# Night time trout fishing



## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

Hi i was wondering if any one can help me get past a snag or two. i fish for big fish and most time's i do get them, but at a loss to many wolly buggers.
main problem is the fly sink's to low and hooks up on rocks etc.
is there a way to keep the fly just off the bottom or a foot above the bottom on slow to fast deep river's at all?. i use a slow sinker or a fast sinker with mono fishing line to the fly. i can not use boobie's as they are not as effective as my glowing bugger's. so any tip's idea's would be sweet as thanks guy's


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

Welcome to the board! Where abouts are you from in N.Z.? I have been lucky enough to fish the North Island 3 times so far... 

Depending on who you talk to you will certainly get a few different responses. There are many in a school of thought that will say your current loss of wooly buggers means your fly is right where it should be and that this situation is just part of the game. If you are not snagging up on the bootom, then you are not fishing where the fish are. However, you mentioned that you would like to see your fly a little higher in the water column. A few quick thoughts.

Less weight on the line or in the fly.

Shorten the leader.

However there are few other tricks too. One that I like is to fish a foam bodied streamer on a sinking line. The line will get it down, and the foam will help to bring your fly up in the water column. When stripped, the fly will dive then float back up like an injured or dying fish. Very enticing to a variety of species in still or moving water.

Good luck, and if you ever see them, say hi to Peter Church and Tony Orman for me...:lol: 

Steelie


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## Riverkeeper (Mar 27, 2006)

You can try using mice on the surface at night ....

You can install weedguards on your woolly buggers ....

How late at night are you fishing? after dark?


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## WILDCATWICK (Mar 11, 2002)

Couldn't you just grease the leader with floatant? Then your fly will still pull it down but it should float a little higher because of the leader being a little more boyant. Seems to me that would be the easiest thing to try.


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

thanks it's nice to be here.
i live in turangi near the great fishing river in nz, not far from taupo. i do know tony orman if he is the fisherman i'm thinking of i'll let him know you said hi ok 
i use wooly bugger's a lot because i can dress there head's up with a slip on saltwater glow sleeve. and man do i get hit's on thoes, i am getting deep but it's like the belly of the line hit's the bottom of the river and then it drag's the fly along the rocks gravel. how about when i fish i use a xtra long sink tip on a floating line? with not so long leader tippit etc 
most of the fish i go after to 11pm at night are the big sod's over 8 pound's my last one's was 8 pound's and just a hair over 9 pound's on the lie detector test. strange thoe as i have not caught any rainbows at night so far just thoes big browns. some brown's i have seen there would go over 10 pounds at a pinch, massive log's that just sitting there, i have used the mouse fly in the daytime with unbelievable result's, just a cast to the bank and a wiggle wiggle pull pull and outa the deep comes jaw's wide open and wack nothing but a hole in the water where the fly was. mabey i should just stick to loosing fly's and have fun cause that's parta the fishin i guess.


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

Ah NZ... Turangi at the feet of volcanoes Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. I spent nearly a week in the Turangi area a few years back fising the mighty Tonariro and several other waters feeding Lake Taupo. Fond memories indeed as well as the consumption of several stienlagers and black max. I still have a pin in my fishing hat from Turangi. A place to which I would surely like to return someday, what a lucky person you are to have all that great water at your doorstep! Is there not still a sporting goods/fly shop in Turangi? I seen to remember picking up a bunch of flies there and the fellas were quite nice. Perhaps they could also help with your questions? The same fellas I believe recommended Peter Church as a guide for the Tongariro and surrounding area. He was a nice guy and excellent guide if he is still in the business.

Mice - Have you tried fishing them at night yet? It is something that a few daring souls do here in Michigan with grand results. By virtue of your prior post it sounds like you have the concept down, now just do it in the dark... hehehe... 

