“Time flies so fast after youth is past that we cannot accomplish one half the many things we have in mind. Or indeed one half of our duties. The only safe and sensible plan is to make other things give way to the essentials, and the first of these is fly fishing.“ — Theodore Gordon (1854 – 1915), the ‘father of the American school of dry fly fishing’ was also a noted writer. This was from one of the many magazine articles he wrote as ‘Badger Hackle’.
Greetings, fellow fly fishers,
Well for the first time for a long time we have had a very settled week here in Turangi and the rivers have been in good order. For most of the last week I have had the pleasure of guiding Lou from Perth, and he is still with me for the next couple of days. It would be fair to say that we have tried a fair range of methods and places and had a ball along the way. Earlier in the week We had a look at the Whanganui River. The conditions were good, but the action was hard, so I decided to try the “TT” mouth the next day where the action was much better, and several fish were caught although a number were mending kelts.
The next day was the turn of the Tongariro river and even though the fishing was hard, Lou manages to catch a magnificent prime rainbow hen of around 6 pounds that gave an almighty scrap and was an experience he won’t forget in a hurry. The following day was a day at the Tongariro Delta where a good number of very good condition fish were caught (and lost). The wind came up from the North for a while making it a bit bumpy, but it did keep the rip stable. The only trade-off is later on when you are at home, you still feel as though you are on the boat.
Yesterday (Wednesday) we had a look at the Hinemaiaia for a brief period in the morning. There are a number of resident fish in there at the moment and a dry fly can be a good option at the moment. I should mention that the trout are also starting to rise quite nicely in the Tongariro, and this will improve in the coming weeks. Have a good selection of dries and keep the leaders long. There are no Lacewing moths on my grapevine yet (always a good indicator) but they will be around soon enough.
Yesterday evening we decided to have a night fish. I elected a small stream on the Western side of the lake and conditions looked perfect just prior to dark and there were several fish cruising close by. Then out of nowhere, a big swell developed, and the waves started crashing into the beach. There appeared to be little or no wind but what there was had shifted 180 degrees and soon we were blown off the water. We packed up and went around to the other side of the Lake (which I had ruled out earlier because the conditions were too rough). Conditions here were now good although the fishing was very quiet so at midnight (when one fisher finally hooked up), it was time to pack up. Back to the Tongariro River today but we will cover that in the next report.
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 Johan, 021-02209719 or johan@iloveflyfishing.kiwi. You will receive your goods in quick order and at a great price.
Until next time,
Tight lines,
Brian – NZPFGA Member,
