling just like rain drops and when the heat of the day came,. The Large browns would come to the surface for the feast.

The only time we nailed the trout was when i had a client with very good accuracy and dead drift presentation with the imitations , something to remember when targeting willow grub feeders!! and i also notice unless the fist cast and offering was on the money the game we play was over pretty quickly , with the trout knowing that something was just not right with every other cast!

The Fish that were not on Grubs were also coming up for the new smaller size 12 NZ Deadly blowfly that i just added last week to the web shop.

SUICDE TROUT!!

The past few days i have been guiding and the rivers were all clearing in southland and the fish were pretty much on the munch big time. With good numbers of trout taking the flies every day.

I tried the good old red worm fly in the slightly dirty clearing water to some trout , but not even a sniff! yet at the start of the season with a fresh - they can work well. That was another interesting learning curve this week. But the fly that was nailing them big time was size 18 King pogo tied off the back of a NZ May Fly bomb with a small yarn indicator above. I tried other small nymphs but this was by far the money fly .

The rivers are dropping quickly and today all are gin clear again.

So it will deadly blow fly and willow grub time again soon.

Dylan- Fishing with a brown Stu's NZ mayfly nymph size 18 in rising water!!

Just before the rains in the evening there were thousands of brown beetles hatching on dark and into the night, One farmer on a river further down south was nailing some big trout on my brown beetle , early in the mornings while the trout were still focused on the beetle silhouette as a food source.

LEARNING MORE FLY CASTING STUFF!

At the moment I have the Casting Guru (FFF MCI- gold medal winner etc)from SWEDEN staying with me , Stefan Gangreenfoot. Who has a infected foot so for a jam sandwich with lots of salt on in has been helping me with stuff. I have also just hired him for a personal fly fishing school- as there is so much to learn ! and i don't know it all. But i will tell you more about what we got up too another time. But apart from working with another Casting teaching nut which has and is awesome- I,m sure he has poisoned my poor pet gold fish - i think he has been washing his feet in the tank!!! 2 dead two to go :(.

Catch you all later and please keep SUPPORTING THE SHOP- as this shop is the REAL DEAL !!! and not a big commercial thing! just PASSION!- BUT ! i do need you all to shop with me for it to survive!

Cheers

Stu

Willow Grubs in NZ Fly news, Felt soled boots & Simms,New Superior Fly Floatant, Mouse eating fish photo, Santa goes fly fishing in Summer

2011-12-29T11:59:00.000-08:00

January 2012
I,m about to get a wee bit busy with some fly fishing schools and some guiding for Jan so i,m writing this blog today the 30th of Dec. OH! In my news letter Chris D did not eat any of the willow grubs(that would be dangerous kids) and Miserable Mark my client- Laughed so much and had so much fun when i was guiding him- i decided to call him Miserable Mark- This is for those that do not get my Humor in the Jan news letter!! :)- if that is what its called! Remember if you did not get the latest January Stu's News- You NEED to sign up for it!!-(on the front page of the web site)

well over 9yrs to perfect!! One of my Goals in Fly Design- yet so simple.

The weather-
For the past two weeks its been like the February Summers , No wind and scorching hot! Every other day they forecast rain but it never happens. There is a big water shortage here at the moment, if we dont get rain soon- the farmers will this year be stopped by Environment southland (as they now have triggers on the rivers) from pulling water from the rivers for irrigation! Which can only be a good thing for the future of our waterways.
As you may know i,m on rain-tank water and i nearly have run out- But my neighbor SUPER Kev(a man who can fix anything) has come to the rescue and we have got a bore in my garden working again! So now the tank is full again and i can now try and water the back section to get that grass i have been trying to grow happening- mind you this is now my second attempt at sowing the seed etc. Some how i,m better at growing weeds than grass.
Looking at the long range forecast though it looks like wind and a bit of rain coming for January.

Its Christmas yet! The decorations are melting! Summer is early
Here is a photo of Santa having a laugh!

THE RIVERS & LAKES

All the rivers and lakes are dropping quite quickly and getting low and clear. With already in the upper reaches of some river systems some fish are getting trapped in pools.
When the rivers drop like this there is only one place for the fish to go and thats down stream , so now you will find higher numbers of trout in the middle reaches of most systems.

With Fish this Fat! there has to be Mice around!

