Surprise, surprise it's raining in Turangi! The Tongariro has spiked to 140m3/sec and is running brown however fishing the river isn't a complete waste of time as we have received reports of a few brown trout lurking in the dirty water swinging a large black rabbit or woolly bugger has certainly been the way to intercept these fish. Another option in these conditions would be the likes of Lake Kuratau, Rotoaira or Otamangakau. Recently the team here have been enjoying fishing Lake Kuratau, from stripping woolly buggers on intermediate lines to insane dry fly sessions it has truly provided it all and kept us happy while we wait for the river to reach a more stable flow. If you need a more in depth run through on how we have been targeting the fish on the lake don't hesitate to get in touch and pick our brains.
Rio VersiLeaders
The Rio VersiLeader system certainly came in handy the other day for me on the lake a couple days ago while using one of our pontoon boats which we have for hire at the shop. I started the day off using my Rio Grand floating line with a 12ft tapered leader down to a team of three dry flies as the fish were more than happy to come up to a #14 sporting caddis or #16 black Gnat dry fly at the beginning of the day. As the wind picked up the surface activity died off but by simply adding a 12ft 1.5IPS (intermediate) VersiLeader to my floating line and changing my dry flies for a team of small wee wets I continued to find willing fish. I then ventured out to a deeper weed edge and changed my 1.5IPS for a 3IPS (slow sink) VersiLeader and changed to a team of woolly buggers and managed to pick up a couple bigger fish out of the depths. as I made my way back to the boat ramp the wind died, and the fish began to rise again so off came the slow sink tip and back to my original rig. These sink tips make changing tactics on the lake incredibly easy and in my opinion are one of the most overlooked pieces of fly-fishing kit on the market. Check out the full range HERE.
Although we are getting sick of the rain there is always options available on the central plateau. Sometimes it is nice to break the mold and step outside your comfort zone to explore new options. It's often in these conditions where you can stumble across some hidden gems. Shop Dad (Neil) and I are instore today, come in and say hello.
Tarn ><>.