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Pretty steady on the Tongariro.
Wed 26th February, 2014
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Its been a pretty steady week on the Tongariro with reasonable numbers of silver fish continuing to trickle through. Most of them are in the two to three pound bracket but in amongst them are some surprisingly good trout for the time of year.
Overseas anglers are not always prepared for the speed and power of our rainbow trout ... especially that first run and a lot of fish are lost within a few seconds of hooking up. When you see the condition and size of some of the better ones being caught you can understand why.
I bumped into this smiling "local face" as I headed towards Kamahi one morning.
 
The majority of rainbows are probably back in the lake by now but the kelts still in the river are in much better shape than they have been in recent years after spawning.
If you cast your mind back to the "dark days" of a few years ago the mending fish this year are providing better sport than the fresh run fish back then!
OK some days you have to go looking for them because they're on the move and not evenly spread but throw into the mix the numbers of large brown trout in the river and things are looking really good for the weeks ahead.
 
The wind gradually picked up over the weekend and by Sunday many anglers had decided to stay in bed.
Its never as enjoyable fishing when its windy, your fly line develops a mind of its own and you suddenly discover you're able to tie knots you never knew existed ... especially in your leader and tippet.
You'll also find you can now consistently hit quite small targets with your flies ... for instance your ears or the back of your head and you'll even be able to thread them in and out of your landing net mesh!
The knots and tangles are caused by a flaw in our casting technique and all of us get them from time to time ... it doesn't even have to be windy.
When we first start fly fishing whichever side of the river we're on, the grass always looks greener on the opposite bank.
To try and gain those extra few yards we "punch" the rod on the forward cast.
This causes the rod to bend too much at the wrong time, usually mid-way through the forward stroke. This alters the path of the tip and the flies and leader end up traveling below the fly line producing a tailing loop which often results in a tangle.
Because we use heavy nymphs on the Tongariro and because I often use multi-hook rigs my fishing cast is a combination of water loading and the Belgian cast. This involves very little false casting which helps eliminate some of the problems mentioned above.
To learn more about this versatile technique visit www.midcurrent.com and give it a go.
Cooler temperatures on the way and with autumn almost upon us they've also forecast some bits and pieces of rain. It doesn't look as if its going to amount to much though and we may not even get it here in Turangi. This summer has flown by and it won't be that long before day-light saving ends ... I think its April 6th ... I dunno where the time goes ... but I wish it would slow down !
Tight lines guys.
Mike |
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