JANUARY TROUT FOOD & FLIES

In the shop and on the banks of most rivers - Blow flies are abundant from small to very large. my Deadly Blowfly with a size 18 killer or nz grey mayfly nymph seems to be allot of peoples go to trout catching rigs at the moment.
One of my clients caught a trout last week on a Cicada- but although they are chirping - its still not the go to fly.
In the riffles- a mayfly bomb with a king pogo is pretty lethal - the floating king pogo nymph just dances in the water column, above the stones.
As for the Larvae of the saw fly the willow grubs in this heat are falling from the trees- with everyday people coming in for dozens of my willow grub pattern. Accurate casting, drag free and fine 3.5lb Rio fluro is the key with this pattern- See my news letter this month for all the gory details!

Stu's NZ killer as a dropper works yet again on the west coast!

AWESOME SUPERIOR FLY COMMENTS

"How cool could you make a fly fishing shop at the bottom of the world?"

cheers

Lewis- UK

"Got your package today. Flies look amazing, can't wait to try them."

See you in Feb.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Dorian- Singapore

"Hi Stu,just had a 8 days in nz and all the flies went well-especially the grey active nymph.will try your new 'hot' nymphs",

Ross,thanks.- Australia

Really appreciate your tying and techniques, they are quite revolutionary! I had seen an article on your flies in Aus/NZ Flyfisher (#9) and I’ve noticed in some of your flies I’ve seen (Mayfly Bomb, World’s Deadliest Nymph, etc) that there is a legging material you attach to your thoraxes that I do not recognize. If I may ask, what is this material and where can I get some of these legs?

Thanks,

scott clifford- NZ

What a year its been again, with so much happening in the world and at the shop. New fly designs and now my move into my own branded products. Just like my flies i will never sell you guys anything that is of poor quality. A years of research has resulted in me working with another in producing the new superior quality range of floatant and fantastic new line cleaner.

The New Superior Product Range! Check out the cheap prices!

SIMMS BRINGS BACK FELT SOLED BOOTS

Yes - felt soled boots are banned in NZ. I also hear they are this year about to be banned Alaska! Yes the guys that turned the wading boot world on its head announcing they for environmental issues would stop producing felt soled boots, with many of the other companies saying they would follow suit- Have reneged in what they have said - as they still have demand for them and can make heaps of money! So it does make me wonder! How much money do some need!
I personally think felt sole boots are a vector for spreading many different invasive species- as i know from experience they are very hard to clean and penetrate the sole with cleaning agents!!! Just some Stu Thoughts!! :)

Check out the new Superior line cleaner and accelerator- after treating your line with this new formula - it will float and shot much better , and last much longer!!

I Wish all of you the best for 2012 and may you and all your Keep friends Supporting Stu's Fly Shop for another year. Hopefully you still in 2012. You will like my new designs and news letters etc.

Happy New Year!
Cheers
Stu - "driven by sheer passion and living the dream"

Merry Christmas, Mice in the NZ beach forest,NZ fly fishing Guides, Manuka beetles, Stu's Superior flies,

2011-12-17T13:24:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS- TO ALL -THAT READ MY BLOG AND THE MILLIONS THAT DONT!!!! :)

Make sure you let all the millions, know about this blog and Stu's fly shop- so they can support Stu's fly shop , that has more passion than a 60yr old man after taking Viagra! thats that wee pill they say makes your willy stand to attention!

This happy guide from Montana- knows the benefits of using Stu's Superior flies!!

THE - SHOP- OPEN WHEN !

Hey guys and girls ,you will have to bear with me this year- so no more death threats if you turn up and i have had to work else where, please., as the shop has been quieter than normal- so if i have guiding i have to shut the shop as there is not enough funds for wages for staff.

But do not worry help is coming in a tartan KILT!!

If you want to contact the best way is to email me and i,ll do my best to get back to you asap.

TERRESTRIAL TIME

! Stu's Deadly Blow fly with a killer nymph as a dropper is working a treat, although many big trout seem to be taking the Deadly blow fly- !! Manuka beetles are also floating down the backcountry rivers , although hard to see sometimes- believe me the fish in some areas are very keyed into these metallic morsels.

A deadly blow fly victim! on a spring creek! Honest i have seen this fisherman smiling before, he does not always look that serious!! but hey those sand flies!

A NICE COMMENT

Thanks very much for the fantastic new fly patterns. They are beautiful and look just too good to use. The little tags really show that they are special.

They also came in "Stu's Superior packaging" it's almost man-proof! : )

That Blowfly is the best looking blowfly I've ever seen. Ticks all my boxes, sight post, profile, buoyancy, a real winner, it's even got Stu's trademark legs!

