Lots of New Things
So I’ve moved to London, I currently don’t have a house, I’ve started a new job, I’ve met a lot of new people, I’ve had a lot of fun thus far but I haven’t fished nor am I very likely to in the near future as I’m still hunting for somewhere to live! There’s a couple of things I really need to post a write up on – a great fishing trip with Ronan’s best mate John and the BFCC competition in Glasgow but that will have to wait as I’m just too busy at the moment. For the time being though, here’s a repost of a short film made...
Read MoreNZ 2013: A Dry Fly Short
New Zealand 2013: A Dry Fly Short from The Fly Commission on Vimeo. The first Fly Commission production has finally been completed and uploaded to the web. It’s roughy 6 minutes of superb dry fly action from New Zealand’s South Island. Please let me know what you think as there are plans a foot for many more films in the future. If you were following the on-the-road reports a few months ago you’ll already know the stories that go along with the film but just in case you missed them here’s the...
Read MoreNZ 2013: Day 38 – 46 Willow Grubs, Browns and Bows
Queenstown is known for many things; the adventure capital of the world, the home of commercial bungy jumping, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, burgers… you name it, they’ve got it on some sort of impressive scale. The other thing I am fairly familiar with in Queenstown is late starts due to the night before and that’s exactly what we came across. I don’t particularly mind late starts (ask Craig!) but it did mean reshuffling our plans for that day somewhat significantly. What we saw of the morning was gorgeous though. We settled on the upper reaches of a river as...
Read MoreNZ 2013: Day 31 – 37 Backcountry Mayhem
The backcountry is an amazing place, perhaps made even more amazing by the fact I have no idea what the backcountry actually is. What is the definition of backcountry? Should one seek clarification from the dictionary or should one have a think about the concept and develop their own definition? Since I don’t have a dictionary handy I’ll have to settle with what comes to my mind when I think of the word backcountry. My ideal involves no other anglers, a hike in and out, big hungry trout and lots of excitement. We’ve fished a few different waterways over the last week,...
Read MoreNZ 2013: Day 22 – 30 Craig Week 1
I picked Craig up at the airport, dropped him off at the car hire place to sort out our fishing wagon (read as a cheap Nissan saloon) for the month and then we attempted to get a hold of Alex who had been fishing around the North end of the South Island. Craig had a plan to gish for around 10 days around the top and I was all for it until Alex finally phoned in and advised us it was not worth it. He said the area had been too badly affected by the new year floods and that a lot of the fish were very skinny. During the conversation a quick plan was mashed together and we arranged to meet the...
Read MoreNZ 2013: Day 17 – 21 Catchup
I’ve finally managed to find an internet connection after over 10 days of having nothing but mobile internet and even that was only on the odd occasion. It’s easy to forget just how largely rural and undeveloped most of New Zealand’s South Island is! The title says week one but this is really a recap of the last 10 days or so. It’s been a mix of chill out days, good days and frustrating days but that’s fly fishing for you! After the last Fiordland trip I spent the next two days away from fishing rather just chilling out and having a bit of general banter with the...
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