Weather: Fine, but some morning cloud. Light winds.
Tongariro River Flow: 20.5(m3/sec)
Lace Moths are in full swing. Come and get amongst the action!!!
Lots of Lace moth, Parachute Adams and unweighted Pheasant Tails have been ordered and are in store now.
The river is still low and clear, with no rain in the foreseeable. There is still outstanding fishing to be had, for those who go light and long in the leader.
Friend of the shop (pictured below), Bridget has done a great job sight casting to some stunning browns. She said "I trailed a Size 16 Copper Bead Hare and Copper below a dry fly. The copper bead seems to be the magic sauce for all of them. I used different dry flies but mainly a Caddis Dry fly now the cicadas are off the menu". It was also caught on her Sage R8 #5 with a Rio Gold line to match.
Reports from many others, is they are catching some hard fighting, well-conditioned rainbows all throughout the systems. So, it's a great time to get on the river while there is a bit less pressure on the water.
Small smelt patterns have been the fly of choice for many at the river mouths. I also like to trail a smelt, with a small un-weighted Hare and Copper variation, to double the chance, and give the fish something different. I have found this works very well.
Tim has been at the delta this morning, stripping smelts, and came up very successful. With some hard fighters that got him down to the backing on numerous occasions.
Those moving further out on the lake, are still finding the deeper they go, the better it gets. But moving around is always good. keep finding the drop-offs and drift through them.
Keep it up guys, we are enjoying the stories coming through the shop. Send us any photos and reports on what is happening.
Tight lines.
The Sportinglife crew.