Monday 25 February 2013

New Fly Fishing Film, Rise Fly Fishing Festival, Midcurrent, Trout Diaries Radio, NZ Fishing Flies


14 years of study and development - then Stu's Deadly NZ Cicada fly design materialized.
I hope you all enjoyed the recent newsletter with the new film announcement.

If you have not done so already, sign up for Stu's news and get all the new info, special offers & gossip.Next week the new March news letter will be sent out with some great stuff on it and links, so do not miss out, sign up today!

THE NEW SHORT FLY FILM
To view the short new film about Stu's Superior flies - click HERE.

Remember you can enlarge the screen to watch it. Please let us know your thoughts and comments - it all helps.


The Fishing

The fishing has been on fire all season with record amounts of fish being landed. Many clients have managed to catch their personal best size brown trout.
For the past month it has nearly been all dry fly action and many clients joining the Grub Club - that is landing their first fish on the mighty wee size 20 Willow Grub.

Fat and very healthy was this just under 5lb hen fish fooled with a size 10 Deadly NZ Cicada 
A combination of Grubs, Blowflies and Cicadas seems to be the normal diet of many of the trout at this time of year in the river systems.
 Find a good piece of stable water, work out the feed lane and proceed carefully casting up the feed lane with a Deadly Cicada / Deadly Blowfly with a NZ Floating Willow Grub tied off the back seems to be the best rig for catching fish for customers and clients.
When recently guiding, we have ignored most sighted fish in the deep pools as it can be harder to fool them with heavy nymphs etc. at this time of year. 
 Fish sighted in the faster riffles have been keen on size 18 King Pogo Nymphs tied off a nz mayfly bomb as a trailer nymph.
Over the last 3 days guiding 51 trout have been fooled into taking the flies, though not all have been landed, as it's fishing not catching :) 
But imagine if we caught everyone? 


Fish Feeding times in NZ

Unlike most countries in the world in NZ the fish seem to feed through out the day and the most productive time seems to always be when the temp is at its hottest. This probably is due because of the amount of insects that hatch and get active when it's hot, thus bring on the trout to feed especially on the surface.


Having no real natural predators like eagles and bears fish will easily move into clear shallow water if especially left undisturbed for a few days where they can be much easier to spot.
Clear blue sky with high warm temperatures are my favorite guiding days by far with the most fish being caught between 11am - 4pm. 
So here in NZ it's not unusual to arrive at your spot late and have the best chance of hooking up.
 For some there is no need to even set the alarm for that early start?

The River Conditions

All the rivers are now getting quite low. They are all gin clear. Hopefully we get a wee bit rain to top them all up a bit, but it's not looking likely.
This is also the time of the year that Fish & Game do their drift dives. This involves a team of guys with wet suits and masks floating down certain river systems and visually counting fish numbers. 
Recently on they did a drift dive on the Mararora River which was the first river to have the dreaded Didymo and have since for years been troubled with it. 
This year the drift dive had some great news. The river was now sporting a good population of trout again and looks like it's starting to recover.
 I wonder if it's just a natural cycle of fish stocks and breeding or if all the recent floods had something to do with it, by flushing out allot of Didymo and clearing the stones so that the aquatic live and trout can go about their business in the normal way.

Getting all the triggers in a fly design is very important for a very successful fly 

New Trout Diares Radio

Every morning during my 50 min exercise regime, I listen to Youtube interviews about fishing and learn allot. Recently The Trout Diaries author Derek Grzelewski has launched his own radio show that - you never know - may go international if enough people like it. Like all things time will tell and it will only get better and better the longer it's on air. The great thing is you can listen to it when tying flies, stretching your body or driving to your favorite fishing spot. To listen click here.

 Mid Current - fishing news.

There is one web site that sometimes I have advertised on called midcurrent. It's a great source of new up to date fishing and product news from around the world and worth visiting, they also send out very regular news letters which you also may find interesting. Check it out here.

Rise Fly Fishing Film Festival Europe 2013

It will not be until august or around that time that the RISE Fly Fishing Film Festival will hit your local big city. At the moment it has kicked off in France for the first time and being well received with shows selling out in most of the big cites, 200 + people at a show. The German side of the tour has also kicked off and all we have had from many people is that they had a great night of fish porn with like minded people, again sell out shows. When the pre-sale starts for NZ and Australia, you best get your TICKETS quick.

