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

Hey all,

It seems the little bit of rain we had last week pushed trout into a few of the rivers. The reports in, that trout were, (and still are) holding off the river mouths and a few of those decided to run. It is shaping up to be a good start to the winter season with many of these fish being in great condition, fat and red fleshed. I even had a report from a friend that he took a fat rainbow from the Waitahanui on a Glo Bug

I have my next knee surgery tomorrow and I decided to have one more crack at the back country stuff to end my season. I will be out of action for a month and I know I will be going nuts, so this was it. I have been super sore from my last effort and so needed something a little more sedate.

I have a river that I found a few years ago that meanders through forest and over a bit of farm land. I gained permission from the farmer, (who didn’t think there were Trout in there) all those years ago and have re visited this a few times, mainly in January. The trout in here have been surprising, as although there are plenty of little fellows willing to pounce the dry fly, there is the occasional good fish of 4 pounds + that will come along and make things a little more challenging. The river is small and comes from hill country covered in native bush and pines. I have never come across anyone in the upper section and that is where Alex and I headed. Normally I just use a dry fly and the fun is spotting these fish, getting into a casting position and fooling them on the first cast. It’s epic fun!

As we were walking over the farm and looking into the water we spooked a few relatively good Browns. I have always pulled Browns from this river and they would have to be the prettiest I have come across. There must be something in the water that really makes the spots stand out and the skin to be so gold. I was however quite surprised at the number we were seeing and it wasn’t too long before that got the better of us and we started to fish. We had got there a little late in the morning as it was the dry fly we were going to use and so needed some warmth for the hatches to make an appearance.  The day was bright and warm with the forecast for no wind or clouds, it was perfect.

The first two pieces of water we fished came up a blank, even though we had seen trout moving around in the depths. They just were not interested in coming to the surface. So not to be beaten we tied on a dropper of about 3.5 feet. Alex had a new type of flash back he has been tying and I used my Winged reaper in #14 with a 2.8mm Nickle bead. This breaks through the water film but has not got enough weight to drag down the dry fly. On the first cast Alex hooked up on a very feisty Rainbow that fought so much above its weight we were happy it was only 2.5 pounds, anything bigger would have given us issues. This unhappy little fellow would not come near the net. We gave him a good rest in calm water before we let him swim away.

We picked up some reasonable Browns as well, while making our way up stream to the bush line. There is a good pool that you look down on from a 20 foot high bank. You can slither your way up to the edge and peer down into it. Normally I see one or two decent trout in there however this time there were about 8 or 9 decent fish ranging from about 2 pounds up to a magnificent specimen of about 7.5 . Looking down onto it you could see the width of this beast and the best thing was they had no idea we were there. It was my turn, (well actually Alex just didn’t get a choice ) I striped out plenty of line and started my cast. Being so high up on the bank I needed extra line and I was worried with the added casting I might spook them. I shouldn’t have worried, they were very well behaved fish and just stood their ground. I was aiming for the big boy and the drift was pretty good as it slowly came back down stream onto it. You could actually see this fish look up at the dropper and start to move across. Alex started to get excited as he does and I though “oh yeah baby here we go”, when out of no where darted a Rainbow of about 2 pounds and scoffed down the dropper. Gahhhhhhhh ! All hell broke lose as you can imagine with the Rainbow spending more time on top of the water than in it. By the time I had it in the net everything had disappeared and was hiding under the banks.

We moved up.

The first few trout we spotted with the help from the Sun. They all took the dropper and fought well in very tight confines. The plan was to go as far into the stream system as we could before it closed over and casting became impossible. I had never been too far up into this section as the vast majority of my clients have not been able to deal with this type of casting and this was only the third time I had fished it for myself. I had never fished it this late in the season as well and the Sun was not as high in the sky as I would have liked for spotting. As it turned out we didn’t need the Sun, as all bar two trout took the dropper, we fished everything blind.

Alex who is an eating machine was making some fairly huge burping noises by this stage and in fact I was thinking he was trying to call up a stag. After one enormous burp that sounded like it started in his feet and moved up, I asked if he was ok. It was then I noticed how pale he was. With that he bent over and … well yeah I got to see what he had for lunch, breakfast and I think dinner the night before.  Ok I said one more fish then we can walk back. I’m good like that.

