Quote for the week: The essentials of a good fly hook: The temper of an angel and the penetration of a prophet; fine enough to be invisible and stromng enough to kill a bull in a ten acre field. (Wise words of G.S. Marryat 1840-96 better known as ‘The Prince of Fly Fishers’.)
Simon from the UK with good fish from the Tongariro.
Greetings Fellow Fly Fishers,
Well, this is the last week of November and Christmas is fast approaching. As usual, the weather has been unpredictable, and some rain is expected tomorrow (Friday). This should juice up the rivers nicely for the weekend. I had the pleasure of fishing with long-time friend and former client of mine, Doctor Simon Raimes from the UK. I originally guided Simon some 10 years ago in the Eastern Bay of Plenty Rivers such as the Waioeka, Opato, and Whakatane Rivers.
Simon was based in Whakatane as a surgeon and has since retired and spends most of his time in the UK now but frequently comes back to NZ and we always catch up and hit the water somewhere together. A couple of days ago we hit The Tongariro and had some good action especially in the morning. The fish were a mixture of fresh fish and recovering fish. It is good to see a lot of the recovering fish are not far away from being back to normal well-conditioned trout.
We fished the middle and lower rivers, and it has been a while since I have walked down from the Carpark at the end of the metal road on the left past the Tongariro Lodge. This is usually the busiest carpark on the river but when we arrived around noon, we were the only ones there and therefore had the entire lower river to ourselves although a late fisher did arrive as we were preparing to leave. At time of writing (Thursday evening), the Tongariro is running at 28.4cumecs and the “TT” is at a height of .3. Both rivers therefore are in prime nick and a bit of rain which I am expecting tomorrow, won’t hurt them.
Simon from the UK with some more good fish from the Tongariro.
For those wanting to try fishing for smelting trout I suggest you give it a go as this can be quite exciting this time of year. I find the silicon smelt flies to be the best but any type of smelt fly will work. Make sure you get a few of these in your arsenal because when the trout are targeting smelt they aren’t really zoned in on anything else.
I am guiding a husband/ wife duo from Florida tomorrow and they are both beginners and rain is forecast so hopefully I can pull something out of the bag for them.
But that is news for next week’s report so until next time,
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.
Brian – NZPFGA Member,
