Hey All.

Back to the fishing for a while.

We have had heaps of rain like most of New Zealand and because of that a few of the rivers are un fishable. The Waitahanui and Hinemaiaia are both fishable at the moment and I would say the others will be fishable by tomorrow.  The Tauranga Taupo is still high as I write, flowing at .85 but it is dropping  fast. We are due more rain and showers by the end of the week with wind in the forecast too.

Angling pressure was high around the lake this morning. The Rips are getting a flogging as well. All the trout I am seeing are in excellent shape, DOC will be well pleased there.

Regards Shane

Just a quick update about the Rubbish being dumped at the Waitahanui River. Ross from the Tongariro River Motel jumped on the band wagon about this as well. One of his hotel quests fished the river a few weeks back and took some photo’s, (go to Ross’s page www.tongarirorivermotel.co.nz ) of the mess. Ross wants me to take it to the Mayor at a weekly meeting they have. If I have to do that then so be it but first of all I would like to see if DOC can sort it.

My reply to Ross was this.

Hey Ross. (something about being a pine tree killing bastard in there too)
I had spoken to the council a few months back. I first noticed the rubbish in January and thought that due to the size of it, DOC would have to know, so I gave them two months grace. When it wasn’t removed, I rung the council. As you say, they passed the buck onto DOC as it was not on their land, (apparently). I rung DOC and they said they were dealing with the problem but were trying to find out whose land it was on, (small private piece of land, apparently). I know things don’t move too fast with DOC and so have been giving them some time to sort it out. Last Friday, time ran out for them.

I have just gotten off the phone from DOC. A big part of me is sorry for the guys there. They are going through some massive restructuring and are having to reapply for their jobs. Some of these guys have family to support so it must be pretty stressful. They are aware things need to change and that the public can help them shape things to come. There is some positive stuff that is to come from DOC very soon.

Unfortunately for Mark who is in Field operations our conversation was a heated one, (at least by me anyway). Things have moved a little too slow in my opinion and the talking to the locals should have been over by now and a digger bought in. I don’t really care who’s land it is on. From what I have been told, (my own source from the community, who are as disgusted as anyone) there were drums of some sort of liquid thrown in there and this stuff, if leaking, will eventually leach into the Waitahanui River. I explained to Mark that unless it was cleaned up “now” my next phone call would be to the media in Taupo. Bureaucratic BS was over with and it just needed dealing with. There are no excuses for this taking so long.

Mark asked for a weeks grace on that move and that he would treat it with priority. I would like to think that DOC and the Council can work this out quickly as it is certainly a terrible thing to come across, amongst all that beauty. They have their leverage to the whole deal as the leaching of contaminants into the Waitahanui river is illegal, whether its private land or not. From there it is just maintaining the area with signs and cameras. By doing nothing, all DOC and the Council are saying is “its ok, we wont do anything”.

So watch this space and I’ll let you know what happens next Monday. Hopefully I wont have to ear bash Rick Cooper but that card is definitely in the pack to play with.

Thanks Again
Shane

Hey all,

Very sorry for the lack of reports over the past two weeks. I came down with the bloody flu and it dropped me like a brick!

I managed to get out late this week but have had a few reports come in from the rivers and so have more or less kept up with what is going on out there.

The lake is still VERY low and so any extra volume the rivers are getting is being sucked out. Hence the the Tauranga Taupo is Low as I write. In fact all the river levels are low and clear. I fished the Hinemaiaia Rip on Wednesday and there was Zero flow. Same with the Waitahanui. I am of the firm opinion you need that flow to attract the trout from over the drop off. I didn’t need to be there too long to realize I was flogging a dead horse and as my heart wasn’t really in it I came home.

The Waitahanui river is getting a steady trickle of trout. I gave this a good walk on Friday and saw plenty of trout in there including some fresh browns.

The Hinemaiaia is getting flogged and DOC is being ignorant on the upper limit fishing. This section is being destroyed as a spawning area and will / is destroying this once VERY healthy fishery.

