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VIDEO REVIEWS Our Video Reviews are now all on this page
Use the Hyperlink to select the review you want to read.
Search and Sight Fishing, essential skills
~ Oliver Edwards.
Basic Fly Casting Doug
Swisher
Advanced Fly Casting Doug Swisher
N.Z. TROPHY WATERS Volume 3 ~ BRUCE MASON
WADER SAFETY SEMINAR ~ HAMILTON ANGLERS CLUB (BERT ROBiNSON)
ESSENTIAL SKILLS WITH OLIVER EDWARDS
MAYFLY TIME ON A CHALK STREAM
Czech Nymphing.
ROTORUA TROUT ~ GEOFF
THOMAS
Search and Sight Fishing, essential skills ~ Oliver Edwards.
Review by Lance Robinson
 This is a very informative video about tying flies then fishing them,
Oliver fishes two rivers ,the upper Avon and the Lambourn targeting
Grayling and Trout.
I found it interesting, although the rivers are nothing like we have here
,you could use the same technique on some of the small streams around the
Waikato .
The fish he catches are very small but you can have some great fun on
small
fish .
You will notice Oliver is very thorough when he ties his flies ,they look
very nice when they are finished .
Well I thought it was a good video for new fishers , anyway check it out
and
see for your self you might learn something new .
 LANCE
THE LIBRARIAN’S ~ VIDEO REVIEW'S
Our club has an extensive video library for our club members to use
I will be giving a monthly review of one of the videos.
Basic Fly
Casting ~ Doug Swisher Review by Lance
Knighton
Casting is an integral part of Fly-fishing ~ we all have to cast to pursue
our favorite method of fishing.
This video covers the mechanics of casting in a very
methodical way, whether for distance, accuracy, presentation or safety.
Sitting down on a Sunday afternoon after watching the All Blacks demolish
South Africa & the Silver Ferns demolish Jamaica I initially found the
video pedantic & over long, even boring ~ I know all this, right? Oh
that’s why I have the ‘odd’ wind knot, the ‘odd’ fly falls apart from
hitting the ground behind me, why my flies are stuck in the tree on the
other side of the stream/river rather than floating nicely below it & why
my vest back is festooned with glow bugs like a Christmas tree ~ I had
better watch this with a more open mind. This video is as it’s name states
a primer on casting ~ Basic Fly Casting.
I would recommend this video for the beginner/novice fly fisherman & good
back to basics refresher for the more experienced, if viewed ‘with an open
mind’ although I can’t agree with Doug on fishing with bright fly lines.
Advanced Fly Casting
`Doug Swisher
Ah Hah! ~ Last month I reviewed Doug Swisher’s video ‘Basic
Fly Casting’ & while I found it helpful I felt that he hadn’t covered very
much & had been rather pedantic about getting the basic casting action
right but all is now explained…
You get the basics right & then you can develop & advance further ~ And
develop further you will as Doug converts the basic casting action
(straight line & slack line casts) into a curve cast, a reach cast, a roll
cast plus
line handling techniques of roll cast pickup, stripping, mending & feeding
plus advancing further into the double haul.
If you had spent the time mastering the basic casting action Doug will now
start you casting around the clock and across varying currents refining
the basic casting action, what he calls ‘piggybacking’, to allow you to
fish any water to get the drift &/or presentation that you need.
I would recommend this video ‘Advanced Fly Casting’ by Doug Swisher for
all fly fishermen & when used with his ‘Basic Fly Casting’ video a must to
view.
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N.Z.
TROPHY WATERS Volume 3 ~ BRUCE MASON
We have a new addition to our video library this month ‘N.Z. Trophy Waters
Volume 3’ by Bruce Mason. While most movie sequels never seem to match the
first production ‘N.Z. Trophy Waters’ volumes 3 (& 2) are the exceptions
to the rule as they have been developed from just fishermen recording
their fishing trips into something more. The video features Bruce, & his
mates, fishing the South Island high-country rivers & tarns.
They are not instructional videos, but are for the voyeur
with fantastic scenery, exceptionally clear water & beautiful well marked
trout. There is not the long casting of the central N.I. rivers but close
in fishing in very clear water to sighted trout. Not all the trout
are large but most are. This video of 120 minutes has been broken into 5
parts so you don’t need to watch it in 1 sitting, with one section showing
missed chances to prove that it is not as easy as it seems & with the
added bonus of tying instruction of a favorite fly, a caddis emerger, that
is used successfully during the video. One feature of S.I. high-country
fishing that stands out ~ the wind ~ it is continually blowing throughout!
