Following the large flush-out the Tongariro and surrounding rivers had last weekend, we have been presented with some exceptional fishing! Over the last couple of days, the river level has been perfect and has held an awesome greenish tint to it. There are plenty of fish around for the catching and some stunning specimens have been showing up!
With some colour in the water globugs or soft eggs have been the fly of choice, paired with some decent weight to get down deep (we have recently done a restock on these flies). Through my progression on fishing the Tongariro I find myself fishing deeper and deeper, often fishing around 10ft between flies and indicator given the river now has a bit of extra flow. Also, the importance of covering water efficiently and effectively cannot be understated. On heavily fished pieces of water a longer cast really is a game changer. For anyone wanting to learn the Tongariro Roll Cast come on in as I am happy to recommend gear or take people out on the water for some tips!
Over the past few days, the annual NZ Firefighters trout fishing competition went ahead and was a great success. By some luck the competition landed right after the period of rain we had, so plenty of great fish were caught!
The difference in colour and flow on the Tongariro: Sunday 1st vs Thursday 6th (different locations)
Yesterday evening I was nymphing the upper river amongst plenty of other anglers and managed to hook a really solid bow. Upon hooking the fish Hayley was keen to play it, so I handed her the rod. The fight drew on for some time and I was wondering what was taking so long. However, when the fish hit the net, I realised why! A beautiful fresh fish that drew the scales down to 6.5lb. Pictured below.