Fly Fishing shop in Italy stocks Stu's Superior Flies.

Recently we have started to supply a specialist fly shop in Italy. The feedback from the owner is that his customers are loving the designs and quality. As the years go by, I hope to add more and more specialist fly shops in different countries to my list of supporters.

You just never know what you may find. This lovely lass Vivi was found hanging and rope dancing under the Oreti bridge. She is a circus performer from Germany - one of Ela's friends. 

NEW smaller Sizes of Stu's Deadly NZ Cicada are in stock.

Back in are the size 10 Cicadas and newly released are the green size 10 Deadly NZ Cicadas. Great searching flies - order here.

Catch us also on Facebook and like our page. Upload your photos of fish caught on Stu's Superior Flies and have some fun.

Thank you for the support.
Cheers
Stu & Ela    " Inspired by nature and driven by passion"

Saturday 9 February 2013

NZ CICADAS, STU'S Hi-VIZ DEADLY NZ CICADA FLY, TOP10 FISHING FLIES, FLY REELS, TIEMCO FLY HOOK, SUPERIOR FISHING FLIES


Yes - without my consent they put me on the cover - mind you - I'm not complaining :) as it's a great shot - by Nick Reygaert from the Rise Fly Fishing Film Festival and that rainbow is dam sexy looking, sorry Ela.

PHOTOS

Do you have any great photos of fish you have caught with Stu's Superior Flies and comments. If so please send them to us or post them on Facebook with a comment.

Sign up here for the coolest unique fly fishing newsletter -

NEW SEXY FISHING CAPS



I just returned from guiding and a good friend Paul, a fly fishing guide from Wanaka, was in the shop and on a road trip with his client Brandon who had been having some NZ fishing fun - he could not resist such a good  fishing cap.  Oh and yes, we are nearly always that happy even Paul.


Just in are even more damn sexy fishing caps of the highest quality - Flexfit USA caps that are made to last.

Some great new colors - blue camo, green camo, tartan, brown, aqua, pink, black, camp mesh truckers in green and brown camo.

Look sexy this summer with these unique caps, not many shops in the world carry fly shop caps for women and men, Oh! We have a few kids sizes as well!!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW




THE NZ CICADAS

Every year unlike some countries that have to wait 15 yrs between cicada hatches! 

The NZ cicadas hatch every year and it's an awesome time to be here.

There are many different species of cicadas from large to very small, they all pretty much have the same silhouette that the fish see from below. 

They tend to take to the wing in search of sex when it's a calm windless very hot day. Many fall or fly clumsily onto the water. When they hit the water, they do so with a little plop. 

As soon as they hit the water and become stuck in the surface, they panic and struggle for a short while creating little vibrating wakes of water in the film.

 Kevin Thompson from NZ bought some Deadly NZ Cicadas to try and caught this cracking brown ! 
This only lasts for seconds normally and then they just sit quietly on the surface waiting to washed to shore where they can climb back onto land. 
Many do not make it and become trout food. It normally takes about 3 weeks from when I hear and see the first cicadas of the season for the trout to start to feed on them.

Once the trout start to feed on them for us fly fishers it can be so much fun casting large cicada dry flies out and watching fish move considerable distances to engulf them.

A few years ago one of my clients wanted to chase only large trout and after a full day of searching without even casting at any large fish, we managed to find one.
The fish was in the middle of the pool and looking like he was in cicada mode.
My client cast his fly out 20ft short and 20ft to the left of the fish, nowhere near it. As soon as the cicada fly landed the fish must of heard it and turned and came down stream like a missile. I screamed at my client to leave his fly and the fish slowly came up to suck it down.

THE TIP! If you are fishing a cicada to a sighted fish - or blind fishing - no matter where it lands as the plop can trigger them from afar. GET READY!


The full NZ Cicada Range - Check out the awesome review of this design in the latest Fish & Game NZ Magazine - Reviews do not get better ! The Nom 1- go to NZ cicada Design!


Last year I released the Hi-Viz NZ Deadly Cicada and it's turning into the go to fly of choice at this time of year for most customers. Every other day guides from though out NZ are on the phone or emailing looking for some and it's a good feeling to have after many years perfecting an easy to see cicada fly, that is now recognized and in demand through out NZ and Australia. 

26 inches long getting up there! With the big boys! 

