Brian Willson, professional guide, 021667867, brings us his weekly fly fishing report from Turangi for the Central North Island lakes and rivers.
Hello again fellow fly fishers.
This week has seen a complete turnaround from last week. Instead of being hit with heavy rain, lightning, thunder and heavy winds, we have experienced frosty mornings and clear fine days.
The rivers have progressively dropped and the fishing has been superb on all rivers.
The river in the photo is the Tauranga Taupo and was taken 2 days ago. As you can see it had just the right amount of colour in it and all methods of fishing are working very well.

The condition of the trout in all rivers is as good as I can remember over many years of fishing

The I love Fly Fishing shop has been busy with customers coming in at all hours. Remember, if you need anything at all at any time, I will do my best to accommodate, no problem.
I took a walk along the banks of the Tongariro River this morning and after the flooding of last week, it is very noticeable that a lot of the river has changed in shape forever. Some places that were shallow runs are now deep pools and in other places, several beaches have appeared changing the whole nature of the river flow.
I always find this quite exciting as you are almost fishing a different river in places and therefore have to relearn where the likely lies are. Sometimes a flood will eradicate a very good spot but may well fabricate another good spot elsewhere that didn’t exist before. The trick is, to find it.
With the good fishing about at the moment, there certainly has been an increase in angler numbers so if you can brave the cold early mornings you will get a head start on those that choose to fish when the sun has been up for a while.
Having said that, the central plateau can take a fair bit of pressure as we are blessed to have many access points to most rivers. Generally, there is always a pool around the corner that will be unoccupied when rivers are busy. If you see some likely-looking water, throw your line into it and fish it thoroughly. You will likely be rewarded soon enough. Often water that is discarded by many fishermen can be absolutely stacked with trout.
I am guiding tomorrow so I am hoping for a good result. Certainly, the conditions and weather forecast is good.
So for now,
Tight lines,
Regards,
Brian Willson
NZPFGA member. I Love Fly Fishing Turangi Partner Store Location
Tongariro River Flow Tauranga-Taupo River Flow