I also like the killer nymphs, slim profile, quick sink, legs, another great pattern. I'd present these to any trophy fish no worries.

You have a great eye for catching the essence of a fly and creating an abstraction that using appropriate new 'techy' materials.

Martin Simpson- - NZ

THE RIVERS

All the rivers are either at normal flow ,but are dropping, so we need some rain, plus i need some rain for my water tank and my bad attempt at growing a new lawn.

So the rivers are gin clear and the trout are all starting to look up for terrestrials. This does not mean that you still will not have fun with nymphs as remember about 90% of a trouts food comes from under the surface!!

I have heard a few reports in the Fiordland area of people getting to rivers on the other side of the lake to find others already there. I suppose its always a gamble when you go to any spot that others may be there or have been the day before. Usually most people can sort it out and all have some water, in some river systems you do not need too much water to have a fun day. But for some i ask myself what is a fun day! - lots of fish! , no people, meeting lots of people! eating the lunch that your partner made for you on the river bank!? - just some Stu thoughts ;)

Pretty awesome imitations!

I few people have come through the shop that have walked up the greenstone river and have commented how many fish they caught and lost , all mainly on Manuka beetles and blowflies.

MICE!! IN THE BEACH FOREST!

There seems to quite a few mice around in the Glenorchy area , with many folks telling me they are running all over the place in the day ,when they have been doing say the Routeburn walk. This Means that at night there will be even more falling into the rivers,lakes and swimming across . Soon the trout will key onto these swimming cheese burgers.

A local fishing club did there annual outing to Mavora lakes and fished into the night with mouse patterns with the largest trout being caught - weighing in at 8 1/2 pounds.

Question- are these nymphs!

Remember i have two sizes of deer hair mouse flies available on Tmc bass hooks, if needed.

SAGE REELS

- For those that are waiting i should have these in this week and also some more fishpond gear. Also in stock with only a few left are- women in waders calendars 2012 , connect dvd and a few models of the Sage ONE fly rod as well as heaps of other cool sexy gear!

CHOOSING A GUIDES- DO YOUR HOME WORK!!

If you are coming to NZ and getting a guide do your home work.

At this time of year the yellow bloom of Gorse and Broom is intense!

Every year i hear of guides turning up without any flies,tippet or leaders when guiding some clients. One even managed to forget fly rods. Remember anyone can be a guide in NZ - or say they are- there are no laws, guides license etc- so if you looking for any guides, do your own home work, sometimes its best not to go on what some one else says, do not be disappointed with using a guide- a good guide will assist you in catching nz trout and becoming a better angler as well as having a bit of fun! and if that all fails - you will still have to pay him!

Have a fun time during the Festive season!

Cheers

Stu

Movember,Water beetle fly design,Nz brown trout, Orange fly line and Pink fly rod

2011-12-04T17:39:00.000-08:00

A still water/back water deadly pattern! The water beetle

As you all know the rivers have been up and down , dirty and clear all season.
But now i can officially confirm that all the waterways that i know are running gin clear, Maybe with a few in the deeper pools still having that cloudy snow melt color.

WATER BEETLES
When the waters were dirty , i sent a few folks off to some lakes , who also had some fun using the water beetle pattern. Usually i have a 10ft trout leader and tie on about 2 ft of fluro 5lb tippet. Spot my target and cast well in-front of it as it nears the fly i give it a wee twitch and 9 times out of ten they nail it. You normally do not feel the fish as they can inhale and spit it all so quickly , watch for the white of there mouth or a tell tale trout feeding move and lift the rod.

Clear water- all round for December!!

Movember has just gone past and i,m not sure that all of you know . All over the world people mainly guys grow facial hair(although some women manage well) :). To raise money for prostate cancer and depression. This year the local cafe organized the event Movember Athol.
About 20 males from around the area , entered the comp as there was a big cabbage to be won for the best Mustache.
I gave it a crack and on the final day of judging we all lined up and got out facial hair judged by some lady judges.
I did not win the cabbage and it was a nice big one as well on a wooden plaque. But between us all we had a laugh , and managed to rasie over $8oo nz for a very good cause. So if you can next year do your best to raise some money and have some fun for Movember. :)

Two weeks into Movember and the facial hair growing, This trout could not resist kissing this french man!

Connect the dvd ,that i had held up in customs for some time , has arrived and is now shipping for Xmass.

ANOTHER VULGAR JOKE PLEASE DO NOT READ!

I woke up this morning, got dressed and went in the kitchen where my wife was already fixing breakfast.

