Jill Holdgate from Women on a Fly enjoying a morning on the Hinemaiaia River.
Brian Willson, NZPFGA member, is a professional guide and I Love Fly Fishing close friend and Ambassador, brings us his weekly fly fishing report from Turangi for the Central North Island lakes and rivers. For up to date info, for what flies are working call Brian, 021667867. Euro/Czech, Dry Fly, Trout Spey, Nymph and Wet Fly.
Greetings fellow fly fishers,
Well, here we are now into August and if you think winter is over, think again. I always find that while July can be an unpleasant month, August is often colder. I was out in the river this morning and I thought I would check out the Hinemaiaia. It was pretty cool and when I arrived at my destination, I could be excused for thinking I saw 2 polar bear cubs running towards me. As they got closer, I could see that they were in fact 2 golden labrador dogs coming to say hello. The river was stacked with anglers almost standing on each other’s feet in places and even after the rain that we had earlier in the week, the river was pretty low.
I didn’t stay, opting instead to try and find a bit more fishing room on the Tongariro River. On my way out I had to pull over several times to allow room for even more anglers that were arriving. I was at the Hinemaiaia last Saturday with Jill Holdgate who is associated with Women on The Fly. Jill won a free half day guiding session with me via a sponsorship prize by I Love Fly Fishing several months earlier. Jill is just learning to fly fish and by the end of the session she was casting and mending her line very well. The fish were a bit spooky however with all the disturbance by anglers in the low water conditions, but Jill did manage to hook up twice only to drop the fish as is quite common on this river. Good luck with the rest of your fly fishing adventures Jill, you have a lot to look forward to.
My favourite river this week was the Tauranga Taupo. The rain at the beginning of the week rose the level of the river to about 0.6m and then settled back to around 0.5m which is the way I like it. I was there yesterday and while there were a few anglers around, I always find space in this river. It does not receive the same pressure as the Hinemaiaia or Tongariro but when it is on, it quite often will provide more action than these rivers and the trout are a good fighting strain. When the “TT” is up a bit and coloured, I like to fish with the wet fly as well as the nymph. There are so many small deep pools that can only really be fished with a wet fly drifted down to them due to snags and no foot access making it difficult to drift a nymph to.
The Tauranga Taupo River with a tinge of colour, just how I like it. – Just netted. – The Tongariro River with Mt Pihanga in the background. I am picking this time next week the Mount will have a dusting of snow.
When the rivers are stacked with anglers like this, communication is key. For example if you are fishing ( nymphing) below an angler and he is not moving and there is another favourable spot upstream of him, then you are perfectly within your rights to ask him if you can fish that spot especially as he/she is stationary and not in any hurry to move. Even though I would prefer anglers don’t hog pools at this time of year, I have no problem leapfrogging them, but do the courteous thing and ask first. An angler cannot claim 2 pools at once if they are not moving up in case of a nympher or down if they are a wet liner. For the wet liner I have found the trusty woolly bugger, black or olive, to be as good as anything and the egg patterns are starting to come into their own now for the nymph fisher. Well, that’s it from me for another week. A cold spell coming up with hopefully more fish entering the rivers.
While I am not selling, I Love Fly Fishing gear from the store in Turangi now, I would recommend you look at the products online, www.iloveflyfishing.kiwi and order what you need. Feel free to call Barrie, 021-925006 or barrie@iloveflyfishing.kiwi. You will receive your goods in quick order and at a great price.
Well, that’s it for another week so get out there and do it, you won’t be disappointed. -Brian – NZPFGA Member,