They are being ARSES when it comes to the crap dumped on the Waitahanui by Totara bridge. Monday is going to see me have a rant to them and the Taupo council about this. I don’t give a flying toss whose land it is, it needs removing, it is a God Damn eye sore. Time to get the media involved in it huh DOC?  NOT good enough at all. I spoke to them about this months ago and they said it was under control. Well if “under control” means doing NOTHING about it then yes they have everything well under control Excuse me why the hell am I paying a license fee?

We have rain all this week starting from Today. The wind is blowing from the wrong direction but it should still push some trout into the rivers. I am out and about this week so will post again soon, hopefully in a better mood.

Regards Shane

Hey All

Sorry guys this will be a short one. This week has gone past way to quickly.

Me personally. I have found the fishing rather hard over the past week! The Hine didn’t live up to any reputation that I had. The water volume was great and we had wind. The fresh trout that came out of there were in awesome condition. I had a great Hen of about 4.5 pounds slid out of the net the second the hook was removed. This was a beautiful trout and the picture would have been magic, man they can get away fast.

I fished the Waitahanui Rip the other night before the Moon showed up. 3 hours for no strikes. They sure as hell aren’t stacking up in the rips. This may mean they are just coming in over the shelve and going straight in, when they run. Its a be there at the right time sort of thing.

I fished the Waimarino yesterday for my big day out. I got out a little later than expected and so walked past the middle section. I did fish the lower. I had a plan that any trout coming in would be in the uppers trying to find a deep hole to sit in for when the water level dropped. I did a pretty big day yesterday and walked way past the Winter Limit. I saw three trout!!!!!!!! They were bunched together at that. On my way back down I went through the middle section thinking a pod might be there, na not a fish. I have a fair ability at spotting the little buggers and the water was clear. I wasn’t worried about the lack of fishing, as I moved further up the river than I had before and looked at some very attractive water. However it should have had trout in it. This is not a “freak out” comment directed at fish numbers in the lake, it is more about poaching than anything. This river has a reputation for poaching, is VERY easy to poach on and in the past has even claimed the life of a poacher, (fell into his net and drowned).

DOC needs feet on the street. so to speak. I haven’t had my license checked for well over four years and you guys know how much I am out there. I’d be more than happy to deal with poachers and to check licenses.

I hope the Tauranga Taupo and The Tongariro had trout move in.

Enjoy the pics.

Regards Shane

Hey All.

Pretty much a mixed bag out there at the moment. The rain we got didn’t push too many trout into the rivers, as many of the river mouths did not have trout milling around in the first place. The Delta was empty last week according to someone I spoke to on the Tongariro last week. I spoke to a gentleman today who said the same about the Tauranga Taupo and I know from personal experience that the Hinemaiaia and Waitahanui rips were bloody quiet too. Man did I get wet one night there, for nothing, not even one touch.

I guess it just means they have to build up again from the deep water and want to run. The trout I am hooking into are beasts and will bust many anglers off this year, they are strong. The season is still very early!

I managed to get a few on the Tongariro Tuesday, but really had to move around to find them. I fished a lot of water for 6 trout. Both Glo Bugs and Naturals took fish for me on Tuesday. This would be the river to be on in my opinion.

I fished part of the TT this morning. I fished water that looked so good it was not possible to be empty… Not a touch in two hours!!! If they moved into the river Thursday with the increase in river flow, then they must have moved through dam fast.

I fished the Hinemaiaia Thursday amid torrential rain. Although I picked up several smaller and older trout, I found the Hine hard going. Just as I was going to give up I found Paul. He had been having a blast. It didn’t help fishing up behind him, as he can fish. I know the Hine has trout in there as the top picture was taken Tuesday afternoon. This beautiful 5.5 pound Hen gave me a fight I will long remember. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE watch the spawning beds. They are lighter colour pebbles and are generally in a small depression. These are starting to show up and they are our future fish.