Steelie


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

the mouse fly works a treat in the daytime for me, 
floatent on the leader wont work this way sorry, the streams run to fast in some places i fish the pool's. yes there is still a place called sporting life 
if this is the place let me know i'll put the link there for you ok and you can check it out on fishing reports on the mighty Tongariro
http://sportinglife-turangi.co.nz/pages/fishing.htm

i dont use weight's on the fly just tung bead's on my wolly buggers
is all they have yet i'm pretty sure it's the belly of the sinking flyline that makes it snag offen on boulders and god know's what else. 
the link above gives you a look at nz trout almost every day it's updated with new photo's and fish pic's from other ppl that strike a pose for a fish 
as soon as i find my big brown i'll post it on here for you's to look at.


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

Maybe we should change the name of the thread to night time fishing and New Zealand... hahaha. 

NZ, yes that seems to be correct. I added the link to my favorites. I seem to remember a high vaulted ceiling and wooden plank walls? Could be wrong may be confusing it with another place. 

I also like this webcam:

http://www.riverbirches.co.nz/rivercam.php

It looks like a busy day on that hole today when I looked at it. Counted five fishermen in that hole. I have fond memories of that particular hole as well. Not worried to chat about it here as so very few who visit here would even know where to find it!  But in '99 I had a trip to NZ with my mother, father and youngest brother. We rented a caravan and had a great time! At any rate we stopped in the Turangi area for a few days. Peter Church was suggested as a guide. He first took us to the pool from the webcam, Judges Pool I think. Any way, Peter set me at the top of the pool with a set up that you seem to be talking about. Wooly bugger and a sinking line. Then instructed me to cast and step down stream, cast and step, cast and step. In the meantime he was working with my little brother helping him with his casting mechanics and trying to get him on a fish. Needless to say I caught several wonderful browns despite the water clarity. Rains had washed ash from the highlands into the river and the clarity was not too good, but we did hit fish! 

Back to your question. You stated that you believe your sinking line itself may be the culprit by having it's belly drag on the bottom and the resulting snag occurs. Perhaps a lighter sinkning line? When Peter had us fishing Judges Pool I think we used a Teeney 500 line. I am 5'6" and the water was up to my waist in the gut of the pool... 

Also, do you tie your own flies? If so you may find the following site of interest if you have not come across it already:

http://www.flytyingforum.com 

In fact I still have fly box (I will post a pic when I find it) that is half full of patterns I bought at various shops in NZ like Sporting Life in Turangi and Hamills in Rotorua. They are deadly on our home waters and... shhhh, don't tell any one I have them! :lol: 

However, one of my absolute favorites to use here in Michigan is the Craig's nightime. What a wonderful fly! However, seeing that we cannot get Pukeko here in the States (I will send you an email on this...) I use peacock body feather for the veil rather than the Pukeko. Works like a charm on steelhead! I also have found use for Hamill's Killer and Mrs. Simpson on both trout and smallmouth bass.

At any rate, perhaps consideration should be placed into the weight of your sinking line, perhaps it is too heavy? 

Steelie


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

yes i may have to stick to a slower sink rate line inter would be the best option for me.:fish2:


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

hi steelie yes i know that hole very well indeed, that's where i caught my 1st ever trout in my underwear with no socks on. got 3 fish that day 2 on my home made egg pattern and one on a salmon roe. i was so eager to land and fish that i had to come in from the water cause my leg's went numb. on a lighter note, if you ever in nz hook up on here and we can do a spota fishin around the local spot's and some of my spot's where thoes big bloody browns are. looking at the bank on the left of the pic, where there is no vegatation, right there is a hole or gutter where the fish hold out. and down the river where it flattens out is where some good rainbows hang out and you can cast say 6 feet and hook em. at night i fish further up the river now where it's as black as the inside of a cow. makes the glow bug's glow and i can see it in the water even 10 feet down lol that's how clear the water is.


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

Ha ha.... I can just picture it! Desparation can drive us to extreme behaviours! 

Yep, gotta love Judges Pool. articularly when the run is on.

I would gladly take you up on your kind offer next time I am on that side of the equator! Fish a bit, share a few stienlager or black max...? 

Steelie


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

lol yes i have fished the judges pool nice pool to if you can get in. i dont drink stinelarger horrid beer. i'm more of a bourbon man myself. so any drink's with a fellow fly fisher is glady taken up. i'll even show ya how to fish at 10pm on a pitch black night for some big brown's to 10 pound and some go above that mark always. best of all you can watch them swim towards you lol so cool this spot i have. one brown i got i just droped the fly in front of it's nose and it inhaled it. and i dident even have to take any line out  now that's cool aye


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

Hey, you two get a room..... 

