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Babe
Wed 15th June, 2011
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Update Monday 20th June 12.00pm.
The Tongariro peaked at around 42 cumecs over the weekend and is now flowing at 34.6 cumecs with just slight color. Reports suggest more small runs came through but again its a case of right place at the right time. As always those that are prepared to move around will generally be more successful. I would expect more browns making their way back to continue turning up and if last year is any thing to go by it wouldn't surprise me if someone landed a fresh run fish...but it is getting on a bit for them now. When nymphing the tried and tested formula of globugs early and late then naturals during the day will work as well as anything. I'll get back to you in a couple of days after I've had a good look around.
This week has seen the Tongariro begin to get back to its winter best and memories of tougher times are already beginning to fade. I’ve fished up as far as the Fan Pool but you just can’t go past the Braids at present. I know I’ve been keeping on about the place for weeks but if you want fish this is a pretty good area to start the day. You can move through here fairly quickly trying a few fly changes as you go. These small runs are not hanging around so don't expect it to throw out fish all day every day but if you catch it right you'll have a lot of fun. Yesterday I set the alarm a little bit earlier than usual to try and get into Judges first but slept late, so I decided to skip breakfast. I needn’t have bothered because when I arrived at the bridge the car park was empty …typical.
As dawn began to break Jake and I started walking upriver. For some reason I was convinced I could smell bacon …nah...can’t be…its because I haven’t eaten and then I tripped over this thing.
Frightened me to death because in the half-light it almost looked as if a good vet would get it back on its feet! Anyway hurrying on I got up to Judges and had the place to myself for a couple of hours. It wasn’t too bad and I landed a few by the time Paul Dyson and his dog Brodie joined us. Paul you may recall was the pin-up on our license a couple of years ago holding a nice brown and is a Tongariro regular. Unfortunately despite our best efforts the bites dried up so after about an hour we went our separate ways. I tried a couple of spots further up but only had one more hook-up so headed back to the bach taking a pic of “Babe” on the way. After a bite to eat I walked over to the Braids and was pleasantly surprised to see only one other angler in the distance.
The indicator dipped on the very first cast and I was into another hard fighting fresh run rainbow. The fish were moving through most of the spots…not in huge numbers…but enough to keep things interesting.
I eventually found myself fishing near the angler I had seen earlier and he walked over for a natter. It’s a small world…regular readers of TRM’s daily reports might remember the competition last year to think up a name for Brian Topps version of a fly I brought over from Wales. It was won by a young graphic designer from Oz called Adam Barton. Adam is from Matamata but now lives and works in Melbourne. The winning name he came up with “The Tongariro Torpedo” was one of about thirty that he thought up. Last weekend he flew over to New Zealand for a few days fishing but because of the heavy rain his plans were badly disrupted.
Nature has a habit of sorting things out and the ash floating around from the eruption of Chile’s Puyehue volcano caused the cancellation of his return flight. Luckily this gave him an unexpected extra day to fish the Tongariro. He took full advantage and he soon had a limit bag as another small run made its way past us…now they really are volcanic trout.
The temperatures have cooled down quite noticeably over the last couple of days and this morning I expected to wake up to the frost that had been forecast. As I put the rods and Jake in the truck there was no sign of it around the bach but boy was there was plenty of it as we walked up towards Boulder Reach. Years spent delivering milk as a kid in freezing Welsh winters mean I don’t suffer too much with cold hands.
Unfortunately I have the same hair style as a boiled egg so I was really regretting leaving my wooly hat behind. I didn’t get a touch in Boulder Reach but fishing the riffles upriver with the indicator fly and a couple of nymphs gave me a few fish. Once the sun got up so did the temperature by the time I walked back to Red Hut my thermal gear was soaked in sweat and I smelled a bit like that pig. After grub it was over to the Braids, only one other fisho there so I went straight to a favorite spot.
The wind had really picked up making things a little awkward. It wasn’t so much the casting but in this particular run you have to get the mend just right and with it gusting downstream it was proving difficult. Fortunately the trout in front of me were "new guys" and didn't mind too much. I managed several almost identical silver fish in nice condition as they moved through, mainly on caddis. There is more rain forecast towards the end of the week and into the weekend with the winds swinging back to the North, so things will probably warm up again. Its easy to get a bit excited when you have a couple of good days on the river but I’m feeling optimistic…at least for now.
I was watching Jake surfing the net after he’d finished proof reading this report and he was looking at Boof ’s latest publicity stunt with a half dead trout and an old glove puppet. Being a bit of a beach bum as well as a river dog he was slightly more impressed with the strong fit Kahawai that Brodie had snaffled. Normally he prefers to stay out of the lime-light but he double clicked on “my pictures” and reminded me of some recent pics I had forgotten about. So here he is doing what Border Collies do best and fearlessly rounding up this vicious two hundred and fifty pound Kapiti Island seal which had strayed onto his patch…. “that’s my boy”.
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