The runs into the Waitahanui have petted right off. There were some amazing fish that went through this great river a few weeks ago. That was a fantastic start for the Nui. As I say the Rip is slow. It will be interesting to see what happens in the Waitahanui this year.

Tight lines to all, (except Paul).

Regards Shane.

Hell this year is flying by!

Hey all.

Once a year on average , I lose a trout that makes me go Grrrrrr. Most of the trout that smoke me or use dirty tricks to try and dislodge, make me smile. I loved being smashed by a trout that is uncontrollable. However every so often, disappointment is left instead. yesterday on the Tongariro was one of those times.

I was after trout to smoke. I have a few families that I know love it and I enjoy giving my finished smoked product away. I had tried at the Waitahanui rip on Tuesday night but that turned up a blank and I really needed a trout or two. All the rivers are low and clear. The Waitahanui has been beaten with an ugly stick by anglers, for weeks now. The runs into the Nui had dropped right off to dribs and drabs and they were spooky! I almost did the Hine, but it is low and I want to get in there when the water comes up a little more. With that in mind and knowing the other three rivers are very low, I shot down to the Tongariro.

I did a section I have not fished for a while and was really surprised at the change. It is here that my fight happened.

The Run I found and was happily casting into had a series of deeper holes throughout. It reaked of trout and when I first saw it I think I may have drooled a little There is a heap of water to fish.  I had on a Weighted Reaper and a Red Bead Reaper. For thirty odd drifts I didn’t touch a thing.  Over the next thirty minutes I changed Nymphs twice more to all my killers, without a touch. My leader was about 11 feet to the dropper. I added weight enough at intervals, to make sure I was down. Nothing, Nada. “Hmmm” I thought maybe a Glo Bug and remove some of the weight, to get a more natural drift.

First cast! Half way down the drift and the indicator just stopped. I lifted and instantly felt that heart pounding, head shake of a good solid fish. Its first run was nothing short of vicious and almost had me holding the line too tight, My Kilwell 8# got a right royal bending! Once under control, (and I don’t say that lightly) I moved him down out of the run into the water below. It just happened to be, that I did not have too much water to play with, as it became snaggy and deep. Even as I thought this my opponent speed off in that direction and Ping off he came. This was a good Jack of about 5 pounds, ( I got a good look at him). I sat down, Re Tied, with a Glo Bug and had a coffee.

For the next thirty minutes, (No anglers anywhere to be seen) I put through drift after drift. I added weight and even short lined it. Not a touch. This water just looked too dam good for one fish! “Ok just a few more” I thought. The indicator went under in the exact spot as before, I lifted and a very frantic, splashy Hen came to the surface. Once it turned its head and had its trajectory correct, it took off! I was ready for it and let it have line through my fingers without much resistance. It was heading upstream and not into snags. I decided to apply some pressure and turned it. Yup straight back down to me. It had me stripping like a maniac but I kept up with her and as she came past me I really gave her the stick, applying maximum pressure. This is where an 8# will decimate a lighter rod, with a big fish. I walked downstream bringing in line not just walking it down, this glides the trout over to your bank. Before the trout knew what had happened I had her in shallow water and then up onto the shingle.   It was a great Hen of 4.5 pounds. It was not ready for spawning either so got the “Last Rites” with my Priest. This fish had really good flesh and is about to be smoked.

So another cup of coffee to rest the pool, a quick look around to see if any other anglers might like a go, (still no one within sight) and I thought “Oh well, may as well”.

