The Whanganui 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, it has been a very busy week on the guiding front having been active for 6 of the last 7 days. I have a self-imposed day off tomorrow but then I am away again from the weekend on. I have spent an even amount of time in the Whanganui and Tongariro Rivers with reasonable success in both. As usual, all the fish caught in the Whanganui River were in superb condition and fought like Kingfish. Richard from California had an absolute horse on in the Whanganui River which was one of the biggest fish in this area that I have seen hooked up. It jumped twice and made a very loud splash when it landed and then, alas, was free after stripping about 100 metres of line. Richard was to have a number of similar hook ups (not quite as big but very impressive all the same) and while he landed a few, he lost a number as well. Libby, (his wife) caught a magnificent, conditioned hen which fought way above her weight of about 4lbs and I was delighted when I finally got the net underneath it. Just as well because, on doing so, the hen promptly spat the hook.
I took Andy and Robin from Alabama out today onto the Tongariro River. Robin was nearly 80 but could throw a superb line only fished for half the day and unfortunately went fishless but enjoyed the outing all the same. Andy on the other hand had landed a small acrobatic bow and lost a much bigger fish that I suspected might have been a brownie. I continued guiding Andy after lunch, and he quickly caught 2 quite acceptable bows which both had a story to tell. The first one, a hen, put up a really good fight but finally succumbed to the net. I told Andy it is now photo time but be careful as these trout are very slippery. I had my phone camera all ready and as he picked the fish up, she promptly jumped out of his hands only for him to catch it perfectly in mid-air before she hit the water.
The next trout, a Jack, during the fight was like keystone cops. I was hanging down river a bit with the net when all of a sudden Andy yelled out “I’ve got a problem here”. I could see the spool was coming off the reel as the tightening knob on the side was nearly off. I rushed back to assist and Andy, still playing the fish, was holding the reel on the spool with what spare fingers he had. The side knob then came off and fell in the river. I plunged my arm into the river and managed to grasp it (after 2 attempts) and told Andy to keep playing the fish as good as he could while I reattached the knob. I did this and we were back in business only for the fish to come straight at me and wrap himself around my legs. Somehow, I managed to net him (thankfully he was well hooked). Sometimes as a guide you have some hard luck moments but there again sometimes the fishing gods are with you.
Andy with another nice bow.-These Whanganui fish are always in superb condition it would seem. – Libby with a beautiful conditioned Whanganui bow.
The Tongariro has been patchy. Sometimes quite good and other days quite hard. Recent rain has improved things, however. There are not a lot of fish rising at the moment, but this should change soon. Cicadas are in big numbers everywhere. Another big guiding week for me for the oncoming week and no doubt that will see me alternating between the Tongariro and Whanganui Rivers and maybe even the Whakapapa. Small pheasant tails and variants of these seem to be working best for me and a hint of red in the nymph seems to be catching the Rainbows attention. Well that’s it from me for this week.
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,
