Fly Fishing New Zealand - Hosted Week 2 Report

Week two saw the group head to the central South Island. We were based out of Twziel and local guide Steve Carey provided some great hospitality as always. Fishing was up and down through the week. A lot of anglers were around with the Waitangi day public holiday midweek. But as usual in New Zealand there is plenty of water to go around and always a spectacular place to fish. We've had some nice feedback from our clients on this trip which is detailed below along with some images of the weeks fishing…..

Hi Matt,

Just thought I would send you a quick email now that the dust has settled and I am acclimatised to the cold weather! I just wanted to say what a great week I had with you, and what great company we all shared. I will never forget looking down the Ahurri valley, with Tussock Cicada,s chirping in the background and the beautiful crystal clear river.

Having been to NZ before, I thought it was a great priviledge to be guided by yourself, Steve Carey and of course Paul Procter. I thought I was passionate about flyfishing but Paul was something else,totally focused. I will always treasure memories of that huge fish he caught that day and how he coaxed it into his net. Can you also say from myself a huge thankyou to Steve Carey,a great host and a fantastic guide. Fishing with Steve, with Mt Cook in the background is a memory that will always be remembered for a long, long time.

Thank you again Matt for an absolutely fantastic time.
Steve.

S.Dowling, UK

Hi Matt,

We are in Christchurch airport having had a wonderful time again in NZ! Your two weeks were truly wonderful thank you! Fantastic memories.

All the best,

Sarah Hodgkin, UK

 FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FLY FISHING IN NEW ZEALAND OR JOINING ON OF OUR HOSTED TRIPS PLEASE CALL US ON +44 (0)16217 743711 OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.flyodyssey.co.uk OR EMAIL: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk

WILD TROUT TRUST ANNUAL AUCTION - FLY ODYSSEY TRIP TO BOSNIA

The Wild Trout Trust is having it's annual auction between the 4th-13th March, 2014. We have donated a week on the Ribnik and Pliva Rivers on a Paul Prcoter hosted trip to the WTT to auction to raise funds. For more details on the auction please visit the Wild Trout Trust Website.

For more information on the Bosnia trip the LOT No. is 58 or you can follow the link below to the Auction Fishing Lots:

LOT 58 BOSNIA WEEK WITH PAUL PROCTER

Fly fishing Desroches island resort, Seychelles - Client review's

Some review's from a recent client trips to Desroches island resort in the Seychelles. This location offers a great mix of family holiday with great flats and blue water fly fishing opportunities. 

Hi Mat,

Many thanks for organising the Seychelles trip at short notice, I enjoyed Des Roches enormously, the lodge is very well run and the facilities excellent. 

The fishing at St. Joseph atoll was good.  Wonderful setting and very large bones. This mixed with some blue water fishing for sail and tuna makes for an excellent package.

All the very best for 2014,

Mike, UK

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Mat

Hope the guided trip to New Zealand is/has gone well? Thank you again to you and the team for stepping in quickly and effectively to resolve the reservation issue at Desroches.

I thought you might appreciate some feedback on the resort and fishing.

Going in I knew we were compromising on the fishing in order to stay at a luxury resort. If I had looked at fishing alone, we would have stayed at Alphonse. However, with this caveat in mind, Jacqui and I would still rate the overall trip as 5 Star.

The resort was excellent. Its certainly worth upgrading to a Beach Retreat from a Suite. While the accommodation in the Suite was ‘ordinary’, the Beach Retreat compared very well with the best accommodation we have had in the tropics. I am often a bit sceptical about ‘all inclusive’ deals as, in my experience, the quality and generosity of the food and beverages often suffers. This was not the case at Desroches where the food was often very good and the offer of local beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks continuous!

As several reviewers have said, the most distinctive feature of Desroches is the quality and friendliness of the staff. Jacqui was, in particular, full of praise for the way Desroches maintain a careful balance of attentiveness and service without constantly being ‘in your face’.

I would rate the fishing as good rather than excellent. I only managed to fish Poivre for 3 days and the weather prevented me getting to St Joseph for the remaining two. After talking to the fishing manager, we agreed to try fly fishing for sailfish etc off a boat in the lee of the island, This was exciting but not the flats fishing I had hoped for.

I did rate the fishing team on Desroches very highly. My guide - pretty much for the whole 5 days - was Jerry. A local Seychellois who clearly knew the flats, the fishing and was a great companion. The boat Captain, Brandon, when we were after sailfish also clearly knew his job.

I didn’t get my permit - hooked one on the first day at Poivre and saw many more over the next two days but the large majority were cruising rather than heads down feeding. I was told that the first day was a neep tide so with the relatively small tidal movement the fish were more relaxed. As the spring tides came and the tidal range increased, the fish were less inclined to settle.

I have attached a few pictures - the best day was probably the second. I had three bonefish to six pounds, 3 yellow spot trevally (feeding on the flats, tail up - never seen that before) and two small GTs blind casting into the channel. The ‘trip fish’ however was probably a 4 foot barracuda caught blind casting waiting for the tide - on a barbless hook without wire!! The guides said it was the biggest barracuda that had been caught on a fly rod.

I did try for a sail fin with a fly rod in the lee of Desroches when the wind was bad. We raised 5-6 over the two trips and came very close to hooking one of them. I did hook several bonito and yellowfin on the fly and those the sharks didn’t take, we ate as sushi that evening!

Best
Peter, UK

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FLY FISHING IN THE SEYCHELLES INCLUDING DESROCHES ISLAND, ALPHONSE ISLAND AND FARQUHAR ISLAND PLEASE CONTACT US +44 (0)1621743711 OR EMAIL: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.flyodyssey.co.uk