I had changed over onto a Red Bead Reaper for my point fly,  a Black Bodied Tungsten Reaper as my dropper. 7inches above the Dropper I had a small piece of split shot. Leader was 11 feet from indicator to point fly. On my second drift through, the indicator got smashed, I mean it went under and sideways and down all at the same time. This time when I lifted the rod, the thump on the other end was heavy. It too went up stream but I decided not to give it anything without a fight. I needed to stay in the fight and make it tire. The last three feet of my leader was 6 pound Vanish Fluro, as was my tippet. Although I have strong believe that “Vanish” has excellent knot strength, I was now applying pretty much snap off stage resistance and thought “Na here we go”, when I turned its head and it glided back down stream to sit in the deep water opposite me. Round one to me! Over the next ten minutes we muscled eachother back and forth across the river and up a few more times to boot. Each time I had to stop this leviathan of a fish I thought, “na this is a bust off” It was an epic battle. “Right I thought” time was a wasting, something had to give, including my arm. I used the same tactic as on the Hen, by walking it downstream while having my rod angled towards the bank and bringing in line as I walk. It moves them into the shallows. The difference was, on this fish it didn’t want to play that game and we had another epic battle just to get it to shore, full stop.

So there lying in the shallowest water I could glide it onto, (fat belly syndrome ) was the biggest Brown I have ever hooked. At a quick glance 8.5 easily but because it was a VERY pregnant Hen that resembled a huge rugby ball with a tail and tiny head, it could quite easily have been 11. The problem is I will never know how heavy it actually felt, or how deep and wide it really was because that quick glance I got, was all I got. I had stepped over the line and was parallel to the Brownie while still in ankle deep water. As I went to give her a final nudge with my boot, it turned and with a speed that defied nature, went between my legs, back into the main current. I’m sure I made some masculine noise at this stage! While fumbling around with line everywhere, I managed to snag the indicator on one of my guides to the rod. This fish ,(that I had on the bank a second ago) was going hell for leather straight for a snag with me in tow, literally. The bend in my rod, as the indicator was three from the top and now wrapped as well, was ugly to look at and I knew it would snap the moment I stopped wading out into fast, deep, snaggy water. Well that’s IF I stopped wading out. The thought of snapping my rod won out and I changed the rod direction to point at the “still going nuts trout” and Ping, off she came.

A Photo and a cuddle would have been nice, sigh. It’s not that I lost it, its how I lost it.

I fished hard in this section for a few hours longer, moving up and down the river, I never had another strike. I came home with fish so it was a good day and I will remember that fight until my last breath.

So we have rain in the forecast for the next week. The wind will be blowing in the correct direction as well. Lets hope the rivers get some water volume going and fish move in. Until this happens the Tongariro is the river to be on.

Be safe.

Shane

I have waddled my way up a few of the rivers over the past week. Walking and strengthening my muscles around the knee is really important if I am going to move forward with this. I choose easy rivers with good tracks and rest it when I need to. Oh by the way I take my rod too, it would be rude not to!

The Waitahanui has had a great start to the season, with a steady trickle of trout moving in. I have had some Epic battles in the Nui over the week, with some massive trout. I was taken from the cliff pool, to just above Poi’s on Monday by the Hen in the picture. It would have pushed the 6 pound mark easily, but that’s because of the huge fat belly full of eggs. I am using my SAS 8#, with eight pound fluro as my main leader and tippet. At times I have needed every ounce of this punchy set up to stop a trout from going into a snag, down stream, or just in general going nuts. The word is out however and the Waitahanui is getting a bit of a thrashing. Yesterday there were 5 cars up Blake Road. I did the middle section and never saw a soul, so I shudder to think what the uppers were like.

I got told the Hinemaiaia  had some fish in there, so I had to have a look see. It was raining pretty hard and the river was coming up in colour and flow so I would not be surprised if it had a decent run. The Rip has been quiet at night however with only the odd fish taken, for many casts in between. I met a friend on the Hinemaiaia the other day and he gave me a beautiful Hen to smoke. He had just landed it. The quality of flesh is outstanding and it will be a very tasty fish to eat.

Its safe to say that I have caught a few trout so far this season and ALL of them have been healthy, not one slab or fish with a skinny tail. The start of the season has been the best for almost 6 years. I am really looking forward to the bigger runs.

Its my annual thanks to the DOC track cutters. That must be a hard job and they do a bloody good job of it. The Tauranga Taupo must be a nightmare at times so thanks guys!