We happened to have walked around a very deep bend and up a small straight. The water was deep all the way and we emerged on the true right at the top of the pool. I un hooked my dry and dropper, stripped out twenty feet of line, roll cast across the stream, up stream mended and drifted everything down. Half way down the Dry fly got pulled under, I lifted my rod and we got a huge flash of gold and Brown. There were snags everywhere and I dropped into the water fast from the bank to do battle with a really good brown that I was sure had the upper on me. I knew it would want to go downstream and under a big branch and so was prepared to apply maximum pressure to stop this. It did as I thought and I really applied the breaks. I was using a tapered leader of Mono and a 3.5 foot tippet of 6 pound Fluro. How the hell this didn’t snap I have no idea, my poor old Innovation 5# was bent to the cork with sideways pressure. Just as I though “see ya” it turned and screamed up stream past me and a rate of knots that had me stripping in line using hands and teeth. It came into our side of the bank and went straight under a small log at the head of the pool, damn I didn’t see that coming! I thought “well thats that” and it certainly felt stuck and solid. I released the pressure giving him some slack and with that he screamed back out still attached. The fight was now in the center of the pool, in deep water with no apparent snags. The secret here guys is to get them in as fast as possible, if you give them an inch they will smoke you hard. Alex, who has got his shit together something awesome with the net, now was ready to scoop him up, (he actually didn’t vomit there for a while). I lifted its head and with perfect skill he was netted. Whoop whoop Brownie of the season for me and the last of the back country season too. We made sure he was fit for release by holding him in a small amount of current and he swam away a little grumpy but no worse off.

We took our time walking out, me with a buggered knee and Alex looking like a ghost. It was probably my best days fishing ever. That is really saying something, especially as the last trip was the best day ever

The New Zealand trout fishery is a fantastic place. NO where else in the world can you fish so much water with two different licenses. If you do your homework on a river system and are prepared to hike a little, the adventure you can have is out of this world. This truly is “Gods Own” and I intend to make the most of it while I can.

Tight lines to all who read my page. Be safe, think smart and catch heaps.

Regards Shane

Hey All,

Wow this year is marching along way too fast!! It will be Winter before we know it, the trout will start running the rivers and the style of fishing will change. So with that in mind lets talk ” Nymphing and Indicators”.

When I first started fly fishing in Taupo some 35 years ago, it was with the wet fly. Using a fast sinking line you would get above a run or pool cast down stream into it and then using a very slow retrieve bring your rabbit fly back up through the water. This was the only method used back in the good old days. Hell even Woolly Buggers weren’t invented. About 10 years after I started fishing the Waitahanui Nymphing started to show up. The natural Nymphs were not pretty in any stretch of the imagination, the VAST array of material available to Fly tiers today certainly weren’t, back in the day, so they were hairy ugly weighted little buggers. I am sure they caught trout but the vast majority of anglers still used a wet line. I am not sure what they used for an indicator back then or even if they did use an indicator. In my opinion they were Nymphing Bastards and were low life Mo Fo’s. It’s ironic that I am now one of them . Actually to be honest it wasn’t that they caught trout or the the style they used, it was the fact they destroyed the foliage along side the river bank just so they could cast. A prime example of this was the Bridge pool on the Waitahanui. I’m not too sure how many of you can remember the small trees and Black Berry that went right to the river edge on the true Left and down from there. This was slowly and methodically hacked away so more “Nymphing bastards” could lob their bombs into the pool. Where once, 8 anglers Wet Lining could fish this magic piece of water, a max of three or four Nymphers would get in there and hold the pool. The stage was set for Nymphing to become the main style of fishing in Taupo.

