It is a cloudy but calm morning in Turangi today, we received some passing showers in the wee hours of early morning but not enough to make any significant increase in river flows as the Tongariro is sitting at 24.2m3/sec and flowing clear. Plenty of recovering fish have been eager to take both nymph and dry fly as well as the odd fresh brown trout that has started to enter the system.
Although the fishing in the river has been red hot the team has been consumed by lake fishing lately and rightly so! Fishing tiny dry flies and nymphs to these torpedoes is quite the buzz. Gabe and Rosie both ticked off a couple of personal best yesterday with fish weighing 10.5lb and 8.5lb, these two have been putting in the time and it is awesome to see those hours paying off. Getting the eat is one thing but landing them is another so a tippet with a small diameter but strong breaking strain is crucial. The Rio Powerflex Plus tippet is my go-to in either 4X or 5X depending on the size of fly I am using. This tippet is a copolymer which is more supple than a fluorocarbon and gives you great presentation with small flies but still has enough strength to give you a fighting chance of taming one of these beasts from the weedy shallows.
It's been a busy start to the week in the shop as people have begun to flock into town for an early Christmas break. We are forecast to have some great weather throughout the week which will lead to more fantastic dry fly fishing and also allow those who plan to jig and troll on Lake Taupo to get out and make the most of the fantastic conditioned fish that have been feeding up a storm on smelt and koura. As always at this time of year we appreciate everyone's support while we make our way through the busy period, and we are excited to see everyone enjoying everything the central plateau has on offer at the moment.
Tarn.