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I know its hard to swallow...
Sat 13th August, 2016
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  Its been a much more pleasant experience fishing the Tongariro since the last report.
The bitterly cold winds and heavy rain gave way to crisp cold mornings with the "biscuity" crunch of frost underfoot, if you were out and about early.
The river always looks fantastic in the winter sunshine and there were plenty of anglers taking full advantage of the settled weather.
I sound like a "stuck" record but still no big runs, so keep moving to improve your chances.
  
Although I frequently fish pools, I actually prefer to explore the stuff in between them. But this week the tail-outs of most of the pools have definitely been the place to be and I've hooked a few real rod benders fishing these spots.
Best fly again this week ... jelly eggs.
These soft feel fish egg imitations are a killer during the winter runs. They're tied "comb over" style with a bit of white yarn to represent a freshly laid egg surrounded with milt ... and trout luv em! They take them more confidently than conventional globugs and are less likely to "spit" them because they look and feel like the real thing.
I've often said that I don't believe the Tongariro is a "match the hatch" river in the accepted sense. I think a better description would be a "match the most" river, which is slightly different.
Consequently when there's spawning hens throughout the river trout will predate on fish eggs if for some reason they enter the drift.
While I always try and avoid deliberately fishing spawning sites, I have no problem fishing downstream of them.
When they deposit their eggs female trout prefer cool, well oxygenated water with the right sized gravel. So fishing egg patterns below riffles etc., can be particularly effective.
But this match the most tactic doesn't only apply to egg patterns.
 It may be winter but we've had some good mayfly hatches again this week.
The sudden appearance of fantails and swallows picking off mayfly duns as they break free of the rivers grip will alert you to this.
Now, it can pay off to change back to "naturals".
If this happens when I'm near the right kind of water I'll swap to a rod that's set up differently.
The dry and dropper method is the perfect way to mimic nymphs moving up through the water column. Or, indeed any insects that have entered the drift and are being carried downstream.
For instance just after a fresh as things settle back is a great time to use it.
Believe me its not just a summer method!
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't use it when I'm on the Tongariro ... because it works.
Granted its rigged a bit differently to what most anglers' idea of the dry and dropper would be. But in the right place, at the right time, will easily out-fish other nymphing methods.
Give it a try...its explained in detail on the site.
 
When you fish the dry during a hatch, its quite common for birds to take an interest in the fly and they'll often swoop down to investigate.
But this little guy actually went for the big dry as Rob threw the back-cast. Then ended up in the drink when Rob unwittingly launched it into the river on the forward cast.
I know its hard to swallow {sorry} but I'm a bit of an "ole softy" when it comes to animals in distress and after we untangled it, he or she stayed in my hand for a quite a while as it dried out in the sun.
It flew off, none the worse, a little later.
So all in all a pretty good week on the Tongariro with enough fish to keep things interesting.
This mornings heavy showers have moved away and the sun has been shining for most of the afternoon, making it pleasantly warm.
Met Service have forecast a much more settled outlook next week with morning frosts, light winds and plenty of sunshine ... sounds good.
I expect the fish to be drip feeding through again, although I'd love to be proved wrong and see some "proper" runs.
Whatever happens I'll be on the river late most of the week. Gail's away on a conference so whats a bloke to do?
See you out there
Mike |
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| COMMENTS |
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| Heh Mike its looks like you have a new photographer on your team great shots mate. |
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| nigelhoare@zoho.com | Thu 18th August, 2016 | View 1 Replies |
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| Great report thanks Mike. Love the story of the little swallow plus your photos and technique tips. Would you mind though sending only me the photos of where you catch those big silver ones - no point sharing such helpful details with every man and his dog. |
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| Duncan@River | Tue 16th August, 2016 | View 1 Replies |
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