Speaking of the Tauranga Taupo. I went back in there on Monday and managed, (just before it flooded out) to hook and land this amazing Brownie! I have never caught a Brown Trout in the TT, above the Bridge and so it was a very cool first. The fact it was in such beautiful condition and fought like something possessed made the experience that much better. I pretty much always have my camera slung around my neck,  so I did a very quick photo shoot, in which he behaved brilliantly, slipped the hook and slid him back into the river with a lecture of not being so gullible with Glo Bugs. As I say the river then became unfishable.

The Tongariro is a bit to bouldery and sore to walk on, so I can’t give a report on this one. However it came up in volume and so one can presume it will have fresh trout in there. I had to drop some Hairy Reapers off to Wayne from the Tongariro River Motel last Friday. I haven’t been in there for ages. As always they were hard at work making the place spick and span. Wayne has painted all the buildings and the place really looks a million bucks. These units are self contained and really enable you to look after yourself, saving money on eating out. The thing that always strikes me when I go inside is the feeling of good fishing vibes, they are ideal for the family or for guys needing good advice on the river and enjoying a the feel of a quality fishing batch. I fully recommend The Tongariro river motel for anglers wanting to stay in Turangi.

Anyway enough of being nice to Ross and Wayne.

Both Alex and I have been fishing the Taupo Rips at night. In short, they suck! Or we suck.. I don’t know when the trout are moving in but it isn’t while I’m there. We have had some pretty perfect conditions over the past week and between the two of us we have pulled 4 trout, three of those being small. The thing that cracks me up about Rip fishing is that they can come in at any second and if they stick around then the fishing is nothing short of mind blowing. However if they don’t come in then it can be a long night of casting for nothing. To be honest I love it for the tranquility as much as for the excitement of hitting a big trout. It was a clear night last night and the stars where brilliant to look at, We saw shooting stars and in general it was a very pleasant evening. A trout would have been nice however!

We have fine settled weather for the next week. The rivers will get harder to fish as the levels drop again. The Tongariro will be the place to be when this happens. The Red Bead Reaper is taking trout in all rivers. I am currently smoking a beautiful 6.5 pound jack for a client who took the trout on that nymph.

So tight lines to all and be safe on the water.

Shane

Hey all,

What a fantastic start to the 2013 winter season. Over the past 8 days I have managed to pull some great trout out of most of the systems entering our still VERY low lake. I was amazed at how fast the rivers dropped at the start of the week. The Tauranga Taupo got up to a very respectable .6 and then within 24 hours had dropped back to .3 man that dropped fast. later in the week the speed of the drop slowed somewhat as I guess the ground has had a bit of rain and now we are getting some run off. We have had constant heavy downpours and then some nice decent fine spells. Winds are Westerly at the moment as well so trout are being pushed into a few rivers that respond to a good blow from that direction. All this has come at a good time as the school holidays are going on at the moment and its good to see so many anglers out and about. I’m sure the tackle shops will be appreciating the cash flow.

Ross put up my report from last week on the Tongariro and my little confrontation with the tool at the Hydro pool. Without dwelling any longer on this I would like to say two things. The first is thank you for all the positive comments regarding this, ta guys much appreciated. The second thing is, I contacted DOC as I wanted to hear it from the horses mouth so to speak. The Hydro pool does indeed stretch from the top rapid entering the head of the pool down past the Mangawhitiwhiti to the tail raid. But hey we already knew that huh

The Waitahanui has had a steady trickle of both Rainbow and Brown trout going through for the past few weeks. I have only needed to be on this river for a very short time before I am hooked up and some of these brutes are just that. I hooked a jack of about 4.5 pounds in the Parade on Thursday and it took me all the way down to just above the Cliff pool. I had side ways pressure going on and every other trick I could come up with to keep it from snagging me up and or getting away on me. I had lost my net the day before and so needed to beach it. This boy had some super strength and would not give up. I was using my 8# SAS too, loaded with 8 pound Fluro. I have decided to put back the Jacks this year. Everyone keeps going on about putting Hens back because they hold the eggs. Ummm last time I made a baby, I am sure I was there too!  I believe there are more hens out there than jacks so this year they go back for me.

