MOUNTAIN HOP

I had two weeks off for the holidays and decided to take full advantage of it. I had my new Taylor Phenom to try out on more demanding rivers and a fly box bursting at the seams with back country patterns. There is a long list of rivers I’ve been meaning to explore and with […]

THE RAGGED EDGE OF NYMPHING

Just for kicks the other day I Googled “french nymphing”. I expected to find articles that explained methods similar to what we do, with similar flies and basically extolling the virtues of long-leader tight lining. I fully accept that what we do is frowned upon by some, probably mostly people who haven’t actually tried it, […]

CUSTOM HOW TO – EURO NYMPHING

We’ve been getting inquiries from some of our Trade Me customers regarding “Czech nymphing”, looking for some tips and tricks. European nymphing methods have really come into their own over the last few years here in New Zealand and it’s currently all the rage on the North Island. There seems to be a general confusion […]

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

We headed up to the Rangitikei River late Sunday morning for a few hours of fishing. We accessed the river at the Vinegar Hill camping area, the farthest spot downstream we’ve tried yet. In the campground you can park right on the bank and there are a number of access points as the river bends around the campground […]

A TALE OF TWO RIVERS

One downside of getting older is that I get stuck in habits. I don’t seem to get out exploring rivers like I used to. Instead I often go back to the same rivers, fishing the same sections because they are a known unknown. Yes, sometimes there’s been a flood through or the river is off and I […]

DAY 9

Our final day of fishing together, tomorrow Jindrich and Honza will be jetting off back home. Since I’ll be working the next day, no far afield jaunts will be possible. We need to get our final fish in on the way back to Wellington. Since Taupo is still pretty sad, I have a back up […]

DAY 8

So after 7 days of fishing, late night fly tying sessions and driving I’m shattered. I talked Zee into bringing the boys up to the Mohaka for their last full day of fishing. I slept in, really late. I didn’t make it onto the Tongariro until after lunch. I fished from the Hydro up through to the Cattle Rustlers, […]

DAY 7

We headed up to Rotorua to fish the Ngongataha Stream on Day 7. We didn’t leave particularly early as our late nights and time behind the wheel were starting to wear a bit on me. While I normally would have rather eaten shards of glass than fish the Ngongataha, there is a Carls Jr in […]

DAY 5

So we awoke to a dreary day. We knew the trip was stuffed as it rained all night. We decided to cut our losses and head back. The weather report for Taupo was looking good so we thought we were in with a chance for our new favorite river, the MOHAKA! We had to drive […]

DAY 4

Before I start to tell the tale of Day 4 (and really Day 5), I should recount the evening of Day 3. So we’ve come back from the river had some barbecue. We had heard great things about the Ruakituri River, but none of us had fished it. We’ve already had a few good days […]

AK CUSTOMS

French nymphing