| |
|
|
| |
More rain needed
Fri 12th August, 2011
|
|
|
|
For once the rain that had been forecast for last weekend actually materialized but it was nowhere near enough and only pushed up the level of the Tongariro a couple of cumecs. The next day there was a hint of color in the water but it was still tough going for most Tongariro anglers. The canny ones were adapting to the conditions by getting out and about at dawn. If you didn't mind company and a lot of it... the stretch below the Bridge was again one of the more popular choices. During the spawning runs this continues to be one of the most heavily fished area's on the river but trout consistently hold here every year. Wet-liners hanging globugs off their Wooly Buggers and Rabbits have done well here early with some good solid fish taken over the last day or two.
On Monday morning I had Mark Wilkshire and his nine year old son Tom on the river for a few hours. The whole family were up from Lower Hutt for a couple of days to sample what Turangi had to offer them. So as a trade off for taking his wife and daughter on a skiing trip in the afternoon, father and son were stuck with me until 11.00am. Thankfully they wanted an early start and by seven thirty were both geared up and standing in the river keeping a very close eye on their indicators. It wasn't long before Mark's went under and after a few minutes he landed his first fish. Just upriver young Tom was as keen as mustard and was very soon casting and mending all on his own. Unfortunately as he pointed out to me several times the fish in front of him were " a lot smarter than the ones in front of Dad " which was why he kept missing them. A little later we moved to some broken water where Dad was all smiles when the indicator fly disappeared on his first drift and he was off downriver chasing this dark jack that Tom is holding. Mark briefly connected again a couple of casts later but this one didn't stick and the hook pulled out. All too soon their few hours were over and I had to rush them back so they could collect the rest of the family for their trip to the ski slopes...cheers guys. 
Talking of rushing... after last weeks stay at TRM
I got into big trouble with Pip the general manager. Normally I look around my unit before leaving the Tongariro River Motel to make sure I've left nothing behind ...but last time I was in a bit of a hurry.
The list of stuff found by staff after guests have vacated their rooms is a long one and includes food, computers," toys " of all kinds, booze, spectacles, sunglasses and fishing gear to name just a few. You may also have noticed that all of Ross's clothes don't quite fit. Anyway when I called in at the office to pick up my key Pip emerged from the lost and found department holding a crumpled brown paper bag at arms length. Judging by the look on her normally cheery face what ever was in there was as welcome as a fart in a telephone box. Apparently after my last stay Pip sensed an unusually horrible aroma coming from the shower.
A closer inspection revealed a pair of sweaty, steaming underpants lying on the floor "fresh"
from six hours inside my 5mm neoprene waders. According to Pip they were just about to walk out by themselves. So armed with an old wading pole she managed to spear them and toss them into the nearest washing machine. Even though they had been thoroughly decontaminated the poor woman could still not bring herself to touch or look at them which is why they were in the bag.
My sincerest apologies Pip and with a bit of luck when the nausea finally passes the Belgian chocolates should go some way to make up for it.
A couple of days later I was lured from my favorite river by friend and guide Marcel Ryda co-ownwer of the Riverway General Store.
With the Tongariro still not firing on all cylinders I needed some rod-bending shots for this weeks report so we drove the short distance to the Waiotaka. The weekend rain had enticed some reasonable numbers of fresh fish into this river and Marcel had opted to try for them with a 4wt teamed with a tiny fly reel...great stuff. This fairly small stream a few minutes north of Turangi can be accessed from a couple of places and flows down from the Kaimanawa forest through Department of Justice land before eventually emptying into the lake 5kms further north at Stump Bay.
In winter and spring there are good spawning runs and the place can really kick off when there's a little bit of color in the water. Like some of the other near by rivers summer heralds the arrival of good browns and the dry fly action also picks up. We elected to park at the vehicle ford and fish upstream of Rongomai marae to the upper limit at the prison boundary fence. Over the last year both banks have undergone extensive maintenance, including willow clearance and the planting of native shrubs. This has made casting easy but until these establish there is very little cover for our fishy friends. We waded the shallow water above the ford to the TRB and immediately disturbed a fish lying out in the middle of the stream. As the sun climbed higher into a cloud-less blue sky most of the trout we spotted were under over-hangs in the bank or near the bottom in the numerous deep holes and small pools. We slowly worked our way upriver using a combination of size 14 globugs teamed with flash-backs, copper john's or caddis weighted with split-shot to get down.
Because of the willow clearance program I won't be giving too much away if I tell you most of the good spots were by "the stump" and below one of them we spotted half a dozen busy rainbows. With the camera ready it wasn't long before Marcel annoyed one into having a snap at the water melon bug and the little 4wt doubled over as it shot off. Its amazing the punishment these small rods can take, after a great scrap and a bit of a jog downstream he eased a nice fish into the net. As we carried on upriver it had turned into a really warm day more like summer than winter.
It wasn't until we arrived at one of the bigger holes further up that we came across several more fish lying deep behind a tangle of old roots. We took it in turns to have a crack at them but they weren't interested and we made our way up to the prison boundary fence. The sign next to it warns anglers that fishing is not allowed beyond this point. The fish must be able to read because a few meters upstream of it you could see dozens of spawning trout lying in the shallow open water taunting us... but we were good boys and headed back. On the way the 4wt scored a second time when a jack picked up the nymph in the depths of a snaggy pool and Marcel was off on another enforced yomp downstream before the fish gave up. By the time we got back to the trucks it was still only around lunch time so after a bite to eat I had a couple of hours on the Tongariro and took a few fish from the riffles on small green caddis...a nice end to a very pleasant "cruisy" day.
There have been reports of some good trout caught but I have to admit that all of mine so far this week have either been very dark jacks or spent hens. I'm not complaining...I enjoy fishing this river in all its moods and I'm lucky to have it as such a big part of my life. Looking at the events in the U.K over the last week Gail and I count our blessings that we now live in such a beautiful country something that we never take for granted. There is rain forecast today but whether its enough to make any difference remains to be seen. Next week a spell of very cold weather is expected from Sunday until Tuesday presently with a moderate warning of snow showers on the Central Plateau.
This could mean closures and disruption again on this route ...something to keep an eye on.
Tight lines guys
Mike |
|
|
| Back to Top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