I looked to see what she was cooking, and I see one of my socks in the frying pan."What are you doing?" I asked her.

"I'm doing what you asked me to do last night when you came to bed very drunk," she replied.

Completely puzzled, I walked away thinking to myself........"I don't remember asking her to cook my sock."!!

Thank you for all your awesome support everybody

Cheers

Stu

Red Hot Killer nymphs, fly casting lessons, Mataura river dirty,New fly designs coming!

2011-11-21T23:14:00.000-08:00

One day late!!
Sorry- flat stick here guys and i may have to start doing this blog once every two weeks! so not to disappoint you and keep you all amused :)

In two days time without any rain it may be clear enough

Mataura river
Yes the might Mataura river has blown out again and nearly every other river and stream in Southland and other areas due to some big 24hr rains we got at the weekend.
I was lucky to be out guiding two lovely Scottish guys on Sunday and we managed to get 10 fish to eat the flies and landed 5 of them. They also managed to get plenty tangles- but where quick to remind me they are called Fankles in Scotland- But i,m sure i never got any of them things when i was fishing in Scotland!! :)

From the car window on my morning river check

Interesting though they had fished by themselves the first day of arriving and caught nothing but spotted heaps.
After guiding them on a southland river i found out the next day in the shop that another group of anglers , that i had guided before on the same river and had success,were just above where we were fishing and had got skunked.
So that goes to show for me and anybody else that guides and has used guides in the past, what the actual guide must do when he is out there assisting other fishermen, which is sometimes well overlooked by some clients, until they go out alone!!
I always say to my clients its not about catching fish with me - its about all of us learning from each other and becoming more efficient at our fishing/guiding and having fun out there doing it! :)

Hot Red Killer Nymphs On Fire

Red Hot Killers the go to fly!

So what flies were the go for my clients recently- Well it was the Hot red Killer nymphs nearly every time ,with a couple of nice browns also falling for the NZ creeper pattern.
Maybe the hot red killers were working ,due to the floods and the amount of earth worms that may have been washed down!! But hey at the end who cares! ,because the fish have been nailing them ,big time. The smaller sizes in the riffles and the larger sizes in the deeper pools and runs, seems to be the norm.

FISHPOND, ROD AND REEL CASE!
I just also got some more Fishpond gear in and i can recommend the Dakota rod and reel case , to you all.
It is great to store all your gear in and is well made and sexy to boot!

If you have more than one rod and reel and are feed up searching for all your gear - this is the awnser- i have been using my one for nearly two years and its magic- Xmas is coming to be quick i at the moment have limited stock!

DUTY AND CUSTOMS
Customs seem to be stopping every package being brought into NZ and demanding duty and clearance fees, which does not help trying to keep all my prices as low as i can.
Last week they stopped two of my orders which has delayed my Connect dvd orders going out, but any day now they should arrive, so if you wish one of the best new DVDS , order it now.

The fishpond Wasatch Top selling vest/pack in stock

A SUCCESSFUL DAY

Today i spent most of the day running a fly fishing school for a client, He was a very quick learner so at the end of the day we went out for a fish and we managed to land a nice Mataura brown from the edge of a pool in clear water. Which was awesome for Peter and myself.
Tomorrow we are out all day in pursuit of things with fins and its looking like Mavora lakes sort of direction ,in search of clear water. Best i get some small water boatmen in my box for some lake edge stalking!! and then straight to bed. :)

You all have a great week and thanks again for your orders and comments! Awesome!
Cheers
Stu

Oreti river,Huge Mayfly Dvd, Brown beetles hatch in New Zealand, Stu's Bionic brown Beetle

2011-11-13T10:22:00.000-08:00

MAINLY BROWNS IN SOUTHLAND
At the moment the shop is still very quite , but a few more fishermen mainly from Australia are starting to pop in .

Get your brown beetles ready- Check out Stu's Beetles!!

A few guides from other areas have been on tour with a few fishermen ,who have stopped in for some flies mainly, have been getting a few nice browns in the 4lb range. they mainly are after. Rainbows seem to always be second choice down this way.

THE RIVER CONDITIONS
The river in the area at the moment because of the rain and hot sunny days have a little color too them mainly from the snow melt and unless the fish are out on the sides feeding spotting them can be difficult. So its best to sometimes using a double nymph rig and indicator to fish all the likely looking water.

The Big fence goes up to stop tourists walking into my house!