I hooked this amazing Brown the other night just on dusk. Again I had my Kilwell SAS and boy am I glad I did. I was absolutely positive this bad boy was going to bust me off as it headed straight for a snag and I applied the brakes something fierce. God I love this rod, it has the ability to turn a good fish. I thought I had a chance to get him in the net and so unhooked it, with that it took off across the river and I had to drop the net on the bank. I went downstream and landed it there. I had landed about twenty fish for the afternoon and was trying to be fussy with the one I took, so I gave it the final rites with my priest and then promptly forgot my net kiss goodby to $120. The fishing Gods were laughing their arses off at that one.

I expected the Hinemaiaia to have risen in water volume with the rain we had but I guess they are holding back water in the dam for a wee while, as it was pretty low all last week. I did hop in at the top for a look see and managed to pull this spawning jack out of a deep hole but apart from that it was fairly hard going. This river is going to be interesting this year as I believe it is the first year that maidens will be returning since they opened the winter limit up. I am sure this will have had some impact on the number of trout who managed to spawn, not to mention the stepping on the reeds Time will tell. A nice cold spell with some frosts and a bit more rain should see this river go nuts!

I even managed to have a look at the Tauranga Taupo the other day. There is is some great water in here, it has recovered nicely from the hammering over the past three years. The holes are deep and in the section I was in, fairly snag free. I am looking forward to having a blast in here this year. I heard from a reliable source it had a good pod of trout go through last week but I bet they have scampered up as far as they can by now. BTW Andrew I hope your holiday was a good one, nice talking tight lines.

We have wind and a little bit of rain in the forecast next week and then heavy rain for the weekend. I know this can all change but it is nice to see some of the wet stuff coming in at last.

Regards Shane

Hey all.

Nice to see the rain. All the rivers need this not only to push some trout through but also to give them a flush, some of the rocks are slippery and weed has become a bit of a problem.

I thought the Hinemaiaia might have had a run last week as the rain on Wednesday night was pretty solid. It was enough to give the Waitahanui colour anyway. As it turned out the Hine was still very low, they obviously hadn’t released anything from the dam and the rain had soaked into the ground without any run off.

As I say the Waitahanui had plenty of colour and the westerly had blown a few trout into the river. I had good reports from here although as usual the trout at this time of year do not hang around and so if you were a day late on the Nui, you probably missed them.

I noticed that the Tauranga Taupo managed to peak at just over .6 on Thursday but by Friday it had dropped once again to .3 it literally got sucked out by the low level of the lake. It is hovering at just over .5 now, perfect!!

On Friday Alex and I shot down to the Tongariro. This surely had to have trout in there from Wednesdays water. It was a great colour and I felt pretty positive when we stepped into the Bridge pool at 7.00am. We managed to pull three good fish from around this area including a 6 pound Hen that I smacked on the head and stuck on ice. From there we drove to the Major Jones where I was surprised not to see anybody fishing. We quickly shot down there and fished Damn hard for 1 trout although I dropped another two. from there we fished up stream on both sides pulling trout on a regular basis. All of them taken on either the 4.2 MM Tungsten Hairy Reaper or this little beauty. Its a Red Glass bead Reaper and it will be on special for the rest of the month.

HALL OF SHAME!!!

This little twat and his wife decided to jump in front of us at the Hydro pool. He is on the phone to the police, yup that’s right he called the police. It went something like this.

