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The spy in the sky.
Tue 23rd August, 2016
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  Plenty of winter sunshine since the last report and despite yesterdays rain its back to blue skies again in Turangi today.
I've been on the river just about every day and there's still nowhere near the numbers of fish around that you'd expect at this time of year.
Overall they're smaller this year too, although there are some bigger fish amongst them. But no complaints about the way they fight because they punch well above their weight.
I've been sticking to the town and middle stretches again this week because they seem to be less hit or miss than the rest of the river.
For instance, I was talking to someone in the Bain car-park who'd hooked thirteen the day before in the lower river. But so far that morning he'd struggled to get a take. Judges has been as good as anywhere, unfortunately they don't hold here like they used too either.
Its been a different story a couple of pools up. Major Jones has been reasonably consistent for the past few weeks and occasionally there have been some good sized pods holding in parts of it.
But I have a confession to make ... I've got a secret weapon when it comes to finding fish. In fact you may have already come across it.
If you're ever on the river and there's a faint humming sound in the distance, and at the same time you get the distinct feeling you're being watched ... its not a giant voyeuristic wasp with a fetish for men in waders. I'm afraid its far worse ... because its Grant from Creel with his "spy in the sky".
 
Some months ago he invested in a drone so that he could take some ariel photographs of the river for his book. And I have to say the shots he's captured with his new gizmo are spectacular.
But while downloading and editing them, he noticed you could also easily see any fish that were there at the time. Since then, if he's out filming with the drone, he gives me a ring if he spots anything of interest.
I was upriver the other day when he phoned to let me know there were over a hundred fish moving slowly through Major Jones.
At the time I was on the "wrong" side of the river so had a long walk back to the car. But when I finally got into the pool I nailed three pretty quickly before they moved on.
I'm sure you realize I'm only kidding about the "secret weapon" bit, I get a call from the ariel fish finder about once every six weeks.
But it does make you think how useful drones could be for any sort of research or study regarding fish movement on the river.
However Grant pointed out a big problem.
You can't fly the thing over a stretch while someones fishing. Even though its high above the river, the noise from the whirring rotors seems to agitate the fish and sends them rushing for cover.
In the meantime, if you see me and the dog stumbling along the access tracks with our eyes fixed firmly on the sky above, you'll know what we're up to ... so run after us because we've got inside information!
 
To sum up, its the "same ole same ole" and as long as you don't expect ten fish days you won't be disappointed.
A few browns around too but the ones I've caught have been small ... nothing over five pounds.
All nymphing methods have been working, with jelly eggs still the best bet under the indicator.
There's heavy rain forecast over the next few days, with sunny spells and showers for the rest of the month. If we get spate conditions the fishing will improve either side of it.
Tight lines
Mike |
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