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Ready Steady...Ouch !
Fri 3rd October, 2014
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I think the fishing this week is best described as "steady". I've been on the river most days and the small runs that were noticeable last weekend have continued. There are definitely more fish around and the spread of fish is also better. Although when I fished with Grant from Creel Tackle for a few hours on Tuesday we struggled to find them.
The next day I met up with Bruce and Craig both originally from Zimbabwe who despite sharing the same surname {Henderson} aren't related.
We concentrated on the town and middle river but unlike the day before things couldn't have been more different and we hit fish straight away.
By the time we packed up at lunchtime they'd landed several fish and dropped a few as well. 
Fish running the gauntlet at the bridge pool continue to be bombarded from both banks on a daily basis.
I'm told there are plenty getting caught there and its probably still the most consistent piece of water on the river. But it isn't a stretch I fish that often ... I'm afraid it doesn't do it for me.
I don't know what the stamp of fish coming out of there is like but personally I think the size and quality of fish in the river is down thus far on 2013.
May be I've been unlucky but unlike last year I don't think I've caught or seen landed that many fish over the four pound mark.
Its not what the early signs and reports coming from the lake had promised and its turning out to be "one of those memorable years "for the wrong reasons". I'm not having a go here this is still a bloody good river ... but the fish are not as good this year
Some stretches from the road bridge down have fished well the last couple of days and judging by the steady stream of anglers heading down that way this hasn't gone unnoticed.
 
After a few days of warm, mostly settled weather things changed again overnight and as I'm finishing this report there's a howling westerly and driving rain ... although I can already see blue sky behind the squally shower clouds.
I took the other Blue for a walk earlier and grabbed a rod just in case. As we passed some shallow stuff I spotted a few in the riffles and hooked a jack first cast. But as I went to take out the hook it gave one of those big kicks and swam off with my fly.
I quickly tied on another and just as quickly buried it in the back of my ear as the wind suddenly picked up on the forward cast ... well ...that's my excuse.
I normally flatten the barbs on all my hooks but Sods Law I'd grabbed one of the few in my box with the barb in tact and it didn't want to come out.
After cutting the line I carried on fishing for a while but the sooner you remove these things the better, so headed back to check out the damage.
On occasions I've hooked myself in the finger, hand and back of the neck but this was the first time I'd put one in my ear.
They tell me ears are the only part of your body that get bigger the older you get and my wife reckons that sadly they're dead right there. On Saturday I get my bus pass ... so that's why I've never hooked them in the past ... I wasn't old enough !
When this happens I normally use the string pull method to get the little buggers out. The trouble is this works best when the fly is embedded in a stable part of your anatomy ... not a floppy ear.
Luckily a quick glance in the mirror showed me it was high enough up on the back of the ear and close enough to my head to provide the resistance needed for a successful outcome. If it had been in the lobe itself it would have been a different story ... especially when you're trying to do this solo.
For those of you who aren't familiar with this method of removing a fly its a surprisingly easy and painless process.
Cut off a foot of strong mono-filament and loop it around the bend of the hook. Now press and hold down the eye end of the hook against your skin ... then gripping the loop of line firmly with the other hand give a sharp upward and away tug in the opposite direction to the way the hook went in ... and rip the hook out of your blood spattered flesh!
Only kidding ... done properly you won't feel a thing and it will save you an expensive trip to the doctors.
But a word of warning, you must do it with conviction and its often the thought that puts people off and makes them a bit tentative.
Looks like a spell of wild weather for the days ahead. Wind, rain, hail thunder and on higher ground more snow. Gail has just driven up from Wellington and there was heavy snow falling on the the Desert Road.
In between all this if you can get out for a flick on the Tongariro you should notice less angling pressure now that other venues are open.
We sometimes get a couple of big "freshes" during October but if the river doesn't flood the next few weeks often provide some of the best fishing of the year.
Tight lines guys
Mike |
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