Alex and I had waded across from the true right and while I fished the confluence of the Mangawhitiwhiti, Alex started up towards the head of the Hydo. Half a dozen casts and a few steps. I landed a nice little Hen and then started up after him. As I was using my 8# I could get right across the other side, where as Alex was fishing mid stream. We both hooked up on trout with a regular occurrence, there are plenty of trout in the Tongariro at the moment. The day was perfect we had met some really friendly anglers and everyone seemed happy. We were about three quarters of the way up the pool when two anglers strode out of the bush and went straight into the head of the pool. Alex looked at me and said “is that on?” NO it isn’t. If you come to a pool and there are anglers in there, obviously moving up, then you should either wait for them to finish or move in behind them. I called out for them to move in behind us as we were moving through and they yelled back that we were not fishing the Hydro and that the piece of water we were in was different. Ummm NO! The Hydro goes from Rapid to Rapid. The lady angler hooked and landed a trout and as they would not move up or get behind us we had two options. The first was to just fish over the top of them but as we are not rude anglers and didn’t really need that attitude we decided just to leave. I actually hooked  a nice little Jack at this point and took it to the shore to land. It was there that I thought “bugger it” they were in the wrong and maybe they didn’t realize it. If they had tried this on with the wrong person it could have ended up a lot different for them. So I walked calmly up to the fool with the phone and asked him once again why he didn’t hop in behind us. Wow what a stress cadet! I was told to get away from him and that I obviously wasn’t a local and that locals new better than I did. The woman who by this stage represented a squawking chicken also added that we were obviously jealous that she had caught a trout and that we should just leave. I still smile at that comment when I think about it. I had already decided not to get grumpy or aggressive as that’s not what i’m about, especially on a river, so I just stood my ground and kept pushing for an answer as to why they were so rude. By this stage the meat head in front of me had pulled his cell phone out and was ringing the police. He asked to be put through to the Turangi station. Apparently I was rude, intimidating and aggressive, hell I thought I was rather polite and friendly.

So apparently the Locals in Turangi believe the Hydo pool only consists of the first 20 meters of water, IE the head of the pool. So my question is what do you call the long run going down to the rapid below the Mangawhitiwhiti? If these two Bozo’s are prepared to do this to someone like myself and Alex imagine what they would be like to an overseas guest or someone just starting the sport. It’s anglers like these two who give the Tongariro a crap name and they should never be allowed to get away with it, hence I stood up to them. I was bought up to stand my ground when in the right. I decided to leave these two alone as the guy was starting to shake and I didn’t want him to stroke out while in the water. We decided to pay a visit to the police station as I didn’t like being told I was aggressive and intimidating, he was a lire as well a bad fisherman. In fact he hadn’t even rung them!!

I’ll be back, it hasn’t really fazed me. The Tongariro is a beautiful river and at times has magnificent fishing in fabulous surroundings, i’ll just stay clear of dick heads.

Regards Shane

Hey All,

So it didn’t last too long before I got board of being home. So with a limp and a gimp I walked up the Waitahanui and a little of the Hinemaiaia over two days. I had been told that the Nui had a few Trout trickling through and they weren’t wrong. I found good numbers of Browns and a few decent rainbows in there as well. I hooked up immediately in Reids and then from there up had a bit of a blast. I thought the Glo Bugs might have been the go but Na, all they wanted was Naturals. It didn’t really matter whether it was a Tungsten Hairy Reaper as a dropper or the Winged Reaper, they hit them hard and fast. These fish are moving through fairly fast though, so if they are not in one section, go hunt them out.

As I say, yesterday I went into the Hinemaiaia for a wee look. I didn’t stay too long though and didn’t really do it justice. There are plenty of trout in the Hine but due to the low water conditions they are very spooky. A Glo Bug is not an option under these conditions, so once again I used naturals. I picked up a great spawning Jack in a fast riffle that really put on a show for me. I was using my 5# and I almost got smoked. I am not up to running down any river and so put the brakes on and hoped for the best. I managed to turn it and get the net under its head, what a great looking fish!

The TT would not be an option at all, it is soo low!

The Tongariro I am sure is holding both Rainbows and Browns. Glo Bugs might be an option in there first thing in the morning but I would have a good selection of Naturals on hand for when the sun gets up.

I have dropped all prices on all my flies for the rest of April. I can’t stress how important it is to have a Dropper that catches Trout and the Weighted Reaper for me has consistently taken trout.

Bring on the Rain!

Regards Shane