From there the “Muppet” was introduced and this revolutionized Nymphing in Taupo. The turning point for me with Nymphing, came when I was about 22. I had been fishing a great run in the middle section that always produced fish for me. Stick ability was the key to success with wet lining, sometimes you would fish for hours on end with only one or two takes but in the end you usually took a fish. On this morning I had suffered through biting cold and biting sandflies to boot, all for nothing. I was about to leave when two Nymphers came down the river and asked if they could have a flick. I sat on the bank in awe and dismay as they pulled trout after trout from the water I had fished so hard for nothing!! I went straight back to the Waitahanui lodge and bought my first floating line. Now at this stage of the game Egg yarn indicators seemed to be the go. I am not sure if it was egg yarn but it made sense that it may have been. Someone may like to correct me on that? Whatever the material was it sucked. Even as a novice I hated it when the indicator started to sink. My theory on indicators is that it doesn’t really matter how big they are but they must float. An indicator that sinks will definitely spook trout. I persevered with these crap indicators for years and years, if you managed to get a good one then it was Gold and you used it until the fibers melded together and it started to sink, which really didn’t take that long. Weight was another issue that came along for me. I realized fairly quickly that in the Taupo fishery you needed to get down to the trout and that meant extra weight in rivers like the Waitahanui and Hinemaiaia where a long drift was not possible. Once you added weight to these sorry excuses for indicators the game was over for them and they sunk like a torpedoed submarine.

Nine years ago when I moved my family down here to run the Waitahanui lodge, I had the perfect opportunity to start experimenting with materials, to improve on indicators. I still used Egg yarn but was playing around with different soaking materials. Some indicators where better than others but in general they still sank after an hour or two. This meant I had to have a never ending supply of the things hanging off me and in all my pockets. One day while fishing the Tauranga Taupo with Brett Cameron and struggling with my crappy sinking indicators, Brett gave me grieve about them and passed me one of his. Hmmm the material was like nothing I had ever seen and they floated for ages I was in indicator heaven. From there it was a simple matter of using the soaking materials I had found to make these little guys pretty much unsinkable. I owe much of the success with these things to Brett, although i’ll never let him know that.

All the indicators out there for sale are pretty much the same. They are the same colour, (mainly Orange and green) where as mine are multi colored. Mine stand out in all light conditions and yet are stealthy on the water, they don’t spook the trout. Apart from the fact I soak each batch for up to a week and then individually dry them, I also brush them out to part the fibers and finish them for you with Loon Aquel. These will not sink in a standard days fishing and if they do then brushing them out with a comb and applying Aquel to them again, will see them as good as new. I have had one indicator for three years now, yup thats right one indicator for three years. Try and do that with any of the shop bought buggers.

Part of being successful when Nymphing is having an indicator that floats high and only goes under when the Nymphs have stopped moving down stream, or are being pulled under by a trout. They are an integral part of your gear and if you scrimp on them or settle for second best you are compromising your trout catching ability.

Cheers Shane

Hey all,

Like most of New Zealand we need rain and a fair amount of it too. The Lake is the lowest I have seen it! Poor old Mighty Rover Power will be struggling with their balancing act to keep everyone happy, good luck there guys.

It is a bit of a hit and miss experience out on the lake. If you are onto them, then you will be having some great sport and the condition factor is excellent. However if you are finding it hard then really, you will struggle. They are either there or they aren’t!

The Browns have finally started to turn up at the river mouths with the change in moon phase, so if you are keen for some action there, this is the time. The little bit of rain we had yesterday and again today may just help push them through, not because of the water flow but more for the extra darkness the cloud produces. The humidity will jump a little as well and produce some of those amazing hatches at night time. If you have never encountered what this is like, then you are lucky. Trying to untie a knot, or re tie a fly with your head light on and a Million crazy insects trying to enter your nose, ears and mouth is quite an experience

The Waitahanui has good numbers of Browns throughout its course. First thing in the morning is best for these before the sun comes up and they drift off to sleep. Try a green Cadis in here for them, or if that does not work a dreaded Glo Bug! There are some nice Rainbows in here as well that will hit a dry fly. Take your time through the water.

The Hine is low and weedy. You will need to fish this with a dry and dropper. I have been told a few good rainbows have made their way up stream past the bridge.

The TT is so low it looks like a trickle going under the Bridge, not the second biggest flow in the Taupo region. Every time I have gone past this river I have not seen a single car in the car park. You will have this river all to yourself.