Just kidding. I actually got a bit of a thrill of you two posting of your NZ experiences. It's on my list of places to fish but probably still 10 years away. The wife insists that I take her to Hawaii before I leave the country for fish. 

Does Hawaii have trout??


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

I seem to remember the first day I fished the Judges was few years back around Easter on a weekday. When we got there we were the only ones at about 8:30 am. Saw two other anglers later however. But that pool is large enough to handle a couple of folks I suppose. Even today I looked at the web cam there and saw five people there. (Sat Sept 30 5:19 pm local time). 

Curious, have you ever traveled into the high country by foot or heli?

Oh yeah, how big would you like those crayfish? Olive, rust or brown tones... or all of them? I really like to tie, so no worries there. In fact a fishing buddy once said I tie better than I fish, and I agreed! Also, I seem to remember certain wieght and or material restrictions in that area, particularly on the Tongariro such as no lead in flies and all weight in the fly (no split shot and the like), do you know if rattles are still legal? Reason being I plan to incorporate them into the crayfish I will tie for you.

Steelie


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

Oh yeah, how big would you like those crayfish? Olive, rust or brown tones... or all of them? I really like to tie, so no worries there. In fact a fishing buddy once said I tie better than I fish, and I agreed! Also, I seem to remember certain wieght and or material restrictions in that area, particularly on the Tongariro such as no lead in flies and all weight in the fly (no split shot and the like), do you know if rattles are still legal? Reason being I plan to incorporate them into the crayfish I will tie for you.

ohh it's all changed now bro, we are allowed split shot and lead weight's to fly's to allow for better bomb's, but because they have let us use split shot bomb's are bombing so to speak. one fly and a AA split shot is all you need now. but i have used bomb's and i caught my 1st rainbow on a bomb was way stoked indeed, when the river was dirty i found a pool and the trout was on the edge of the pool and i pulled 3 fish outa it right in front of the snobby nosed pro's and they was like WOW! and when i said i caught them on glowbug's they was like :yikes: and :tdo12: and i was :lol: and then they got pissed and left in a :rant: way cool. not offen i get to outfish the pro's on there home waters mind you as a X commercial fisherman i learn pretty fast on how to fish lol


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

Ah hah! Interesting that they changed the rules, should make it a little easier for the fishermen. 

When I was there we never used the true bomber flies. Instead we used a very very heavy pheasant tail or hares ear nymph. They were tied wuith small dumbell eyes and copper wire instead of thread. I have used them to success here as some of our pools and holding water are quite short but deep and it can be difficult to get down fast enough.

I will start work on the crayfish this week!

Steelie


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

http://pub40.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=79160&usernum=3398725511 split shot help us big time saves buying so many bomb's


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

What a beauty, and a great way to get the young ones started early!

Steelie


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

thanks i got that at 10:30pm in 2 feet of water, one thing i had noticed is that trout are not that scared of led light's compared to white light's. i got yoru email on your addy when i finely get packed and moved into the new place i'll get thoes feathers sorted out and posted  so at the moment i'm in wellington till next week when i move to turangi i'm glad i did get the house when i did cause as summer is here almost places in taupo and such get snaped up big time or they charge heaps for renting. at least i wont have to walk far the river is 3 minutes from the house oh joy :lol: oh the bliss  ohhh the feelings i get from flyfishing  such a fun_da_full way to fish 
at least i dont have to wash the salt out of the motor now.


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

Ha... Take your time, I am in no hurry... 

I was looking at rental cottages recently in the Turangi area. Quite affordable from US standards! There were even a few within 100 yard of Judges Pool! Oh my... This will certainly be thought of for future trips to NZ!

Steelie


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

when ya ready bro pop over for a month or two i have plenty of room and we can catch thoes trout till they sick of seeing a fly


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## Silverexpress (Sep 6, 2006)

NZflyman said:


> i use wooly bugger's a lot because i can dress there head's up with a slip on saltwater glow sleeve.


