Geoff continues to bang out flies at the tying bench this winter! He is on a deer hair kick at the moment preparing large cicada patterns with rubber legs for NZ. They look seriously evil but then again they say you resemble the flies the flies you tie a bit like pet owners. He claims to have caught five fish up to 5lb in about fifteen casts on this pattern last season in NZ.

We don't fish when we have clients but Geoff tells me he 'demonstrated' how to 'fish them up' to two doubters he took on a river in NZ.

The rain had messed up the intended river for the day so they headed for a tail water unaffected by runoff. Being a new and unfamiliar river, the clients were unsure of how to tackle such a huge, fast moving body of water. After twenty minutes or so they requested him to give them a demo. Two or three casts later a four pound rainbow slammed the fly with a crash. The trouble with big deer hair flies is that when a large fish with big teeth chews them up the deer hair becomes loose.

The clients then set to, fishing hard as Geoff had shown them. Several cicadas got chewed up as fish were brought to net. No doubt, the fish were keen to belt these big deer hair flies. They were great fish in high spirits according to roger. As evening approached Geoff was asked to have a fish too (Guides get a chance to fish in the evening after supporting their clients all day, changing flies, spotting fish, netting and advising which tactics to use for each fish found).

Geoff then set about searching the drop off on a big gravel bar. Three great brownies came to the net. All slammed the big cicada which was looking very weary at this stage with loose deer hair repaired by being tied back on the hook with some tippet to keep it working, despite its bedraggled appearance.

Roger and Bob had since worn out their cicadas and were down to commercial patterns that were less effective.

Falling back to the take out spot near the bridge to make use of the last light, Geoff's big cicada nailed another rainbow making his tally five great fish caught and released.

No wonder he is preparing early this time. He has tied 126 of these spooky things at last count and is still going. He knocks out one every time he passes the bench. He will need plenty for clients in 2006 and it won't matter if a few get chewed up after looking at the pile slowly accumulating on the bench.

For more information on NZ trips click here!