First trout from 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, another week has rushed by, and it would have to be said the fishing was very much like last week. Much patience was required as all rivers are very low and the much-anticipated rain we expected this week didn’t arrive in an amount that would help to get the fish moving. What fish have been caught have generally been in fantastic condition. I had the pleasure in guiding a regular of mine who brought along his identical twin daughters to learn the craft. The hardest job of the day was to make sure I got their names right and it wasn’t totally easy as they had rhyming names. I had a plan, however and by slightly changing their fishing outfits (namely the colour indicator on their rods), I was able to get through unscathed. I asked them at the end of 2 days if I ever got it wrong and apparently, I didn’t but it still wasn’t easy.
These girls were quick learners which made my job easier, but the fishing was pretty hard with certain hotspots not being so hot despite the girls doing perfect drifts with their lines. Some fish were hooked however but not as many as I would have liked. It has been a bit of a hard luck story for me this week having been smashed on the Tongariro on a few occasions. I’m not the only one this has happened to. Just this morning an angler on the opposite side of the river from me was hit by a big fish. He was Spey casting and the trout after leaping out of the water (and it was very big), took off downstream at a high rate of knots and broke free much to the dismay of the fisherman.
I also had bad luck when twice (once with the Sidney girls and once with a father and his 2 sons when I was briefly demonstrating swinging a wet fly in the tail of a pool in two different stretches of the Tongariro River. The first fish was really big, and I decided to play it out a bit before I handed the rod over to one of my clients. We had the fish almost to the net but then for some inexplicable reason, it got off. My client (one of the sons) didn’t do a lot wrong; it was the Trout’s Day. The same thing happened a couple of days later when I was demonstrating wet lining to the twin sisters. I had about 3 casts and bang! I was on. I could see that there were a couple of nasty snags in the river, so I played the fish into a position away from the snags before I handed the rod over to one of the girls. This fish wasn’t as big as the fish of 2 days prior but big enough, perhaps 4lb and in too Nick.
Stan with a good Tongariro Bow. – A day on the Tongariro. – Typical battle scarred Jack in the Hinemaiaia River.
Once again, the fish spat the hook only seconds before I could get a net under it and my apprentice fisher again did nothing wrong. Rain is certainly forecast all next week, and this surely will be the start of some excellent fishing to follow. I am finding, small terrestrials like hare and copper and pheasant tail with and without bead heads are as good as any at the moment and with the clear conditions size 14 and even 16 are doing the job with as light breaking strain as you dare but if you are fishing in a spot where you can’t follow the fish if it decides to run, I suggest you up your breaking strain on your leader to 4kg otherwise you will find you will get busted regularly.
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. 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,
