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Looks good for the weekend.
Thu 24th October, 2013
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Another good week on the Tongairo in typically changeable Spring weather. The river has retained some color and volume since the flood and looks perfect. Wet-liners are still doing well but nymphers are also getting their fair share.
If I'm fishing around town I'll often spend the first hour or two in Judges. Its one of my favorite " morning pools " and although its nowhere near as consistent as it used to be, you can try a variety of methods there, which makes things interesting.
The last twice I was there Leon beat me to it and already had a couple of rainbows tethered on a stringer in the water at the rivers edge.
He didn't leave them there for long because two days before he'd discovered Blue's latest penchant ... eating trout tails, so he quickly hung his lunch in a tree out of harms way.
While I'm on the subject thank you to all the anglers we meet along the river for their patience and understanding with the pup.
Despite his puppy bad manners he's fast becoming a bit of a celebrity and getting his own fan-club. We were up at Cattle Rustlers taking some shots for this report and just as we arrived an angler who'd escaped from the Tongariro River Motel was playing a fish.
While I clicked away, I heard his mate who was fishing further upriver shout out "Hey is that Blue " and he came splashing down towards us.
Trevor Hanover was another regular TRM inmate and an ex-pat Kiwi who lives in Melbourne. He featured on one of Ross's reports this week ... which is where I pinched the photo from.
Trev is a big fan of all the local river reports and ever since he read that Jake had sadly died, he ... or should I say the kids ... have been following Blue's progress.
When they found out he was going over to New Zealand Trev was given strict instructions that if he saw Blue he was to take some photo's of him.
Isn't that nice ... so just for Inez and Charlotte here's Blue on the river this week.
That client was right when he said " fishing's not just about fishing".
 
I know its hard to believe but these two pics are the same pup taken just minutes apart and weren't staged ... honest!
One second he was sitting on a rock watching me fish, all ready to pounce and rip anybody apart that so much as glanced at my spare rod. The next he was a trembling wreck hiding behind my leg staring wide-eyed at something awful on the opposite bank.
What ever had terrified my poor puppy must have been a right 'orrible sight.
Sure enough when I looked over ... there it was ... Ross Baker ... all decked out in his camo gear, wearing his wide brimmed TRM hat, with his trousers rolled up exposing those deathly white legs that only his surgeon ever see's.
It wasn't until he disappeared from view after crossing the by-pass to the Island Pool that Blue let go of my leg and was able to resume his guard duties. 
A little later we drove over to the Bain car-park to have a good look around from the top of the Reed back up to the Braids. There's even more sand/silt in places along this stretch now. In fact it looks more like a desert than the banks of the Tongariro river.
On a more positive note there are also some good gravel beds here which the fish are already using. You can't really make them out but there are a couple of dozen fish spawning in this pic and we saw dozens more in the riffles as we made our way up.
 
Most people's idea of a nymphing rig for the Tongariro would look something like the one above. But as we head towards Summer you have to change tactics to catch consistently.
The mainstay of our Summer sport are not rainbows that stay deep to conserve energy for spawning or to eat the nymphs, larvae and fish eggs they find there.
As the weather warms up the insect activity increases and fish are quick to take advantage of caddis and mayfly hatches.
Nymphs are at their most vulnerable when they leave the comparative safety of the riverbed and begin their journey upwards for the final stage of their life cycle.
Resident and recovering fish can now be caught right through the water column and the latter are suckers for the dry and dropper rig as they mop up the ascending insects.
On occasions used in the right water even fresh runners will take it ... which is why I use it all year round.
 
It also accounted for a couple of browns this week. Don't get excited ... they weren't the large adult trout that we get in Summer but young fish between one and two pounds.
I usually put fish back unless I'm asked for one and was extra careful with these two because I love fishing for big browns in the river and these had a lot of growing up to do.
Glo bugs are still working but the majority of my fish took naturals.
Best fly for me was a plain ole, no frills Pheasant Tail nymph. The trouble is if you are fishing them through riffles and runs you're bound to hook up a Tongariro sardine ... they love this nymph and are everywhere now.
Looks like a real mixed bag of Spring weather coming up for the holiday weekend and beyond ... best bet is to ignore the forecast and look out of the window each morning.
Over the holiday period there will be more anglers around but its a big river and there's plenty of water between the well known pools.
Just change tactics a little and think outside the square.
Have a great weekend guys
Mike |
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