I’ve just finished reading a fascinating biography by Tony Hayter entitled “GEM Skues – The Man of the Nymph” (ISBN 978-0-7198-1058-9). Most of you that fish with a nymph would probably have heard of George Edward MacKenzie Skues and how he almost single handedly developed the technique of below-surface fly fishing for sighted trout with nymphs. Such is his legacy. This excellent book is crammed … Continue reading GEM SKUES – THE MAN OF THE NYMPH
Text: Alan Bulmer Lead Image: George Turnbull Catching flats trevally on soft plastics can occasionally be a relatively straight forward exercise, especially during autumn and winter. There are some basic rules to follow and these are covered off in detail in the following articles:- https://activeanglingnz.com/2015/08/08/outsmarting-trevally-with-flies-and-lures/ and https://activeanglingnz.com/2015/07/25/wetlining-soft-plastics/ This article from the archives describes a two hour session on the flats and shows how easy it can be to connect … Continue reading FLATS TREVALLY
Up until the late 1990’s it was possible to go fishing inside the Hautu prison farm near Turangi. It generally was necessary to apply for permission to do so in advance. Once it was granted you had to front up at the Guard house for inspection on your allocated day, before a permit was issued. The prison authorities divided the river into a series of … Continue reading DOING TIME ON THE WAIOTAKA – HAUTU PRISON FARM MEMORIES
“Author Tony Bishop” link: http://www.bishfish.co.nz/main/about.htm “Many years ago we stumbled across Tony Bishop’s book “Fishing Smarter for Trout” and were really impressed at the systematic and scientific way that he approached fly fishing. All of his books are written in the same thoughtful and easy to read style. One of the things that Tony highlighted in his subsequent books was the importance of knots. He … Continue reading HOW TO TIE FISHING KNOTS PROPERLY AND SECURELY
(Words – Alan Bulmer/ Images – Kiyoshi Nakagawa) The day dawned cool and clear in Auckland. I had slept fitfully as I always do before a serious fishing trip, scared to drop off unless I missed the alarm and excited about what the day would hold. I was already up when the alarmed sounded at 4.15 am, ready and breakfasted by the time that my … Continue reading NGONGOTAHA – TROPHY TROUT MECCA
Shortly after we received the article from Mike Ladle on his Mullet catching exploits in England (https://activeanglingnz.com/2014/04/21/dr-mike-ladle-mullet-fishing-for-new-zealand/) I received an email from Alan Bulmer, describing the flies that he tied for Mike Ladle to entice Mullet species in the UK….. The e-mail went:- “Hi Paul, First things first, the species of mullet that Mike Ladle catches in the UK is not identical to the NZ Grey … Continue reading MULLET – KIWI FLY CATCHES THEM IN UK
Active Angling New Zealand 