THE UPPER ORETI- TRAFFIC JAM
I just had a good friend stay with me from overseas who went to the upper Oreti yesterday on all the access points there was cars, he spoke to a few fishermen gearing up ,who were mainly from Australia who said they were also struggling to find a spot to fish. He then went to the very last access and there was 4 cars and no notes on them -or cards in the windows. He decided to fish up stream for a while and then got back to his vehicle and met two other vehicles pulling up with fishermen moaning that it was full of fishermen- Well i said to him it was Sunday and good weather and it was the Oreti !!!

BLISTERED HANDS WHAT A WHIMP!

A bit of raking and grass seed to sow

Its been slightly chaotic at the moment with getting the grounds done , but in a way i,m nearly there, with some huge days well into the dark ,with blistered rake hands. The fences are up gates re-hung and gravel is down though. The grass seed i have also just sown and now i just hope the birds do not descend and gobble it all up. The good thing though is the weather hot days with the odd rainy day which is good for growing grass.

A STRANGE THING IN ATHOL
A strange thing happens in my small town every year for a few weeks a travel and chain of shops in Australia called !!!!! (had to take the name off- due to ?? ) . Brings groups of people over on fishing trips to a campground in town ,just behind my shop.
They -yes grown men are told not to come into my shop ,because basically i will not sell there not so good own branded products ,due to it all falling a part and me complain about it to the owner, years ago.

So they proceed to drive up beside my shop and in front and i see them at the local cafe and they just turn away, Being me i am over nice, wave and say hello!
Its hard top believe people can behave like this on holiday and be told to do so.!!!
But the odd time there is one or two of the group sneak away from the owner and come in and have the crack and a wee shop- and as usual they will be back , to NZ on their own! So there are real men out there!! :)

BROWN BEETLES DESEND ONTO THE WATERWAYS!
In the Twizel , Wanaka, Queenstown and Southland areas the brown beetles have been gradually hatching at night .
One clients of mine who catches and cooks the odd fish in the Queenstown area was telling me last week that the two fish he kept for the smoker from some small lakes were full of brown beetles, one he counted over 60 in the stomach.

Years of study goes into my designs!!

So get those beetles on in the evening and early morning - Cast them to sighted fish or tie them on a very short piece of tippet too a visible dry fly and cast it out to the drop off and wait!!
The other night one banged off my window , so i did a wee photo shoot , To show you the triggers that i have but into my fly design of, size silhouette , legs and color all the ingredients and study to create the perfect wee brown beetle.

So best you purchase some from me :), as they are exclusive only to Stu's Fly shop- Support the designer and the passion! and catch more fish !
Thank, you all, for your great comments and feedback.
Have a great week.
Cheers
Stu

New Casting arena at Stu's Fly shop, Musky country the dvd,The rainbow rivers open, Sage Z-axis fly rod

2011-11-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

MUSKY COUNTRY DVD

When i was in the states this year ,I was guided by some lovely passionate guys who chase the Musky!! with flies.(YES-I even hire guides-so much to learn from the best ones)

They have made this Musky fly fishing dvd with a very good film maker and producer ,which i now have in stock.(i,m interested to see what this guy does next!)

So ok its not trout fishing- but hey! some of the best dvds i have watched have not been about trout- plus you can always learn something watching how others fish for different species and if you want to see how the experts fish HUGE streamers ,then look no further. I stayed with these guys and never got to watch the dvd until after i left them and the amazing thing for me was how they talk about the musky and how they,guide and live is exactly the same as in the dvd. These guys are so dedicated.

It is also one of the best produced films i have seen.

I,m pretty sure after watching the film you will be wanting to visit Musky Country!!

This is a great video to have in your collection -

A great dvd- worth watching

NOVEMBER SNOW

2 days of cold weather 1-2nd of november

The 1st of November- was the first day that all the rivers flowing into the lakes basically opened. Now all the river systems around are open and the choices are now some 30+ river systems for me to guide my clients on .
Next week i start more so with my guiding, but i do notice with my bookings most of my clients are from New Zealand now days and have hired me to up-skill, which is very rewarding for me working with clients who want to learn and no doubt i will learn as well!

STU'S GOLD BEAD NZ MAY FLY NYMPHS - TAKE LARGE NUMBERS OF TROUT!

Stu's wee NZ tungsten Mayfly nymphs- Grey and also brown

A few of the Southland guides have started to get busy and have been hitting the rainbow rivers, and having some great days 10-18 fish days , They have been having success with my wee NZ tungsten gold bead mayfly nymphs.
I had to open my shop yesterday especially early for one guide ,who was desperate for some as he had run out and had two clients in his car waiting for him as he bought up nearly all my gold bead nz mayfly nymphs- Funny how some people think you cant catch trout with gold beaded nymphs- at this time of year they seem to take them with aggression.

