Andy from Hawkes Bay with a good fish at the Lower Bridge Pool, Tongariro 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, I’m a bit late with this report as I have been on the road a bit in recent days but a bit has happened so I will get on with it. Just over a week ago we had a massive flood when the Tongariro River rose to about 723 cumecs and the “TT” got to a height of about 2.3 metres. This is pretty significant when compared to the highest ever reported level on this river is 2.9 metres some 20 years ago. What does all this mean? Well, a lot as both rivers have got different lies and in some places the course has altered a bit which is quite exciting because in many areas it is like fishing a new river. Some places that were shallow are now deep troughs and certain places that held snags are now clean, but be warned, snags have a habit of turning up in other areas that were previously free of snags.
I went down to the lower Tongariro River this afternoon and it was very obvious the damage that the flood had done. Certain areas of the track were almost eroded away, and I am sure DOC in the near future will be rectifying the affected areas shortly as they won’t want to get much worse before they are downright dangerous. It is noticeable now that more anglers are starting to show up but there are many areas in the Tongariro that don’t get fished a lot because there is not backcast room. This is where I suggest is very good reason to spend a bit of time mastering the Roll cast as it will open up a lot more water to you and good water at that. I caught a number of prime fat rainbows this afternoon all in the same spot and all using the roll cast method. I was only able to stand out from the bank behind me about 2 metres before it became too deep to be safe and of course behind me was basically a cliff face that I had worked my way down. (That wasn’t so bad but getting back up was pretty tricky).
All fish caught were prime rainbow hens in mint condition and they gave me some great action. The river was running at about 35 cumecs and the afternoon was gloriously fine. I found small nymphs say size 14 like pheasant tail and pheasant tail variants were the way to go. I also managed to hook up with a fast-sinking line with a woolly bugger on the swing which I was also roll casting with. As the river was running reasonably quickly, I added split shot above my bomb on my nymphing rig and that did the trick. Last night I went for a night fish at a small Taupo stream mouth. The night was good and promised much but, even though no moon was present, the night wasn’t as dark as I prefer although I did have some modest action with a few rainbows and browns of mixed condition coming to the fly. Dark woolly buggers did the trick here on a short trace of about a metre. Interestingly, all the hits were very subtle as if I had hit a rock before the telltale jig-jig confirmed I was indeed hooked up.
Erosion of the banks in the lower Tongariro including a section of track almost gone.
Prior to going fishing last night, I had put my waders on and when I buckled everything up, I felt a sharp pain in the fingers of my right hand only to discover that I had upset a rather large Weta that had taken up residence somewhere in my waders. Man, these things can bite. I managed to flick it off onto my back lawn and went to get some antiseptic cream to put on the wound (which was now bleeding) and discovered the mongrel had bitten me 5 times. There is no poison attached to a Weta bite and they are non-aggressive creatures but because I was disturbing it and possibly endangering it, the Weta had no choice but to protect itself. So, the moral of the story is, don’t mess with Wetas. Well, another day at the Tongariro tomorrow I think (how could I not) and if you are considering a night fish, I would suggest the next week to a week and a half would be the best times to suit the moon phase (i.e. new moon).
Well, that’s it from me again this week so, as always, tight lines.
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,
