The Weekly Five - 43
Tights & Tacky
EXPLORATION ANGLING — TWF:43
Welcome to The Weekly Five, Issue 43, where we share five tidbits of international fly fishing content, tackle and news to keep you informed. This week we’re talking didymo, Tacky (fly boxes that is), neoprene tights, a change to Aitutaki’s flight schedule, and more on fishing New Zealand’s spring creeks.
Attention anglers in New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina: Protect rivers this season by preventing the spread of didymo. Check out our guide and simple biosecurity checklist to keep your gear, and these waterways, clean.
Image Credit: Landcare NZ — Didymo in New Zealand’s Hawea River
If you are traveling south to where we all wet-wade, consider picking up a pair of NRS Hydroskins (in either 0.5mm or 1.5mm Terraprene™ neoprene) to counter the cold river flows. Down to US$112 a pair right now, you have no excuse not to fish in comfort, fellow anglers.
Denver, Colorado-based Fishpond has heeded the call for lighter fly boxes within their Tacky range by adding ‘Dynamic Foam’ into the clear lid options within their Pescador range. New arrivals include a small Pescador sporting a clear lid, a medium clear lid Pescador, plus this medium Dynamic Foam Tacky Pescador weighing in at a modest 0.28 lbs (127 gms).
Image Credit: Fishpond, Colorado USA
For those planning to chase Aitutaki’s bonefish next year, Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian Airlines has adjusted their weekly Honolulu-Rarotonga route from Saturdays in/Sundays out to Fridays in/Saturdays out. The new Honolulu-Rarotonga weekly schedule from April 24, 2026 is:
HNL—RAR: Fridays — departs 4:35pm, arrives 10:55pm
RAR—HNL: Saturdays — departs 12:35pm, arrives 6:30pmDave and Amelia Jensen have been heading down to New Zealand for many years. Here’s some great educational content from these experts on presenting flies to big Browns in small West Coast spring creeks.
Missed us last week?
The Weekly Five - 42
EXPLORATION ANGLING — TWF:42
Catch up on last week's fly fishing industry news here.
Cautionary Advice for Southern Anglers
Stopping Didymo
Didymo (Didymosphenia geminata) is one of the most persistent ecological threats to the rivers and lakes of southern Chile and Argentina since its discovery here in 2009/10.
Trout in Warming Rivers
We were right up in the hills in one of New Zealand’s premier South Island backcountry rivers. This river gets a lot of guide pressure as it’s in close proximity to a well-known fishing lodge.