Hello NZflyman, 

What is a glow sleeve? Where do you get it, and how do you put it on a wooly bugger? Can you post a pic?

This lure has peaked my curiosity!


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

Silverexpress said:


> Hello NZflyman,
> 
> What is a glow sleeve? Where do you get it, and how do you put it on a wooly bugger? Can you post a pic?
> 
> This lure has peaked my curiosity!


lol sweet as here is the pic. what's your email i'll send two of em for you
or try these link's 
http://pub40.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=99543&usernum=3398725511
http://pub40.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=99544&usernum=3398725511


glow sleeve's in nz are just lump sleeve's for deep water fishing they glow when a light is shined on them for upto 15 minutes. i just slip a small sleeve over the wolly bugger and let rip and they just go nut's for it.:corkysm55


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## Silverexpress (Sep 6, 2006)

NZflyman,

Thanks! It's given me some ideas to try for the up coming fly tying season.


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

NZ, you let the cat out of the bag! Hahaha

I really like using glow materials in my flies and have been doing so for 12 years or so. It can certainly make a difference! 

Steelie


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

i think if it works well for me then it will work for anyone. 
i like to share my sucess as well, main reason i used sleeve's was that the fly's ppl tie with little itty bitty lumo in them was not working unless the fly was in the fishe's gob. so i made the fly stand out at night that in clean clear water they will see it 2 feet either side of them. i use the led light's to make them glow most last 10 15 minutes that's about as good as i will get it.
best thing about useing this method is that lumo tube's are easy to get and dont cost a bomb. i brought some glowing powder on the net that does not need light to glow, it just glow's at night on it's own. you mix it with any thing but waterbased product's and i will add it to some head cement and have glowing head's on my fly's as well.


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

hi sorry for the delay i have moved house and happy as with all the fishing i have been upto in and around the traps on the mighty TT. first week i caught 18 fish, saw 20 odd fish in one pool mostley fresh run then the slab fish took over as the fresh run's did there thing's and left the pool. caught some mighty fish some so big that the headed to iceland wearing my fly's as earring's. i am setting my self up as a local guide as the one's here charge to much for people. so i'll be called El cheapo guideing services. hahahaha under cut the buggers eh  i'll keep you up to date on the fishing here and show you pic's of the one's i have kept and let go. if yoru insterested i can send you vacumed packed smoked trout from some of my biggest fresh run fish. nice and orange and delish  let me know if ya keen


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

got me a nice 10 pounder at night on a black wooly bugger lost a bigger one that whent to china. i have pic so any emails will get a look at this fish lol


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## joefsu (Jan 9, 2005)

How about posting a pic on the site? I'm sure everyone here would like to see!


Nice work,

Joe


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

http://www.petelambfishing.co.nz/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&Itemid=58&page=inline&id=193&catid=18&limitstart=2 
hope this works lol yip it does, and it's not a brown trout as i thought it was. just dark on top cause it's been in the river a long time. it's a rainbow trout, god only knows how big the one i lost was as this one is 10lb could have gone 15 or more pounds floating logs i call them. just so big


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

Lets see if this works.


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

how did you post that? i thought i had to link the pic


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

If the picture is already stored somewhere on the net you can just right click on it and hit Properties. Highlight the properties for the picture and copy it. Once you are here on the forum you just click the little yellow button with the mountain in it (Insert Image). Delete everything in the dialog box then past what you copied earlier and hit enter. Your picture should then appear in the post.


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## NZflyman (Sep 27, 2006)

Man the fishing has just been getting better and better here. saw a rainbow est to be at least 15lb in 3 feet of water. pity it was not hungry  hope the new year has been good for you all. be good people or be good at it :lol: :coolgleam


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## Adrian (Sep 26, 2006)

Things have changed for me i live next to a lake and a big lake at that. rainbows to 12 pounds massive big fish in them. sorry i havent loged on for a while. but i will send you some more Pukeko feathers when ever you need them again. hope they worked as well as they do here in nz 
if any one wants feathers from nz i'll send em not a worry 
happy fishing guys my email is [email protected]


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