Innovation, Dreams, Fish

Hi Guys, Well its all happening at once, no sooner had the willow grubs started falling, the NZ cicadas started to sing and very quickly with the spell of hot weather we have just had, the cicadas started to fly and land on the water.
Especially in the back country. Over three days with my last client we managed to get all of 40 big trout to eat the Deadly cicada, black in size 10.

Above is Mr Perfect English :) with a nice trout of around 11-12lb . The photo on the left is a monster of over 14lb+ my friend just caught today with a Deadly Cicada this is why I only use the best hooks on all my fly designs . Which is something no other shops can control or know as they all buy there flies for sale mostly from big fly companies and do they really care!. :)



Yes! That scale is showing just over 14lbs+ and the brown trout before that was only 9lbs and he had only just fished for an hour., What river and where? Sorry my lips are sealed.
We were on a back-country camp-out with a client and I left my tent early in the morning for a whizz. There was ice on the top of it despite it being so hot during the day.

I turned round and Trigger had quickly sneaked off her blanket from under the truck and was looking up at me from my dry warm pillow.

The little cute shit!. She did not want to get out and I don't blame her as it was a wee bit chilly.



After some terrible 4 x 4 tracks on the last trip with my client the only thing that was not loose or broken on the vehicle was the number plate.

I even managed to snap the tow bar tongue and tow ball off the back of the truck , it was so rough.

This is the part which customers never see all the organizing for multi-day trips and all the packing and unpacking then fixing everything before the next client.

A guides hours are longer than what most people could imagine.

I was netting a big trout and it bit my finger?

I was netting a trout and a big eel appeared out of know where and bit my finger ?

I had a little bit of a fight with a barbed wire fence and it won?

I"ll let you guess which one .

Did you know? That Stu's Deadly Cicadas are all designed with easy to see hi-viz posts, so you catch more fish .

Did you also know that Stu has the largest cicada fly you can buy in the world. In three different colors all tied on big bass hooks ,these are Giant bush cicada flies. NOT for small fish- Bass ,Jungle fish etc mostly

You can get many colors and sizes of the Deadly Cicadas and also with different colored sight posts.

The ones in the photo on the left are Olive Deadly cicadas.


Did you know? Depending on where you are fishing the color and size of the different natural cicadas will change.

These ones are tan ones found mostly around tussock grasses.

Did you know? The first cicada design Stu made was from deer hair then he changed to foam and then through the years back to deer hair and foam and with an easy to see sight post.

He still has old film printed photos of the first original ones he tied, there was no digital cameras back then.

Yes! he's an old bugger that's been doing this for more years than you all may think. :)

Did you know? That in most areas where there are large amounts of gravel and rock beside water mostly in elevated areas you will find the black alpine cicadas.

Its always good to have more than one color and size to match the naturals , some are so small.




Mostly taken by trout for a small yellow hopper


Did you know? That I use fly Juice on
all my dry flies , when they are dry and before using them on the water. I will coat a few flies for the day in the morning and let the replant dry on them to help them repel water when used.
I always use it on the post and body of the DEADLY cicada, as if the post gets wet it can off balance the fly.


Some cicadas are bright chartreuse in color and Stu even has that color covered, He has the largest range of cicada dry flies on the planet and the only range of easy to see Deadly cicadas which he designed.


Did you know? That from the original Stu's cicada design way back Stu changed the hook model through the years five times to get it right and have the strongest Japanese hook with the largest gape for more solid hook ups.



The Deadly Cicada is designed that if the cast has been made properly it will sit up right every time and you will instantly see the sight post and know where your fly is on the water. It also has a foam head for extra buoyancy and some other secret bits !!



As you can see in the photo the hook sits down in the water slightly and nothing is in the way for the best solid hook ups and more success for those using them.
After a while your fly will get waterlogged or covered in fish slime i will normally quickly squeeze the water out with my fingers and then place it in some sheep dip and give it a shake ,which dries the fly quickly.

Though after a while I will take it off and place it on my fly patch to dry naturally and then tie on another new dry cicada


If the trout are all on cicadas , normally i tie the fly straight onto the leader normally a 12ft Rio power-flex leader , why tie tippet on when you don't have too!

DO you know? That it is very easy to order a custom selection of flies from Stu. Boxed or unboxed.
He can make you a great selection of the best flies for when, where, species and country you're fishing. Stu wants you to catch fish.Only the best flies are used in all the selections and tied only on the strongest fly hooks.

A RIVER RUNS

A awesome little book that you can pick up and read a few pages and get some great thoughts or vibes from, A book of very short thought provoking poems from a fellow fly fisher and NZ football coach. Hes one talented man,read on.



Much has been written about Pablo Escobar and even though I thought I had read and watched it all , these two dudes tell the tale ,how it was, interesting.


BOOK STU AS YOUR GUIDE WITH OVER 44 YEARS EXPERIENCE. FISHING ALL OVER THE WORLD. IT'S BEEN HIS LIFE.

FLY DESIGNER , MASTER FLY CASTING INSTRUCTOR & MUCH MORE.
If you have any questions
or would like to make a booking
email me.