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New Season
Sat 1st July, 2017
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Not everyone's cup of tea ... but there's no -getting away from it, the Bridge Pool is the place to be at the moment. While the rest of the fishing on the Tongariro continues to be pretty ordinary this short stretch is providing more than enough action for local anglers.
I took these shots at first light today and there were already fourteen just below the road bridge and another eight or nine further down river.
It usually pays to be "the early bird" here but during the winter runs you can expect plenty of company no matter what time you get up.
As I arrived with my camera there were anglers leaving with their limit. And one local fisho was trying to keep up with the action by flitting back and for between the two pools on a quad!
 
No where near as busy elsewhere on the river. However I think its fair to say that anglers are finding other parts of the Tongariro challenging. Even so its not entirely a waste of time and if you're prepared to move around and chop and change flies you can still find a fish or three.
  I've only fished my usual town stretch once since the last report and on that occasion it was still a bit quiet. I've had fish out of there but it was mainly because persistence sometimes pays off and they certainly weren't queuing up to take my fly.
With the amount of fish coming out of the Bridge Pool you'd have to think it will only be a matter of time before it begins to fire again.
Despite the cold snap, by late morning there were some fleeting mayfly hatches as things warmed up. The birds soon spotted the duns and for a few minutes at least were kept busy.
Some decent rainbow jacks getting caught and more browns, so all in all an improving picture.
Its becoming increasingly cloudy out there now. And with heavy rain forecast later this can only improve things further.
The upper river has had very little pressure but despite this the fish that are there seem focused on more pressing matters. Boulder Reach has had its moments but its still a bit patchy the further up you go. Talking of the upper river ... I took an unplanned dip in the Cliff Pool the other day which for me reinforced the importance of wearing a wading belt ... because on this occasion I'd have been in trouble without one.
When you fall in ... and we all will eventually ... its a common misconception that if you're not wearing a belt your waders will fill with water and you'll sink to the bottom as you're swept downstream. This isn't what actually happens. After all, the water outside your waders weighs exactly the same as the water which is now swirling around your freezing gonads.
The problem with waders that have filled with water arises when you try to stand because water is a lot heavier than air. A snugly fitting wading belt keeps a lot of the water out and also traps air which aids buoyancy while you're enjoying your late afternoon winter swim. With most of the river still outside rather than inside your waders it makes safely crawling out of the water much easier and gives you more time to look around to see if your grinning companions are experiencing sudden incontinence. If you combine the belt with a good wading jacket {worn over not inside the waders} ... as long as the cuffs and jacket are done up properly you'll be surprised how little water actually gets in. Years ago I remember falling face first in the tail of the Honeypot without either on and I had a dickens of a job to stand.
 
Anyway ... while you're underwater you'll notice there are heaps of green caddis around. And this week anglers have only needed two flies on most of the river ... green caddis or globugs.
More rain forecast later today ... with this from the MetService "For the North Island, the heaviest rain is expected about Mt Taranaki and Bay of Plenty, where 100 to 130mm could accumulate.
This amount of rain will cause rivers and streams to rise rapidly, and may lead to slips and surface flooding."
It would be good if we got some of it ... don't forget your new license.
Tight lines
Mike
Update 7.30 am 2nd July
Go back to bed guys ... the river has currently peaked at 276 cumecs and will be unfishable until later today or sometime tomorrow. It should drop back quickly and then "stick" for a while. But this is just what we needed and at this time of year should be the catalyst for some great sport on the Tongariro. |
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