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Action packed !
Sat 1st November, 2014
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Plenty of action on the river over the last week and despite it being Labor weekend the Tongariro wasn't too packed. The town stretches received a bit of a bashing but away from the car-parks angling pressure was light and it wasn't difficult to find a place to fish.
For the last few weeks there has been an influx of first time visitors to the fishery, particularly anglers from the U.S.A. Greg Jacobs pictured above is a retired District Attorney and was blown away with his day on the river ... hooking up fifteen times.
Although Ronnie Peters and his wife Sue live in New York, Ron is actually a Kiwi ... they scored a little further downriver.
The early bird award goes to Sean Seamer and his brother-in-law Luke {below} who started at 5.30 am. It paid off because they both caught fish and Sean told me later he'd landed eight out of thirteen.
In certain situations the dry and dropper is a really effective method on the Tongariro but its a technique still over-looked by a lot of anglers. I use it all year round but its about this time every year that I keep harping on about it ... thankfully no one ever takes a blind bit of notice.
It makes a great change from lobbing out heavy nymphs all day but whichever way you choose to fish something we all encounter from time to time, is line twist. Even when you've correctly loaded your line onto the reel, twist is something that can still occur once you start fishing.
Casting and retrieving indicators or large flies, figure of eighting, playing fish etc., will all help cause your fly line to twist. I incorporate a couple of small swivels in my indicator setup to help prevent some of this so most of my line twist problems happen when I'm fishing other methods.
Another contributing factor is your casting style.
Any continuous motion cast that involves a change of plane during the back and forward cast can introduce twist into your line.
Most of the time I use a slightly sideways back cast followed by an over the top forward cast.
The rod tip travels in an oval path so each time I do this it introduces a little bit of twist into the line ... roll casting can have the same effect.
Eventually, for whatever reason these twists will work their way up the fly line and you'll end up with a series of tangled coils like those pictured left.
Fortunately its fairly simple to get rid of them.
There are several methods to choose from but the two easiest are as follows:
If you're on the river using a dry, dry and dropper or indicator and nymphs clip off the flies and remove the indicator. Strip out all your fly line then trapping the backing against the rod butt let the whole line hang in the current for thirty seconds or so and then reel in. Your line should now be twist free.
At home if you notice you have twist, the best place to sort it out is on the lawn. Don't do it on the drive or garage floor because your line is more likely to pick up grit and dirt there.
Again take off the flies, indicator etc., then pull off the fly line down to the backing. As you do this lay it out in a series of straight lines and while you're at it you may as well give it a clean.
I put some cleaner/conditioner on a paper towel then starting at the backing end place it around the line. Hold it firmly between your thumb and fingers and continuing to squeeze, pull and wipe towards the front of the fly line. Whatever you do don't let go of the line until you reach the tip because the twists will reform.
Once all the twists have been forced out and the line is nice and straight wind it back onto the reel, again holding it firmly between the paper towel. This will get rid of any remaining dirt and residual twist before the line goes back on the spool. Then re-rig and you're all ready for the next session.
 
The fish may be smaller overall than they were last year but most anglers would agree they're fighting way above their size.
Male rainbows are usually pretty dogged and determined to get away but a couple of fish I hooked in Judges this week had me convinced
I was playing browns there for a minute.
A lot of jacks caught during the week no doubt waiting for more of the ladies to show up.
The consensus seems to be that the runs could be as much as a month later than those of recent years so expect good numbers of spawning fish to move through over the next few weeks and well into November and beyond.
This weeks heavy showers has put more color and volume into the river giving perfect conditions for the nymph or wet-line. And with more unsettled Spring weather on the cards we should be in for another great week on the Tongariro.
A few small browns getting caught and more hard luck stories of "the big one that got away."
I'm still waiting for my first good one of this "season" but they can't be far away now and it wouldn't surprise me if one or two better fish were caught in the coming days.
Have a great week guys
Tight lines
Mike |
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