Z- AXIS - IN MY GARDEN

I still have 2x z-axis 5 wgts for sale- at special low prices!

Sage- Z-axis in my garden- Funny how everything i seem to do or touch is to do with fishing- even this machine made me laugh when i spotted its name.

As you can see- My new shops casting pond for you all!!!

For over 5 yrs i have been gradually improving the shop and the shop grounds . Some people think i just jump in feet first, but i actually had the visions of what i,m doing some 5 years ago- but like all good things ,it all takes time and money.

Maintenance free , grounds is what i really want, as i do not have the time to be doing gardening and pruning trees- So out with all the trees and off with the grass and down with the Gravel.

At the moment its not the best thing for me as i have a full load of work, but it looks like with the help of some others i,ll be raking , picking up stones and sowing grass seed on the newly leveled back section, Which will be great for casting ,when its finished- I was going to put in a casting pond- But that would be more maintenance and i have the Mataura river right on my door step.

So if your passing bring your rake! :)

ALL THE BEST

I just heard that i lovely lower Matarua guide , was rushed to hospital and had a pretty big operation. No doubt ,David you will pull through , you tough bugger! I wish you all the best with your recovery and no doubt see you back in action out on the river ,you love the most- The Lower Matarua - is calling!:)

Thank you all for your feed back and comments on my fly designs - and photos . Sign up for the news letter!!! asap! i,m doing a t-shirt special with orders this week- watch for your Stu,s special email coming this week!

Cheers

Stu

Martin Simpson nz artist, Matarua river- news paper,Snow coming, dvd,The underwater world of Trout

2011-10-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

SIGN UP FOR THE NEW NOVEMBER NEWS LETTER & SPECIAL OFFERS ASAP! If you are reading this and have not signed up for my monthly news letter and special offers- Please do ASAP as i,m about to also send out the new November Stu's News Letter out- That should make you smile :) To sign up just visit the front page of the web site and add your email- its that easy!!

Pre-order your copy, of Connect Now!! get it first!

The rivers at last are dropping and all starting to clear as of today, so there should be some awesome fishing to be had on every southland river system.
Last week there was basically no fishermen around and customers, due to the wee storm and with all the discolored river systems, nobody could fish!.
So providing the weather holds and there is no rain all should be good this week, mind you having just checked the weather for this week- rain and snow is forecast for mid week ,so it could result in the water levels rising again! So check before you head out.

2-3lb fish not good enough!!
I had some local anglers come through the shop yesterday , who did not seem to happy with all the fish they caught and they had caught some nice 2-3lb fish- but they just wanted bigger!!, funny how some people are fish hungry and do not realise a 2-3lb wild brown is still a big fish and others just love being out there - and do not really care if the catch a fish and if they do they do not care which size it is. , Catching a fish is a bonus! (that would be my category)

The browns are in top condition! -providing you catch one!

A few of the busy Queenstown guides were scrambling for clear water last week and having no choice but to drive over 3+ hrs return to Qtn they all stopped into the shop on the way past for a break and to get some flies and have a wee laugh and joke.- Mainly all small tungsten NZ brown mayfly nymphs , i noticed ! they purchased for the small Southland streams they were heading for.

They all had some awesome lovely clients with them ,who were all having fun, most of them were from South Africa and mainly had come for the rugby, so good to see that they were enjoying NZ to the full and getting out there despite the conditions and giving it a good crack! I get the feeling there was more fish seen ,lost than caught! But hey that's fishing!!

Martin Simpson- YES the best fish artist in the world is a KIWI !!

Roy my client's Awesome 11lb+ brown ,painting

Last year for my clients was pretty much a big fish year and Roy one of my clients decided to get Martin to paint his trout of a life time.
We took over 30 photos of the fish and measurements of it and the surroundings it was caught in and released it unharmed.
Armed with as much information as possible Martin over 4 months created a life size painting of Roy's Trophy trout. Every detail of the fish is 100% and the rod under the water with the Sage serial number is so precise- its pretty mind blowing ! .
I showed this photo of the painting to two different people - who all thought it was a photo!! That has surely got to be the ultimate complement of Martin ,just amazing work.
Check out Martin Simpson and some of the great work he does at his web site - www.martinsimpson.co.nz
If you want something to remember for the rest of your life or a loved one- look no further than Martin. The more photos, details and measurements etc you can give him , just like any artist the better !.

