Fly Fishing for Trout in The Best River I've Fished!!

This backcountry river holds some really big trout and is my favourite fly fishing spot. In fact, it's the best river I've fished. Fly fishing with a dry dropper rig was the method that proved successful and the biggest rainbow trout for the day pulled the scales to 5lb.
#flyfishing #troutfishing #drydropper #fishing #rainbowtrout
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[@hello-cx1vv]

Hello, I'm from Thailand i love watching you very much You did a great job fishing.

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thank you very much, really appreciate it. Greetings from New Zealand

[@OnTheFlyNZ]

That camera on the pole in your backpack is a game changer and gets some great footage. One of my favourite sections of water that, had some very memorable days there. Awesome.

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Yeah it's been well received so far. It's nice to get a bit of a different perspective and see more of what is going on. I do want to find a way to position it a bit more to the right so you can see more of where I cast. Sometimes takes happen behind my head. A little to the right and they would be much more visible. Just a fantastic bit of water that. Want to push up a bit further next time it is low.

[@blcarcher6964]

Beautiful rainbow

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thank you

[@natureandfishing24]

Beautiful video, beautiful place - Regards from Macedonia

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thank you very much! Regards from New Zealand

[@e-spaineducation-enjoyment4428]

Another great video Johan ! Truly an amazing river

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Glad you enjoyed it, can't wait to catch up and go fishing!

[@echofc983]

Those birds in the background sound lovely. Better than any music.

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Nature is the best music, I'll be using more of it in future.

[@NeilgRichardson]

excellent Johan, beautiful water, we all have a spate of dropsies, my last trip to the Tongariro was like that, enjoying the content cheers

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks Neil, good to hear you enjoyed the video and hopefully the rivers clear in a few weeks time so we can get out again.

[@parabolicflow891]

Great video and its refreshing to see I'm not the only one who has a bad day dropping fish!

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks, great to hear you enjoyed it. I have these bad days regularly and some days I spend more time untangling or catching trees and snags than fish. It's all part of it some say 😂🎣 Tight lines.

[@oldsmugglerflyfishing]

Awesome video mate! Keep the good work!

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks, will do!

[@nzadventurer]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it

[@zbigniewkolasinski4627]

Świetne klimaty! Żyć nie umierać!!!! 🙂👍

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thank you 😊

[@flytrout_nz]

Excellent underwater shots 👏. Fingers crossed for the weather to get more stabilized.

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks, that brown underwater was really neat. Hopefully the rivers are ok again for our trip!

[@user-qy1rk1fv6n]

Great movie! Beautiful places. I am from Belarus and fishing is very popular here. but fly fishing is used by a few fishermen, a very specific tackle. Tip: additionally sign the video in Russian and the number of your subscribers will increase significantly! Your videos are very cool!

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks you and thanks for the tip. I will see if I can auto translate.

[@moucheetpeche]

Very nice trouts 👍

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks 👍

[@schmoonkie]

Yes, I definitely enjoyed this video. Beautiful river, especially the stretches with boulders. A couple of comments, which I hope won't offend you as an experienced angler. First, it seemed to me that at times you had lots of slack line in the water upstream of you. So if you wanted to set the hook, you'd first have to take all the slack off the water before the line would be tight. Of course, having the line too tight during the drift could impart unwanted motion to your fly. Second, I noticed while you're trying to land the fish that's downstream, you pull the fish upstream. When possible, I point my rod tip toward the bank on the downstream side and exert lateral pressure. Pulling the fish upstream gives the fish some advantage as it can use the flow of the stream to get away. ( I feel like a know-it-all spectator at a soccer match... ;-) ).

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. It's my favourite river on the North Island. I did have a lot of slack and I'm sure it's why I dropped a bunch of fish but I needed it to counter the drag. I was fishing far away with many opposing currents in between and it wasn't possible to wade closer. A bit of a tradeoff. Tight lines, hope you are getting some fishing in but it's probably a bit cold over there?

[@schmoonkie]

@@CrazyAboutFlyFishing It's been pretty chilly here with snow. Tomorrow they're predicting -12 Celsius. Not exactly fishing weather. I'm headed for Argentina in a few weeks and will get my fix fishing for Golden Dorados. After that it'll be 5 months of intense fishing for trout. I've tied over 400 flies for that trip and will tie another 200 or so.

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

@@schmoonkie oh -12 celsius, yeah no fishing thanks. Enjoy your golden dorado trip, that should be spectacular. Looks like an awesome fish to catch. Definately on my bucket list. Enjoy the tying, I have a lot to do for an upcoming bonefish trip. Tight lines.

[@davemackay8866]

Superb casting to accurately get under those trees on the small run at the end of the video - I would have caught the trees every time ...

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks very much. I do catch the trees pretty often but I do love the challenge of getting under them. I often fish a fair bit of overgrown water so always enjoy a bit of tight casting.

[@sugriv3405]

Nice angles 👌👌👌

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thank you so much 😀

[@echofc983]

Hey man it's me again. This video turned out very nicely and I think the thumbnail also turned out amazing. Love the content and keep up the grind. Fish on!!

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Awesome, glad you enjoyed it and appreciate the feedback on the thumbnails. Have some good stuff coming. Tight lines.

[@echofc983]

@@CrazyAboutFlyFishing can't wait to see some more vids!

[@tenkarapondfishing4611]

Hi. Very good fly fishing video! One suggestion re your casting. Try pausing after the backcast. You'll not only load the rod better, but your presentation won't slap the water as much and potentially spook fish.. You'll also cast further and more accurately, as well as lay down dries much more naturally.

