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Sizzling.
Mon 28th January, 2019
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The fabulous summer weather rolls on and things are really warming up now. The FPO and I have been away for a few days enjoying some salt water fly fishing. But before I left, the fishing on the river wasn't too bad either. A lot of anglers were doing the sensible thing and fishing early or late. And with the likelihood that the mercury will exceed thirty degrees I expect the same thing to happen this week.
During long periods of hot weather the cooler, oxygen rich water in or near runs and riffles are some of the best places to prospect. And now that fish are well and truly looking up for their food, a suitably buoyant dry fly, either on its own or with a nymph below is the ideal way to explore these generally shallower stretches.
But deep pools like Admirals often hold fish in summer and there have been some good browns there the last ten days rising from the depths to take bugs on the surface.
    
We've spent the last three days on the Royal launch Samudra with Lord and Lady Fransham. And with temperatures sizzling I can't think of many better places to be than cruising around the Coromandel with friends armed to the teeth with fishing rods. So for a few days I swopped nymphs and dries, for poppers, jigs and lures on the spinning gear. And Mikes' version of the Clouser Minnow when we fished with a fly on the 10wt. He's a fairly recent convert to salt water fly and after experiencing the thrill of playing Kahawai and Kingies on a fly rod I can understand why ... what a buzz!
 
The exceptional summer weather has also been responsible for one of the most prolonged emergence of cicadas seen in recent years. Indeed many Kiwi's have told me they've never seen anything like it. You can obviously hear them. But everywhere you look you'll either see jettisoned husks or adult insects.
The numbers around now really are extraordinary and for the last couple of weeks the heat of the day has sparked off gusty winds which has seen to it that plenty of these cumbersome fliers end up drifting downriver.
And before we went away for the holiday weekend I had several fish on cicada patterns.
 
Another insect emergence of interest to anglers in late summer is the appearance of Passion Vine Hoppers. {Scolypopa Australis} These are often wrongly referred to as Lacewings. And as their scientific name suggests originally arrived from Australia in the late 1800's.
The adult females lay their eggs in rows on trees and other plants along the river, where they overwinter. In gardens you'll often discover dozens of them on plants like Flax or Cabbage trees. But they'll also deposit the eggs in dead plant tissue or even garden stakes.
The eggs hatch in late spring and the nymphs are known as fluffy bums because of the tuft of white filaments at the end of their abdomens.
They may be a welcome sight when you're fishing. But when you get a large infestation in the garden it's a different story because of the damage they do to host plants.
 
More very hot weather forecast for the rest of the week. With some places seeing well above thirty degrees. Which means we're in for some pretty uncomfortable nights.
But we're not the only ones that feel a bit uncomfortable in hot weather. Trout also get stressed if the water temperature warms up, making them less inclined to feed. So with the river still flowing at only 21 cumecs and things heating up it makes sense to fish the cooler parts of the day ... hence early and late.
If you also select stretches where the water is likely to contain more dissolved oxygen you should increase your chances even more. Anywhere you find some sort of surface turbulence is worth a try. That's why riffles and runs are often targeted by anglers now.
Tight lines guys
Mike |
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