NEWS PAPER -ABOUT TO DO ARTICLE- On the Mataura River

Yesterday I sent quite a while with a reporter of the Southland times news paper about overseas tourist fishermen, Water quality etc. So Hopefully this week there will be a good feature about The Matarua river and water quality etc this week . Its hopefully doing to be a big article raising awareness of this special water way and what lies ahead in the future!!!

THE UNDER WATER WORLD OF TROUT- VOL -3

You will be surprised what you will learn

There is a great series of dvd done by this old guy from the states , that at first you may not think they are your cup of tea!! The camera work compared to some of the new dvds is not the flashest. BUT he nails it with every dvd hes produced, for me he lets you go insider the trout world and he takes you on a different journey each time with each dvd in getting you to think like a trout.

This DVD will be of more interest to kiwi fishers as we sight fish for fish and stalk them , you will learn in this new dvd what the trout will and can and can not see from below the surface- after watching it when you stalk any fish again - i bet you change your game plan a little!!

A great learning dvd.

KEEP THE COMMENTS & PHOTOS FLOODING IN!!

Please keep the comments coming in about my Superior flies and let any of you forum friends or facebook friends know all about my work and fly designs, It is and would be very much appreciated.

Thank you all for your support-Keep Smiling even if your not out doing it- like me in the office ! :)

Cheers

Stu

Stu's NEW Saltwater flies,Storm in Athol, Deadly Hooks, Dylan hooks a few small trout,

2011-10-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

THE FISHING

At the moment there are not many anglers around, most the the ones i know will start to visit NZ in November and onwards. So i have not too much big and little fish gossip. Oh i did see a photo of a nice Oreti big brown and it was in cracking condition it was caught on one of my big heavy NZ mayfly bombs in a deep pool .

A few 4-5lb trout caught in spring creeks by a Queenstown guides client which is great that he managed to pull it off and find some clear water the other day.(no i,m not telling you where he was).

Also the guide caught stealing sausages has posted them back to me! so all is forgiven. :)

STORM HITS ATHOL- HAVE I PAID MY INSURANCE!!

As i write this the power has just gone out in the house and i have been rushing around in the garden trying to put anything that can get blown to Australia in to the shed.

I have even had to chase a few of my signs around the garden as the wind has ripped some off the fence- it must be blowing through Athol at well over 150klm when it gets going, Looking at the sky it looks like a big storm is working its way inland. In fact its trying to rip the roof off my house and its kind of scary! I,m know thinking - have i paid my house and shop insurance!

WAIAU - SKINNY RAINBOWS

A few reports of some of the rainbow rivers that are open are that there are plenty of fish to be caught ,but they are still quite spent (skinny) after spawning. It usually takes until mid December before these rainbows start to put on weight .

TRY A MOUSE LURE

A few people have been telling me that they have already started to see green manuka beetles in the fiordland area.

No reports on plagues of mice, but some of the local spin guys have been catching big trout in the evening further south. These guys fish every year with big floating mice and get results, even when there in no real mouse plague. So its always worth an evening fish ,if you want to catch the daddy!

RIVERS HIGH AND DIRTY

The Mataura river and many other rivers in the area are just starting to clear after the two days of heavy rain last week, that turned every piece of water around into brown soup. But what that does mean is that nobody has been able to fish most of the river systems for the past week and when they stat clearing the fish will all be active. This is when you can use larger sized nymphs so that the fish can see your offering easier. I like using double nymph rigs with a NZ mayfly bomb and a size 14 pogo or king pogo as the trailing nymph.

MORE NEW NEWS

Since i started to write this Blog- last night in the storm the rains came and now this afternoon they are here again- and YES the rivers are rising and are coffee in color- If you are a traveling fisherman or lady- find some lakes!

STU'S SUPERIOR SALTWATER FLIES ON THE MEANEST HOOKS ! NOW AVAILABLE

These are Serious flies for serious fish! check the hooks!!

Now available online are some my new range of salt water flies - Stu,s Crystal bait fish - in size 1/0 - 3/0 - 6/0 Yes these are serious flies and on Serious Tiemco super strong Black nickel hooks.

The smaller sizes will be great for estuary sea run fish ,kawhai and Tuna etc, The next size up the 3/0 will become a favorite for Snapper and the bigger 6/0 will be for the guys who like catching Big strong fish like King fish etc..

All of these saltwater bait fish designs will also be good for people who like to jig flies for blue cod etc.

