Copper Puke

[Hans Weilenmann]

Well done, Jeff. Thanks for sharing.

Mataura... one of the rivers I fondly remember from my visits to the South Island

Cheers,
Hans W

[Mataura mayfly]

Thank you Hans, praise from the Master.
My fly is pretty rugged compared to your wonderful ties and you give us all something to aim for.

Anytime you feel like a trip back, a box of flies will cover your lodgings for a while. The Mataura is only a two minute drive from my front door and the Waikaia a mere ten minutes.
The Summer has hit hard, no rain to speak of for the last six weeks, rivers are low and gin clear with the local brown trout focused on the Willow grub or Sawfly larve. A very hard pattern to imitate.

[Hans Weilenmann]

Jeff,

*chuckle* temping offer... be afraid, be very afraid...

Cheers,
Hans W

PS I did use some of the Pukeko feathers a friend shared with me a while back. Here is one of the bugs:



Pukeko Emerger
Hook: Partridge YK4A #12
Thread: Benecchi 12/0, black
Hackle: Pukeko neck feather barbs
Shuck: UV Ice Dub, ginger - sparse
Abdomen: Mink underfur, light grey - in split thread
Thorax: Argentinean hare, grey
Wing: Polypropylene strands, silvery cream

(All materials are listed in the order they are tied in.)

[Mataura mayfly]

Hans,
Did I forget to mention how large the fly box should be?

That is a very nice emerger you show there. Is it a wound hackle or did you nip the centre out of the feather, lay the barbs over the eye and spin them on with the thread.

I may know where you could get some more of those feathers.

[Hans Weilenmann]

That is a very nice emerger you show there. Is it a wound hackle or did you nip the centre out of the feather, lay the barbs over the eye and spin them on with the thread.

Not quite, but close. A bunch of barbs were tied in, tips over the eye, but already encircling the shank. No spinning needed, except maybe a gentle nudge here and there to make it an even 360.

Cheers,
Hans W

[Hans Weilenmann]

...the Waikaia a mere ten minutes.

Ah... another nice stream. It was tough last time I fished it, after heavy rain. And the scene of some miscommunication between my friend Bob and I. We spotted a brace of really good size fish (8-10 pounds, give or take) in shallow water at the head of a pool, mere feet off our bank. Bob carefully positioned himself to spot, and I made the cast.

Bob said... "he has got it". My brain tried to process "he-has-got-it" to what Bob meant, I lifted way too late, and both fish bolted for the far-and-deep.

I wish Bob had tried "lift" or "take" or "strike" - I do so much better on single word instruction...

Ah well.

The Summer has hit hard, no rain to speak of for the last six weeks, rivers are low and gin clear with the local brown trout focused on the Willow grub or Sawfly larvae. A very hard pattern to imitate.

Ah.... grubbers. They are so hard to put down, they are such a good way to get utterly frustrated, and they are so rewarding when you finally get to nail them!

We fished some really good willow lined sections on the Mataura, the Waikaia and the Pomohaka. Very interesting fishing. One does not need a very wide selection of patterns when the trout are on the willow grub

[willowhead]

Great thread..........wonderful flies by all.............sorry you missed that fish Hans............that sure doesn't happen to you often.

[Mataura mayfly]

Hans,
That can just about sum up NZ fishing for you...... it can be frustrating at times, great fish can be missed by the simple things going wrong..... then so can the average ones!

The Pomohaka is carrying a bit more water than most at the moment, it's catchment has had a little rain last month.
When grubbing the trout are very easy to approach, cast to (even as badly as I can do it!) and hard to put down as you say, but if you aint casting what they are eating there aint no way they are taking!

[Hans Weilenmann]

That can just about sum up NZ fishing for you......

That, yes, or this



Me, eyeballing a nice brown in a quiet backwater on the Mataura.

Cheers,
Hans W

[Mataura mayfly]

Have not had a lot of rain here for the last couple of months Hans, so many of those backwaters are drying up!

There seem to be a few of these wire bodied flies showing up...... here is another, be the Silver puke I guess!

Silver medium wire, Kamasan B175 #12, Australian possum guard hairs touch dubbed for a bit of a thorax and Pukeko inner covert for a hackle.
Pukeko is very soft in the barbs, hard to get a good natural light photo when it is blowing, but they do sweep back and pulse well when you fish it.