Tuesday 26th May 2026

May 26, 2026

Weather: 8.2°C, with mainly fine weather expected throughout the day before low cloud develops this evening. Winds remained light, with southwesterlies briefly appearing during the afternoon. Lows of 4°C

River Flow: 27.2 cumecs (m³/s).

I headed down to the river this morning to grab a few photos and bumped into Mark fishing on the opposite bank. We had a good chat about how things have been fishing-wise, and he mentioned that while it’s been challenging at times, the fishing has still been reasonably productive. The key, he said, has been to work through the pools methodically and take your time.

Mark had started the morning nymphing but hadn’t seen a lot of action, so later switched over to wet-lining a small bugger, which proved to be a better option.

Rosie popped into the shop today and shared a quick report after a successful day on the water yesterday, landing some cracking fish.

With the rivers remaining low and clear, European nymphing has continued to produce solid results, particularly on the smaller rivers. Using large tungsten-beaded, slim-profile flies tied on jig hooks has been the most effective approach, allowing the flies to sink quickly and stay in the lower water column where the spawning fish are holding.

Rosie also mentioned that she headed out yesterday in search of spawning fish and was pleased to find good numbers moving through the system as dusk approached. Most of the fish were holding in the harder-to-reach water, particularly in shaded areas and the deeper sections of the river.

With rain forecast for the coming weekend, the Tongariro should see another fresh wave of spawning fish pushing into the system, which will likely make all methods productive again. That said, anglers swinging flies early in the mornings have already been connecting with some fresh-run fish.

~ Rosie

Billy also sent through a couple of great photos from his session at the Delta. With the lake levels still sitting high, conditions have been a bit different from the norm, but there are still some very nice fish being brought to the boat. Billy mentioned he had three hits during the two hours he was out jigging. While the fishing was a little tougher than usual, he still had a great time on the water. There is still plenty of smelt showing on the surface, although not as much activity deeper down.

Looking ahead, as Rosie mentioned, the forecast rain has everyone excited about the prospect of the river getting a small fresh and a bit of colour added to the water. Conditions like that should encourage more running fish into the system and really fire things up heading into the long weekend.

We’ve been stocking up on all the essentials in the shop, and Tim has been hard at work tying plenty of Slushies, which should prove very effective if those fresh fish start pushing through.

Over the last few days we’ve also been hearing more and more positive reports, with some excellent fish being landed around the region.

I’ll be putting together a couple more reports before the weekend, and hopefully by then things will really be ramping up.

Tight lines everyone!

~ Niamh (Bluey)