Fly Fishing with Chris Dore

“9th April 2021

Today is an important day in my fishing career.

Chris Dore, one of the best (not exaggerating to say he is the best) fishing guides in NZ, took me searching for lunkers in one of the most gorgeous river valleys in the South.

Zeus was on our side, it was a perfect day. A nice stroll to the riverbank across dancing tussocks, we ...

Quick (ish ) thouights on finding wintertime trout around stream mouths and associated beaches.

Quick thoughts on how to sneak away from the wind chop and approach a shallow bay in our larger, Southern Lakes.

"Having a multi day guided trip with Chris Dore turned out to be the best decision Ive ever made. In the four days, I learnt so much and it made me realise how many rivers require different approaches, strategies and techniques to be successful,  and what we as anglers need to do, to be successful on these exciting but tricky waters."

As we move into winter proper you might be thinking that’s it’s all about eggs, heavy nymphs, and big streamers to fool fish that have something other than feeding on their minds.

Trout still need to eat over winter, and not all switch into spawning mode, so it’s important to still keep observing what type of food is on offer ...

Consider each and every drift when nymphing. Pick two targets: where you think the fish will be, and where you need to land your nymph to get down to that target, without dragging through it. In pocket water this will mean a shorter drift so land your fly closer and use more weight as required to get immediately down. In smoother water you’ll w...

There are many ways we can have our eggs and don’t we enjoy them all.

Scrambled with bacon, poached with bacon, fried with bacon, bacon eggs benedict, the list goes on! As much as our preferences change week by week, it’s the same as our approach to winter fishing each year and the variety of ways we fish and select our patterns improves each season with experience and as new materials come to light.

So this is far fro...

Its been a cracker here in the South this winter and while it hasnt been easy with flows well up, with the right gear, the right techniques and the right guide by your side, there are fish to be found.

Touch base with Chris to get into some Southern winter, and ...

Always worth a revisit..

After spending many, many guide days on the water I have observed countless styles and attempts to combat the wind. The following are a few tid bits to assist you in windy days on the river.

* Minimise, or better still, eliminate false casting. The mor...

It’s never too glary to find a few fish, you just have to adapt your strategy.

First up, look for a solid backdrop and then look for a height advantage. As hard as it might be to put into practice just forget about that stuff that you can’t see into and put all your focus on the water t...