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Busy weekend.
Thu 4th August, 2011
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Last weekend was probably the busiest on the Tongariro for some time and most of the car parks were soon occupied as anglers headed off to their favorite spots. With the river gin clear but looking stunning and angling pressure high it was more important than ever to set the alarm.
I bumped into Paul Dyson who had decided to get to the lower river early. He took four good fish before a steady stream of other fisho's passed him on their way to water further down. The fish might be out in the open at day break but quickly get fed up of bombs and globugs and its not long before they retreat to their hiding places until things quieten down. The early birds usually do best and if you get your flies through first you will normally pick up a fish or two before they get spooky.
By mid-morning most of the popular area's had been repeatedly bombarded and things started getting harder. This is the time to try a change of tactics and search out water that may have been over-looked by others. Riffles are a good place to start because trout will often use these if more "fishy" parts nearby are getting a lot of attention from anglers. Although shallower the broken surface water disguises their out-line making them less visible to predators...like us! Because they are rich in dissolved oxygen riffles are a also a favorite hang out of the invertebrates that feeding trout eat. If you've stood in the river without wearing thick socks during the last ten days, your bound to have felt the noticeable drop in water temperature.
Trout and the aquatic insects they prey on are classed as cold-blooded. In winter there is very little insect activity below the surface until things begin to warm up around 11.00am. It then decreases again as temperatures cool later in the afternoon. This is why the old formula of globugs early and late with "naturals" in between sometimes works. In these clear conditions try fishing the river as you would in summer. Discard or replace the big fluffy indicator, lighten up the tippet, select smaller flies, have a good look in front and ahead of you. This little four pound brown was spotted feeding in 18 inches of water at the top of a narrow by-pass ignored by anglers til then. By staying well behind and below, on the second cast it confidently took the caddis fished under a dry. A quick pic and it was off to continue growing, hopefully to return bigger, stronger and unfortunately wiser. Using this approach I fished with John Rust a solicitor who has his own practice in Auckland.
John was in Turangi with the North Shore Fly-fishers but the others couldn't stick the pace he'd set and headed home. J.R had decided to stay an extra day so we met up for an afternoon session. It got off to a lousy start because just as he took his beloved 1992 G.Loomis 8wt out of his car the only gust of wind for three days slammed the door shut on the tip...not good. A big thank you to Jared at Sporting Life who is helping him sort it out. John has had a couple of little health niggles lately so excessive wading and long walks were off the cards, he had never fished the Braids and was keen to try it, so off we went. I have to take my hat off to him. Despite the place being well and truly thrashed all morning, by taking his time and trying less obvious spots he had a couple of mid-water releases before eventually landing one late in the afternoon.
John has reached that stage of his angling journey where "numbers" are no longer a priority. What is important to him and something he definitely appreciates is that he's still out there doing it. He even went out of his way to make sure we met up that night at the Bridge Motel to share a bottle of red over dinner...great bloke.
The start of the week saw a significant decrease in the weekend crowds as many returned home with the school holidays over. There are plenty of Ozzies in town and I also met visiting anglers from South Africa and various parts of the UK eager to poach our fish. As is always the case some were doing ok others not familiar with the methods used on the Tongariro were struggling a little bit.
This weekend The Brown Trout Club will also be on the river holding their annual competition and a few are already here warming up.
No particular fly has stood out, small globugs, green or white caddis and various nymph patterns all caught their share of fish. 
Plenty of reports of some very good jacks taken displaying full spawning colors. Like the one my "neighbor" at Tongariro River Motel Terry Sutton is holding. Terry went down to the Bridge Pool to join the locals at first light and just like them hung a globug off a fast sinking line to score this fish.
The appearance of spawning males is normally a pre-cursor to a run of fresh hens and from now on expect a gradual increase in the numbers of kelts, both rainbows and browns from runs earlier in the year. These fish are less cautious and the main thing on their mind is to feed up as they return to the lake to regain condition...handle them with care. There are showers forecast for the weekend and more persistent rain from Monday and the rest of next week. This will get more fish moving and if previous years are anything to go by the next few months should see the best fishing of the year.
If like me you enjoy a hot coffee and a piece of lolly cake during your day on the Tongariro then it's possible you may have noticed something missing in the Bridge car-park!
The sign explains all...fortunately compared to other parts of the world this sort of thing doesn't happen that often in New Zealand.
The van and the cart were found in different locations the next day but the expensive equipment had been removed. Once the paperwork is sorted out the coffee cart will undergo a re-build...come back soon Shaz.
Be lucky guys
Mike |
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