SCOUNDRELS

Please note that there are a few people claiming to sell my flies and my Superior brand! Do not be fooled by these scoundrels ,they just want to rip you off as well as my hard work!!- do not trust them! well you can if you want too!!

Big wild NZ brown trout- Dylan a man on a mission!!

Dylan- nails a bunch of little NZ Brown trout using Stu's Superior Flies- He knows the importance of good fly designs and hooks!! mind you sometimes i think he uses bait- or he is just a good fly fisher!!

Thanks for Your Support.

Cheers

Stu

Women in waders, 20+ fish, Mayfly hatch,fishing guides,hi-viz orange flyline

2011-10-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

In case you are wondering what happened to all the Blogs ! Some how i have managed to lose all the past blogs and present ones- so here i am starting again! - not a happy camper it would be an understatement on how i feel at the moment! But as they say nobody died!

Just arrived!-WOMEN IN WADERS-great photos of fish!

Yes- the new Women in waders 2012 calendar has arrived, to brighten up your days a great gift for some one and with Xmas not far away and limited stock you best order yours today! I have also some great specials on Simms waders on line, as i need to move stock-

Local Fly fisher has to stop his arm was getting Sore!!

Having the shop , helps me know first hand on whats going on with the fisheries ans many people come through and ,i hear allot of good things.

Like the lovely local customer who came in the other day!

- The first day of the new season he went out to his favorite big riffle and could not locate any fish all day.

-3 days later he went back to the same riffle and there was a large hatch of big Mayflies,He landed over 20 fish in a short space of time on dries. He also gave up pretty early on in the day as his arm was getting a bit sore and it was getting to easy!!

This goes to show it can all be a timing thing! and as for the sore arm pulling in fish rapidly- well in a way we would all like that! complaint.

AH! is this a fly rod! - said the Guides! :)

THE NZPFGA - ATHOL- FLY FISHING GUIDES MEETING!

All the top guides from around the area arrived at the shop the other day and we converted my living room into a very comfortable meeting place.

- We discussed our new health and safety plans and special concession to be able to guide in certain areas. Its all these things that cost allot of money and time to get and have in place, and its things like this that many clients do not see all these hidden extra costs.

Dean eyeing up the best piece of meat!

- Also on discussion was carrying locator beacons when guiding, which most members do already for the safety of there clients.

At the end ,they left me with no meat -only enough salad to feed 100 rabbits

- Submissions for the overseas anglers license ! - This is something that when i go to another country and pay more than locals i do not mind - as the locals pay taxes and look after the fisheries and i,m only there for a short time. At the moment in NZ overseas anglers pay the same as locals. If they did introduce the over seas license - providing the regions most affected by more anglers , received the extra funds , it would hopefully give Fish and Game more much need tools to help look after the Awesome fishery that we have here in NZ

- There was heaps more progress made with lots of other subjects - (like the new residents guides license , which may put an end to overseas guides guiding in NZ !!

After the meeting the guides descended into the shop and bought up large my flies and then were out on the casting area playing with the NEW SAGE ONE ROD!.

WANAKA GUIDES CAUGHT STEALING

12 sausages!!- Only 10 remain!!

Though one of the guides Ian from Wanaka was caught shoplifting again in my shop!! and was duly told to leave the premises I wished i had of checked his car !- as we all think he had also stolen two sausages from the awesome barbecue all the honest guides helped prepare.One of the Sausages we believe ,may have been for his side kick Twizel Steve!!

CASTING WITH LOCALS & TOURISTS- REWARDING!

I have managed to pick up the odd day and half day guiding and a few casting lesson , which all help keep the shop going for these quite months. Most people i have guided have used me to help them up-skill and understand the NZ southland fishery. Its so rewarding for me when they contact me a few days later to let me know their success rate and the fun they are having with their newly learned skills.

Some of the casting /teaching gear i sell

The few casting lesson i have been conducting has been a mix of locals and tourists, one couple did not even know what a fly was at the start of a casting lesson and to watch them understand what they where trying to achieve and doing the basic overhead cast was a pleasure to watch within a couple of hours, they said it was one of there NZ high lights- way better than jet boating in Queenstown, they said.

NEW HI_VIZ QUALITY HI_VIZ ORANGE FLY LINE!

Also just in is the great new wgt forward(long belly) floating hi- viz orange fly line that is great for practicing your casting with or fishing with and they are pretty cheap for a Canadian made top product- yes wow- something not made in China!

Thanks for your support.
Cheers
Stu