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Some color does the trick.
Sun 15th May, 2016
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The rain we've had over the last few days was nowhere near the amount forecast and the flows barely increased. But it did put some color into the river which has encouraged some fish to move up at last. Over the weekend the smaller less mature early running rainbows that have been such a feature for the past few weeks have been joined by some much bigger fish. I was on the river Saturday fishing between Neverfail and Judges and got busted off a couple of times. At first I thought they may have been browns because good rainbows have been few and far between lately ... so it was a pleasant surprise when I finally got one in the net.
Some of the hens I landed were fat with eggs and weren't hanging around. And while fishing one run I spotted a couple of fish "porpoising" on their way upstream something you often see when the fish are moving through quickly.
Its always tricky trying to gauge how fast fish are moving up but for at least the next day or two I think I'd concentrate my efforts from the middle river down. I've done a couple of sorties further up since the last report and this time I found it tough, although other anglers may have had a different experience.
 This morning I called into Creel to see Grant, pick up some flies and compare notes and one thing of particular interest did crop up.
Recently I treated myself to a new nymphing rod.
I've always liked Loop rods and with new models superseding the older X grip Eveotech's, they're being discounted. So I grabbed a bargain and picked up a 10ft 8wt.
I prefer longer rods because on a big river like the Tongariro the extra length gives you better line control. My wife has been telling me for thirty years an extra couple of inches would help ... but I digress. Anyway I've been keen to get hooked up to see how it handled while playing a fish. Regular readers of my blurb know that I always carry three rods, each one set up differently for nymphing. I'm going to pluck a figure out of the air here ... lets say over the last three or four sessions on the river I've caught twenty fish. Despite using all three setups not one of those fish was caught on my shiny new rod rigged in the traditional way with indicator, bomb and nymph ... food for thought!
 Of course that breakdown will change once the runs are underway in earnest and the river takes on its winter look. But even then those other methods will still account for a lot of fish.
So the forecast was way off again and the rain never really happened in Turangi. It was more a case of heavy drizzle and at the moment although the wind has picked up the sun is shining. But they did get enough further up to turn the river that creamy green color and its been perfect nymphing conditions.
 The overcast,damp calm days we had earlier in the week also kicked off some good afternoon mayfly hatches. And there were often dozens of birds intercepting the duns as they tried to make it to the safety of the foliage along the river bank.
The best hatches often occur in these condition's.
As the nymphs begin their transformation into the sub imago they head towards the surface. At this time their mouth parts harden and no longer function ... so cool, damp, cloudy days lessen the chances of dehydration.
The 10 day outlook is again for a really unsettled spell with wind, rain, thunder you name it. This weather pattern always has a beneficial effect eventually and now that we've had another good run of fish, more should quickly follow and keep coming.
I've found there's been a dramatic improvement over the last few days with more browns and much better rainbows than we've had of late ... hopefully this will continue ... famous last words!
Tight lines guys
Mike |
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