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thank you. Yeah I must work on that pause, I am aware of it. Appreciate the feedback. Tight lines.

[@ericyamashita7273]

Nice fishing! Here's a tip for your Insta360, I see when you have it in your backpack you extend the smaller diameter section. I found that the footage is a bit more stable if you extend the thick section portion. It's harder to pull out, but doesn't wobble as much.

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks, that's handy, I will try that for sure. I think I need to stuff some light puffy clothes in the pack as well just to make it more stiff. I found it was better with my heavy hiking backpack. I may in future get one of the dedicated backpack mounts instead as they allow you to change the angle a bit more. I find the camera ends up a bit too in line with my head most of the time so you can't see where I am casting. Lots to learn and work out.

[@ToeBiter2]

Great video again Johan. What dry fly do you use to suspend the beadhead dropper, and what is the max beadhead you use on the dropper? I find I have to go for a large stimulator to hold up heavy nymphs in those deep fast runs. cheers, Darryl

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks Darryl, much appreciated. I tend to use foam patterns in sizes 8 to 12 for tungsten beads up to 3mm and droppers up to about 4ft. If you need any more depth of weight than that it's probably time to swap to a nymph rig. I was using a size 12 Swishers PMX skawala from Manic here with a 2.5mm size 14 or 16, red wired frenchie of pheasant tail with a 3-4ft dropper. On small water I tend to use a parachute adams with and unweighted or lighly weighted pheasnt tail or a Royal wulff. As soon as things get heavier I prefer foam patterns. I did a video about my dry dropper setup and a bit of an article about it you can look at here: www.crazyaboutflyfishing.com/post/fly-fishing-with-a-dry-dropper-rig

[@blcarcher6964]

My love count fishing is too bad that I'll chop don't get that big here but I caught some golden trout and some rainbows about pound 1 1/2

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Golden trout sound pretty cool, I've only seen pictures.

[@TheBigchuckie]

No u didn't forget the new spork🤪

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Haha you'll see the new spork in it's full glory in the next vid. I have a whole bit dedicated to it 🤣

[@pierevojzola9737]

Hi Johan, that was a fantastic days fishing, well worth the trip. Nice presentation and good size fish. Are you using barbless hooks, or is it the type of hook? I noticed Gareth from Trout Hunting had a bad day a few weeks ago, we never found out what the problem was except it annoyed the hell out of him! I tie my own flies and am much more careful on my selection of the make of the hook rather then the colour of the fly material. Anyway, great video. Cheers mate. Harera

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

It was a great day indeed. I'm using Tiemco barbless ones on my nymphs. They are good hooks, don't think it's that. I was fishing long distance a lot of the time over mixed currents so I had a lot of slack to pick up. Just don't think I was getting good hook sets. A few of them also went for the dry and got flossed on the nymph which is never a good hookup. The big brown though, just unlucky I think. Tight lines.

[@pierevojzola9737]

Hi, the Tiemco hooks are a good choice and I think you are on the right track, have a thought about the selection of the floating line for long distance hook up. Great video! Cheers mate. Harera

[@kenlloyd5195]

nice fish whats your favurite dry dropper combo

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Thanks Ken, depends on the water. Small clear and low, Adams parachute and a small pheasant tail. Faster but still small water a big royal wulff and a weighted small pheasant tail. Big water like this, foam patterns like hoppers, cicads and cubbies with a bigger hare and copper/hare's ear with a longer dropper. If it's really cicada time like now I'll use foam cicada patterns everywhere and just see how the fish react. Mostly they take it viciously from Jan to March. Hope that helps. I have a video about my dry dropper setup from late last year on my channel if you haven't seen it. Called "The best of both worlds.." or something like that. Tight lines.

[@AdriftFishing]

2 fish in 30m that’s a god stream

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Haha, I'm still not over last seasons crazy winter fishing of catching 20 fish from one spot all 3-6lb. Wonder what this winter will bring.

[@lawrencemacd63]

Where about are you fishing South Africa or New Zealand 🇿🇦🇳🇿🐟🎣

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

New Zealand

[@lawrencemacd63]

@@CrazyAboutFlyFishing your accent threw me off I’m all the way over in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇳🇿🐟🎣

[@mitchelldenysschen3224]

When are we going to get you off the Ricoffy and Cremora? 😅 you know you can buy it pre-mix in RSA now?

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Haha, if only I had Ricoffy, it's too darn expensive here being imported. It's just Pam's cheap brand. I do have real milk though, always take some more. Cremora was never on top for me. I have a little Italian coffee maker thingy I need to remember to take along some time. It is much nicer.

[@mitchelldenysschen3224]

@@CrazyAboutFlyFishing flying into Auckland from CPT in April. Will see if there is space in my bag for a blikkie Ricoffy for you 😅

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Not a bad time here, getting some fishing in?

[@mitchelldenysschen3224]

@@CrazyAboutFlyFishing making the move over with the family. Will be based in Auckland for next 2 years and will definitely reach out once landed and have a NZ mobile number. Keen to join a social fly tying / fishing club in Auckland!

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

@Mitchell Denysschen nice, I'm based in Auckland and with the North Shore club. There are two clubs North Shore and Auckland. Both are good, one area might suit you better depending on where you end up. Keep in touch.

[@garystedman324]

Ware abouts r u fishing

[@CrazyAboutFlyFishing]

Central North Island of New Zealand. I know that's vague but I don't name specific water publicly. Tight lines.