Having it on the best strongest fly hook with the largest gape also helps anglers hook and land the big trout of a life time, that at this time of year come from the deep in search of these double cheese burgers with mayo.

TIP- When using this design: no tippet is needed, tie it straight onto a 12ft RIO Tapered Leader and hang on and have a some fun.

It looks like I will eventually run out of this design this month due to demand, so best be quick if you wish some as I have no time to get onto my vice and tie up more.

 Now - back in stock !
TOP 10 SELLING FLIES FOR FEBUARY FOR NEW ZEALAND- Click on each fly to view.











THE GUIDING

This time of year is pretty full on, with the odd day still available at the end of the month and next. Contact me today if you are interested in any of my services. Fly casting lessons, NZ Fly Fishing Schools and back to back guiding for the past weeks means very long working days.

But each day the hours fly by and I realize this is because I'm doing something I'm so passionate about. 

Years ago when I have worked in other jobs some of them I would be looking at my watch as to when I could finish and go home nearly every day.

Working on the water, it is actually very hard to call it a day and return to base camp and I can think of no other job that I could wish to do.
fat, spotty and sexy!

Everyday I have been netting good solid fat trout, due to the coolness of the water after the recent showers of rain and cooler water temps. The trout have been very frisky with many of them jumping at least 3 times during the fight. Thinking they are rainbow trout!

ELA'S  FLY  SHOP DEMONSTRATIONS

Ela - queen of Stu's fly shop ,social media  has been busy adding even more knowledge / skills to help you all .
Remember to take off the tags :) They rattle a bit in the wind.
Recently Ela has been spooling up fly reels with backing and line for happy customers and in the past weeks learning how to attach the leader with a needle knot and finishing it off with UV glue. 

Demonstrating the new strike indicator is her favorite thing though as there are so many people who have sell not seen this easy to use Strike Indicator

There is now not much Ela does not know about all the gear and flies. So if you have an order or question regarding gear / guiding / casting / NZ Fly School just give her a call on 03 2488890 or contact her by email - click here.

FLY FISHING CLUBS

The people I meet are amazing people and also very passionate. 

This past week I have been working with returning members of Sydney's two largest fly fishing clubs. Everyone of them has no huge expectations of fly fishing here in the South Island and are here for the challenge and big wild trout.

It's a yearly escape from the city life and these guys know how to enjoy the pleasures of the countryside and the fishing.In the next Blog or news letter , i should have some great photos of the large trout they managed to land with me. Shame i do not have any photos of the ones that got away! :)

If you are in Sydney, Australia or in any city in the world, look up your local fly fishing cub and go along and have some fun, male or female, young or old it's the best way to meet fellow fishers, learn new skills and have some fun trips away.

GIFT VOUCHERS

Some people are hard to buy a present for - here is the perfect gift.


The Jaws of Death! Fooled on a Stu's Deadly NZ hi-viz blowfly .

RIVERS & LAKES












All the waterways are fishing great and are all low and clear. Expect to start to find trout in the fast shallow riffles as water temperature rises and they seek more cooler oxygenated water. Lakes, as usual the fish will be patrolling the lake edges, so short casts are all thats needed. A Hi-Viz Deadly Cicada on the surface just off the drop off will do the trick.

PHOTOS CHECK IT OUT

A few of you have been asking about the great underwater shot in last weeks news letter.
Here is the link to the dude that takes the time and effort to get the shots we drool over.


A Place to Stay in NZ - near the shop

Here is the link to the Naylor House - a great place to stay nearby the shop. Many of my returing clients stay here in this free standing historic country house - it's cosy, modern, self contained and you can get meals at the farm house - which everybody loves. The lovely hosts Avis and real fisherman John leave you alone and you have your own space in the country. It's two fields walk to the Upper Mataura and only a 5 min drive from the World Famous Fly Shop. What more could you ask for?
Some of the locals are a bit  fluffy












Oh! be warned you will get more than enough food if you chose the meal option and you will put on a kilo in a week:)
There is the odd ghost in the house and killer sheep patrol the perimeter. But overall you can ask for a better place or price - can sleep heaps. Click here to view.


PINK FLY REELS

At last I have found some pretty cool pink fly reels and have two models in stock - though they are in stock and for sale, to be honest if I can not sell them, they will look awesome in photos with my instructor rods and orange line, so watch out for some cool photos.

Thank you for your awesome support guys.
Cheers,
Stu & Ela