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Busy ... but its good out there.
Sun 24th September, 2017
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First of all apologies for the lack of reports but I've had some computer problems that had to be sorted out. Now that's done we can pick up where we left off last time.
The Tongariro has been pretty consistent. The unsettled and very wet Spring weather has seen flows fluctuate almost daily and its been a while since they dropped below thirty cumecs.
Although the runs are not as intense as they were a few weeks ago, fish are still moving up. So there are plenty of trout to keep anglers happy. And because the river has retained some color both nymphers and wet liners have done well in the ideal conditions.
As you'd expect with so many spawning fish in the river a lot of jacks are getting caught. And they seem to have made up the bulk of my fish lately ... probably because I've been spending most of my time further upriver where the majority of them spawn.
I try and stay away from obvious spawning sites because "hyped up" jacks are easy targets when their territorial instincts kick in while they're on the redds. This changes when spawning is over and once they regain some condition they're not the suckers they were.
 
Whenever the Tongariro fires it doesn't take long for the news to spread and for months now the river has been busy. On weekends especially there are probably hundreds of anglers out there ... and all the popular car parks fill up early. I drove past Red Hut this morning and there were a dozen cars there.
Now that the track to the Blue Pool car park has been gated we'll soon lose access to parts of the TLB of the upper river. This closure will compound things when the river's busy because obviously there'll be less fishable river to go round. Who knows if we'll ever get this back. But I think its important to respect this closure while discussions are underway about future access.
   As a result of this, the stretch from Red Hut along the TRB is the only way to get at some of that much loved upper river. And with places like Boulder Reach throwing up a lot of fish lately the track is now a slippery, muddy mess.
Fortunately most of the river is "fishing" and I doubt you'd blank wherever you went.
Further downriver the upper and lower Bridge Pool had anglers on both banks from early this morning and the Bain car park was also filling up. This is always an indication there are still fish moving through providing more great sport.
All this will also have a positive impact on our summer fishing as recovering fish feed up on their return journey to Lake Taupo.  
Globugs are still catching fish... but you can already detect a change in their feeding habits. Rainbows that have been in the river a while are less likely to refuse "naturals" now. Its still early but there have been fish rising in the tail-outs of some pools and buzzers have been useful.
Weather-wise it looks like another funny ole week ahead. More rain and showers but slightly warmer temperatures than of late.
With places like TALTAC full and the days getting longer I've no doubt it'll be another very busy week on the Tongariro.
Tight lines
Mike |
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