“It’s also the scenery, those mornings when there’s frost on the ground and you get those beautiful, clear, still mid-winter days. It’s hard to describe. There’s a clarity in the air in winter.“
— Tony Hayes (Love Taupo)
Greetings fellow fly fishers,
Well, we are now halfway through winter, but the best fishing is still in front of us. After a very busy week on the water with large angler numbers due to the school holidays, the pressure has eased a little, although there is still a high volume of anglers on the water. However, the easement has meant that there are a few more empty spots that can now be fished. At present, all rivers are quite low (as of today, Friday), with the Tongariro steady at 22 cumecs, the Whanganui at 14 cumecs, and the TT at a height of 0.2. It has been my observation as of yesterday that there are certainly more fish in the rivers, but clear conditions are making the fishing a bit hot and cold, and most anglers I have come across are experiencing this.
I went down to the lower reaches of the Tongariro yesterday and came across a trio of fishermen who had a bag of about six good trout between them, and I asked them if I could take a photo of their efforts (supplied). They all looked at me in a strange way and didn’t have a clue what I was saying, and I soon realised that they were all German and didn’t understand a word of English. As a guide, I am used to this and soon managed to make them understand what I was saying and hence got the photo. I managed to get into a few good fish myself swinging an orange woolly bugger, and I had some good action for about an hour before it went quiet. I was fishing in an area with absolutely nil backcast availability, which is common in many areas on the Tongariro, so my suggestion to all fishers is to learn the roll cast, as it will open a lot more water to you as you will be able to fish in areas where other fishers have assumed that it is in the too-hard basket.
I always like to have a good visual of the water before I start to fish. Determine where the best lies are, identify the snag positions, and consider fishing more than one method at any one time. That is to say, if the indicator nymph is not working, you may consider trying euro nymphing or swinging a streamer. There are times when one method will be more successful than the other, and simply, if one method isn’t working for you, what have you got to lose? I came across one disgruntled angler coming out as I was initially heading down the track and asked him, “How did you get on?” to which he replied, “Haven’t had a touch all day.” The chances are he was possibly fishing an area of water that at a specific point in time did not have large numbers of fish in the area and hadn’t changed his methodology. Trout aren’t that smart; thinking outside of the square sometimes or working to a plan patiently generally will bring a result sooner or later. There are simply too many fish in the system for one not to bite.
We have not had significant rain for some time, but have had some good frosts, and this weekend is forecast to have a reasonable amount of rain with some plummeting temperatures. This all bodes well to get the fish moving and improve hook-up regularity. The Cleardrift Egg is performing very well now and is doing it for me quite nicely at the moment, although the naturals are still having their moments. Well, that will do it for me this week, so until next time, Tight Lines
For all I Love Fly Fishing gear, check it all out online 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.
Regards,
Brian Willson,
Professional Fly Fishing Guide.