“The last rays of the setting sun flashed on this fish, showing it to be heavy and round and deep, of a wonderful pearly white tinted with pink… swinging a dry fly in late summer is arguably the best fishing of all on the Tongariro, when the evening rise goes off bonkers.” — Adapted from Zane Grey & Local Lore
Greetings, fellow fly fishers,
Well, this is the last day of 2025, and it would be fair to say the holidaymakers are in full swing. Surprisingly, with all the bad weather around the country, the Central Plateau hasn’t been too bad, and all rivers in the area are in good order. Despite the disturbances that crop up at this time of year for the fisher—i.e., holidaymakers throwing stones in the water, the odd keen swimmer taking on the cold of the Tongariro, and even the odd paraglider going up and down the river—there is still plenty of empty space where, if keen, one will not see another person or fisherman. And if someone is having a dip, they certainly don’t stay in the water for too long.
I had the pleasure of guiding a nice couple from Arizona, Joe and Sandy, a couple of days ago, and I elected the Tongariro River, which has been fishing surprisingly well lately. The river is running at about 25 cumecs and in top order. There are a good number of fish in the river at present, and some of them are in superb condition. As I have mentioned in previous weeks, the trout are being taken using all methods and increasingly coming up to the dry fly. I have found the pheasant tail nymphs and variants of these to be working as good as anything at the moment.
There is a particular spot at this time of year I always spot a big brown resting below a willow tree, but I’ll be darned if I can catch it. I have had it rise and inspect my dry, as well as actively move on the bottom, taking interest in whatever nymph I can drift to him, but to no success. I won’t be giving up, though, and I will keep you posted on this one. At the time of writing (Christmas Eve), the day is quite wet, so it’s a good day to tie flies. I have a few ideas that might be hard for the trout to resist, so I will soon see in the weeks ahead.
I have a reasonably busy January and February coming up, so I’m hoping the fishing can stay reasonably good, although the New Year can often be followed by some fairly hard fishing with low, clear waters. In the meantime, Happy New Year to everybody, and tight lines for 2026.
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.
Until next time,
Tight lines,
Brian – NZPFGA Member,
