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

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

 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

 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