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Give copper a try.
Fri 8th June, 2018
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  With Oueen's birthday weekend behind us for another year its been much quieter around town the last few days.
As always during the holiday the Tongariro and nearby rivers had a lot of attention with most of the car-parks occupied at some time or other. Overall I don't think anglers found it easy but there were fish around if you could find them.
Bill hooked this fresh run fish in Big Bend. But there have been fish trickling through the Braids and lower river most of the week. Still no big runs and without that nice "spread" of fish you have to keep on the move and even re-visit likely places during the same day.
For the last couple of days that bone chilling southerly wind has returned. And despite wearing plenty of thermal layering underneath the waders and jacket, its still bloody cold.
If you're standing in the river you have to be sensible when its like this. Take regular breaks and don't stay in too long because when you're exposed to that wind chill it takes ages to warm up again.
The "bridge pool diehards" have been in the pool every day ... undeterred by the wind.
And the indicators were flying out there again this morning.
These shots were taken a day or two ago but I saw a couple of fish hooked there earlier today.
I have fished the indicator, though I've had more success Czech nymphing. But it's not easy with a big downstream bow in the line. And you have to watch the sighter like a hawk to spot the takes. 
Most rivers have "go to" patterns or colours that work better than others.Over the years along side the usual selection that most of us carry I've done well with nymphs tied with green dubbing and a red rib ...also olive dubbing with a copper rib.
Bead colour can also make a difference.
For me black beads work best with the caddis pupa I like to use. Whereas copper or silver beads catch more if I'm Czech nymphing.
I'm not sure why ... but where you position different colour BH flies on your rig also influences the outcome. For instance copper often works best on the bottom, while silver is better on the dropper above. And there is evidence that trout mistake the silver bead for the gas bubble some aquatic nymphs generate to help them rise to the surface during a hatch.
 
I fished yesterday in a pretty cold gusty southerly and found it tough going. I hadn't been to Judges for a while but with fish drip-feeding through lower down, thought it might be a good option. The problem here is the sun comes up behind you on the TRB and you have to be mindful of what your shadow is doing. Especially when the sun is low in the sky. It also takes a long time to get any sun on your back {because of the tree-line} and with the icy blast to contend with as well I didn't stay long.
The Braids has been kind to me lately, so I warmed up with a brisk walk back to the swing bridge and drove over to Herekiekie Street.
The place was empty when I got there but I bumped into Peter later who was making his way from the lower bridge. He told me there'd been nothing doing on the wet-line there either.
I tried a few spots but in the clear water you can usually sight the fish fairly easily here and I didn't see one...so after an hour drove back to Koura Street. There's a little spot I like to tuck myself in, not far from the bridge. And third drift down the sighter line paused and I found myself playing this very pregnant brown trout.
Some unusual cloud formations in the skies this week. But a lovely clear sunny day in Turangi this morning ... however its still pretty cold with that southerly blowing. Its supposed to ease later today and die out overnight. And it looks like a much calmer couple of days coming up, with morning frosts and very little wind at last. With that in mind I know where I'll be this weekend. And I'll be back at the vice to stock up on copper BH's once I type in the last full stop of this report.
The runs will build from now on and sooner or later the Tongariro will inevitably begin to fire.
In the meantime the lower river, Hydro and Stag are all worth trying and if you enjoy graffiti and plenty of company you know where to go.
Have a great weekend guys
Tight lines
Mike |
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