Mark from Australia holding a Tongariro Rainbow for a photo shoot ( briefly).
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,
I am greeting you from the South Island, Omarama to be precise, where I am splitting my time between fishing the excellent Ahuriri River and the world-famous Twizel Canals. Firstly, to look at the local scene and it was a joy to behold that the Turangi region received a good dosing of rain earlier in the week which was much needed. I noted that the Tongariro blew up above 60 cumecs but is now back to normal at around 25 cumecs. This was a fresh that all rivers desperately needed to get the fish moving. There are certainly plenty of fish in the Tongariro especially with some beautiful browns being caught, long may it continue. The moon is on the rise again so unless there is a lot of cloud cover, shallow stream mouth fishing at night will be a bit harder but I have always enjoyed night fishing in April as there are generally some very well-conditioned fish lurking around the stream mouths just waiting to head on upriver to spawn.
Also, this is a great time to target a big brown but be prepared to fish late (until midnight if you can), because this is often the time that the big fellas are caught. I spent some time at the Twizel Canals a couple of days ago and did not catch “The Big One” but did catch some nice fish nymphing with split shot to get the nymphs down quick. I did see some nice fish caught however and also some absolute beasts lost. There truly are some monsters out there. I was fishing with another fisherman next to me and a large rainbow rose in front of us. Very Large. We came to the combined opinion that the trout exceeded 30 pounds!!! I also caught a strange looking trout, I couldn’t determine whether it was a brown or a rainbow, but then it became obvious, it was indeed a salmon, a fish we don’t see too much in the North Island. If you ever decide to come down to the canals I will give you a few warnings. The place seems to be swarming with Traffic Cops, they are set up everywhere and I suppose because of the numerous long, wide straight roads, it is a very good revenue collecting area.
So easy to drift over 100km/hr so use that cruise control. I tell you because I’ve been pinged in the past. Also, there is no such thing as etiquette as we know it down here. The canals are so busy in hot spots, if a fisherman has a fish on and has to walk down the canal to net it, he will more than likely find his spot where he hooked the fish, will be taken. Also, it seems every time I come down here, I run into a Fish and Game Officer. Why? Because access for them is so easy, so do the right thing and make sure that you are compliant. After checking with me (I am compliant Of course), he checked out another fisherman upstream a bit. I noted he was writing down some info and then left. The fisherman then packed his rod into his boot of his car and departed. My guess was, he wasn’t compliant.
The Ahuriri River (McKenzie Country) and a typical rainbow.
Today I fished The Ahuriri River. I love this river and the stretch I fished not far from Omarama Township, I had all to myself. I landed and lost several fish on the nymph. Just about every likely looking run that I fished, I hooked up and all the fish were, surprisingly, rainbows. I say this because in the past a high percentage of my trout from here have been browns. Another warning: Before you lean back on a bit of scrub while you having a cup of coffee, be aware of what you are leaning up against. No, it’s not blackberry like we can encounter at Turangi, rather, Boxthorn. Can be nasty.
Well, that’s it from me for now. Back in Turangi on Wednesday to cash in on the excellent fishing that should await me.
For all I Love Fly Fishing gear check it all out out on-line at 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.
Brian – NZPFGA Member,