In summary ~ If you are looking for an instructional there
are other videos in the library I would recommend BUT if you can’t be out
fishing this video is a great substitute ~ highly recommended viewing.
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WADER SAFETY SEMINAR ~ HAMILTON ANGLERS CLUB (BERT ROBINSON)
SIMMS WADER SAFETY ~ SIMMS
We have 2 videos that are must viewing for all club members (for all
fishermen) ~ both deal with wader safety. The videos are complete
opposites, one very professional & the other definitely amateurish but
they both deal with the subject very well & when viewed together are
great.
The Simms video is, as you would think with anything
bearing the Simms name, very professional. The video covers a range of
river crossing situations & shows you how to deal with them. The video
uses known fishing ’names’ to demonstrate the techniques. Yes it is
Americanized & yes everyone is wearing Simms breathable waders but we can
all use the information/techniques. The 2nd video was created by our club
at one of our wader safety seminars featuring Bert Robinson as the
instructor. The filming is not fantastic but the information is fantastic.
The video covers a verbal session & then a practical session ~ with adults
in the practical session wearing neoprene waders behaving like children in
the dive pool ~ a great confidence booster. In summary both videos are a
must viewing with very necessary information ~ the added bonus is that the
videos are free to club members due to the importance of their
information.
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MAYFLY TIME ON A CHALK STREAM ~
We have 4 ‘Essential Skills with Oliver Edwards’ videos in our library
which I will review over the next 7 months ~ today’s review is on ‘Mayfly
Time on a Chalk Stream’.
Let me first confess that I enjoy watching the Oliver Edwards videos &
that I will be taking them all out regularly as part of the review process
~ just to compare them. Oliver Edwards is an international renowned,
English, fly tier that has created a range videos under the ‘Essential
Skills’ umbrella that are based on the tying & then fishing a fly or range
of flies.
In ‘Mayfly Time on a
Chalk Stream’ we go from Oliver Edwards fishing the spasmodic Greendrake
mayfly hatch on the river Avon in Wiltshire (yes Frank Sawyer’s Avon) to
the flytying bench to learn to tie the fly that Oliver has created ~ the
Mohican Mayfly. I will use Oliver’s own words to explain…
“In trickle hatch situations, the artificial has to
represent a much more convincing target. My Mohican Mayfly fits the bill,
not only does it look like a floating Greendrake to the flyfisher, it also
offers the trout an excellent silhouette as it floats into the fishes
window. It’s robust
and floats like a cork. Fun to tie.” I enjoy the Englishness of this
video, the setting, the very English presenter & the way he uses new
materials & techniques to create a very realistic fly ~ it has made me
think more creatively about the flies I tie.
This is a video you will have to ask for
as it will probably be hidden in my bag ~ GOOD Viewing!
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Czech Nymphing.
Czech nymphing is a method of fishing with weighted, streamlined nymphs
(usually caddis flies) & a short line (little more than the leader) ~ a
method that can be used very successfully on New Zealand’s fast flowing
rivers & streams ~ I remember some fantastic fishing at the top of the
‘old’
Whitikau using this method some years ago.
This is my favorite Oliver Edwards essential skills video although I must
confess to being in love with caddis flies ~ GREAT ViEWiNG!!! ~ Useful
flies, useful method!
PS There is a reference sheet of the fly patterns inside the video case
for
you to photocopy & use.
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ROTORUA TROUT
~ GEOFF THOMAS
As a little relief from Oliver Edwards videos I'm reviewing a completely
different video in our library ~ Rotorua Trout 'a' Video Guide to fishing
the Rotorua district with Geoff Thomas.
This is a very good reference video (that I watch regularly) of the
extensive fishing on our doorstep in the Rotorua district. Geoff using the
knowledge he gained as a guide, with input from guest experts, covers the
wide range of methods to use on the lakes & streams ~ flyfishing, trolling
or jigging. The video covers access, directions on where to go, what lines
or methods to use, the best times & the best conditions for each area,
even the best trolling runs on the lake.
This is a detailed, well thought out video that is a must view of anyone
contemplating fishing in the Rotorua district ~ the added bonus is that
the methods described can be used fishing elsewhere ~ Highly recommended!
BUT Geoff your throw away line about the Ngongotaha Stream trout not being
worth keeping is wrong ~ those that come out of the lake & run up the
stream can be as good as any trout anywhere.
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