Tag: swf

Salt Fly School North Island Tour 2021

King Tide Salt Fly School North Island tour dates and details. Saltwater fly fishing guide Lucas Allen runs through what to expect from the day.

Late last year we embarked on providing a teaching platform to enable people to further themselves or discover the opportunities within saltwater fly fishing. The basis of the day was to provide a condensed interactive presentation free of all the bullshit, but most importantly focused on what New Zealand has to offer, after all there is a lot of accessible water right on our doorstep.

This year we have fine tuned the approach even more and have rolled out a wee North Island tour to grab the people that simply missed out because they couldn’t make it to the events in Tauranga. See the dates below for a session near you.

  • AUCKLAND – Aug 07 – Rod and Reel
  • TAURANGA – Sep 11 – Bowls Matua
  • TAUPO – Sep 25 – Taupo Fishing Club
  • WELLINGTON – Dec 04 – Mana Cruising Club

The day itself is a mixture of class based learnings, interactive casting tuition and eating a bloody good lunch. Besides all that the one thing stands out in my mind and probably the most important factor is meeting others that are just as mad as you think you are to be throwing pieces of fluff at species that others would simply huck a pilchard at. Who knows, you might even find a new fishing partner.

If you’re curious regarding what to expect here is a rough breakdown of the day

  • 0900 – Intros
  • 0930 – Salt vs Fresh
  • 0945 – Gear and set ups
  • 1030 – Morning Tea
  • 1045 – Locations and Approach
  • 1130 – Fly casting – Double Haul
  • 1230 – Lunch
  • Flies – How to fish them
  • 1345 – Knots and rigging
  • 1415 – Target species
  • 1445 – On water management
  • 1500 – Wrap up/beers etc

As always these days wouldn’t be anywhere near as successful without the massive input from Manic Tackle Project, Taupo Rod & Tackle, Minn Kota/Humminbird NZ & AU, Smith and Traeger.

Places are filling quickly so secure you and your mates spot now by emailing lucas@kingtidesaltfly.com

King Tide joins the Scott family

Lucas Allen - Scott Pro Staff

Recently King Tide got onboard the Scott roster alongside some bloody great fly fishos. I love a good bit of kit and these rods are no exception, constantly delivering cast upon cast and making most of our clients look good! Check the link below for the line up and a sweet range of fly sticks.

https://www.scottflyrod.com/pros/search?type=region&country=NZ

Leftys Loop Knot instructional video

We recently teamed up with the good buggers at Manic Tackle Project for a weekend of fishing. In-between all that I sat down and went over some basic set ups and preferred knots. Take a quick look at one of the strongest salt water fly fishing loop knots and a few tips to tie it crispy clean every time.

For a few other loop knot options jump back to a test we ran a few years back here.

New rig finally gets wet

It’s been a busy winter and spring for us at King Tide. The crew at FC Boats have been flat tack custom building a new FC535 centre console guide boat. A few more tweaks and we’re away for the season.

If you want to come dance on the massive new casting deck then send us a message through the contact link here.

Flats kingfish recapture 

The Tauranga harbour Kingfish season has been bubbling away for a few eager salt water fly fishermen. It was a special moment when Aussie angler Rob hooked a ray rider Kingfish on the flats earlier this week.

Tauranga, flats, kingfish, fly rod, salt water, fishing, yellowtail
Rob Alfeldi and his prized Tauranga flats kingfish

What made it even more poignant was that this fish had a tag embedded in its side from earlier in the year . Back in March I was joined by Jim Hanley for a morning prior to a storm front rolling in. We had a glass calm flat with bow waves and tails showing themselves wherever we looked. Needless to say he caught a few yellowtail kingfish on fly that day.

Kingfish, ray rider, tag, salt water fly, tauranga, bay of plenty, new zealand
Jim displays his tagged kingfish from March 2017

What this fish has done over winter will remain a mystery but it’s appearance this week was very welcome.

Kingfish tag details

  • Time at liberty: 238 days
  • Growth: 6cm
  • Distance: 5NM
  • Grew an eyebrow

We are finding more interesting info as these data returns come back to us. The importance of looking after these smaller sports fish and maintaining their population for generations to come should not be overlooked.

Tag, kingfish, fly rod, salt water, collingwood, manukau, waiheke island
Rob sends another tagged kingfish back to carry on hunting the Bay of Plenty waters.

At this stage it seems each region has a slightly different story to tell, most likely in accordance with environmental factors such as water temperature and quality determining fish movement. New Zealand’s key salt water fly fishing destinations of Waiheke Island, Collingwood, Tauranga and Manukau harbours are covered by the tag a king on fly program and we expect to see more recaptures this season adding to the data bank.

If you are lucky enough to land a previously tagged kingfish please treat it carefully, ideally get tag details – a close up picture is easiest and fastest. Measure it along your rod and return it to the water promptly. If it’s legal maybe even think twice about keeping it, the story about the goose that lays a golden egg is a perfect analogy.