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Patchy but ...
Mon 16th July, 2018
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We're already into the second week of the school holidays and its been a busy one again in Turangi. A lot of the baches are occupied and the Tongariro has seen plenty of anglers keen to wet a line.
There have been some good fish moving up but the "fishing" continues to be patchy. So its still very much a case of being in the right place at the right time.
Those out and about early have usually given themselves the best chance by getting at some water first ... because all the popular spots have been thrashed by lunchtime.
Another alternative is to put in the hard yards and get well away from the carparks. But even that option hasn't always worked out. With so many anglers about its inevitable more and more anglers will have the same objective.
A couple of times I've headed up the TRB of the middle river only to find others have already beaten me to it. 
The other approach {and one I prefer} when the river is crowded is to fish water that's either difficult to get at ... or hard to fish. This could be due to casting restrictions or because a different method may be needed.
Thats why its important to take the trouble to learn and experiment with new techniques because you never know when they'll come in handy. After all "there's "more than one way to skin a cat". A bit of a grotesque euphemism I know ... unless you don't like cats... but the only one I could come up with.
The jack on the right wasn't a great fish. But never the less was very welcome on a "slow" day. And was caught tight line nymphing a spot you just wouldn't have got at with the indicator or wetline.
 
Similarly, elsewhere on the river the fish above all fell to the same method a day or two after last weeks fresh.
But the fishing wasn't as good as I had expected and a lot of anglers I spoke to agreed.
For instance I bumped into Keith who was on his way out of Big Bend. He told me this was probably the best of the three he'd caught. However, again described the fishing as slow.
Unless you happen to be one of the lucky ones who managed to drop on a few fish, I think most people fishing the river since the last report will tell you the same thing.
But some stretches have had their moments.
Boulder Reach has thrown up a lot of fish the last couple of days but has been thrashed since word got out. It was the same story with the Braids which had a mixture of fish moving through there as the color began to drop out last Wednesday. Again it was the early birds who had the best of it but its been absolutely hammered every day since then.
 
Even if you don't fish them its always worth keeping an eye on whats happening at the Bridge pools. And once again its the anglers that have been "first in" that have done the best there.
It was pretty quiet when I passed this morning but a couple of aquaintances who regularly fish there told me they've had some great sessions in this stretch lately.
A few more showers to come this week. Then it looks like a mostly settled spell as we head towards the end of the month.
There'll no doubt be a lot of angling pressure again on the Tongariro for the week ahead but there are fish there...all you've got to do is find them before anyone else ...easy ... yeah right.
Tight lines
Mike |
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