The Tongariro is where you need to be. It has good numbers of Browns and Rainbows lurking in the deeper pools and runs. It has received a little bit of pressure over the past weeks, as the reports of good trout have filtered through. The Winged Reaper is the fly to use in here, it takes both Browns and Rainbows.

I picked Alex up at 6.00am last Friday and we shot South. We had done the homework on a river system and wanted to get in and have a look. We knew the walk in and out was going to be hard going and so gave ourselves extra time. neither of us had fished this water and there were no write ups about it in any books we use for reference. It was a gamble and as it will likely be the last Back country river I fish before I have my next operation, I wanted it to be a good one. I was not disappointed.

After doing the massive walk in we reached the confluence we were after and re rigged. I say re rigged as we were thinking dry fly but on looking at the deep pools and runs we decided it was best to Nymph it. This has been the main style of fishing for us this season. We have been trialing out nymphs to sell and that has been excellent as we have total confidence in their trout taking abilities. After the first two pools came up a blank we looked at out rigs. I decided I needed to go longer in the leader and heavier on my dropper. The very first pool I gave this a go with, I was in. Alex is no fool and so he changed his up as well and from that point forward we pulled trout from everywhere. This water is so remote it had not seen any anglers at all. I am always looking out for foot prints in soft sand and there were None By the time we decided to head home it was late in the afternoon and I knew I was going to be late in contacting Lesley. We got back to the car just after 7.30 and I staggered through the door a little after 10.00. The rest of the weekend was spent with Ice packs and pain killers.

This water has the ability to hold Trophy trout and we will be back in there next season with our overnight kit. Alex and I have worked hard this season to find water un touched by other anglers and we succeeded with this river. It can be done if you look hard enough and are prepared to put in the hard yards.

Anyone who has been out with me and seen my love of Eels knows I don’t really have any fear when it comes to playing with them. I met my match on Friday with a magnificent specimen of about 12 to 14 pounds. This was a highly aggressive fella that got very pissy about me standing in the water and trying to pat him on the head. I decided to give him a wide birth after he attempted to take my hand off at the wrist. If he had latched on and twisted I might have been in a spot of trouble and Alex had already made it clear he was going to have a little hissy fit and not carry me out. We have some video footage on Alex’s Go Pro of me trying to be the man and failing. It was a great day for lots of reasons.

The two Nymphs that were the success story for us were the Black Bodied Hairy Reaper and the Black Beauty. Obviously “Black” was on the menu in this river system.

be safe out there.

Regards Shane

PS. there is a new Video out, check it out. Also subscribe to me on FaceBook for up to date reports and things to win. I am under Taupo Fishing!

Hey all,

What an amazing spell of great weather we have had. The lake is low and all the rivers are running at Summer levels.

I had been fishing the rips leading up to the full moon, with mixed results. If you were lucky to get it right and the trout were in, then you had some fantastic  fishing. However as fast as they could come on, they disappeared just as fast, leaving you bite-less for hours. The sky has been full of stars, I have been hanging out to see a comet

I fished the Waitahanui on Monday. I went in at Blakes Road with fishing up to the Limit pool in mind. I encountered a guide at Snag and he had the same idea. Due to fact I’m a good bastard, (and I hadn’t seen a trout all morning) I decided to walk into the middle reaches and fish from the Parade up to  Totara Bridge. I had a good Brown come over to the dry fly I was biffing, which made me miss a heart beat. It was a good fish of about 6 pounds and very fresh. The drift was really horrible to get right and at the last second before his nose came up, the drag affected my drift and he turned away. He never looked again

I had a good rainbow on for about 30 seconds in Washer Woman’s. I saw it feeding off the surface and got all excited. On my first drift it came straight over, never hesitated and scoffed it down. I waited for the split second I should have, lifted the rod and was in. I was really surprised when the hook pulled. It must have been just hooked. I had another good Rainbow come up for a look at Tahuas and there was a very good brown trout lurking on the bottom of the pool. I spied an enormous Brown just up from there as well. This was easily double figure and I was kidding myself if I thought I could have landed it with my 5# and so just watched it for a while.

I dropped back down to the lowers and had a look there too. This section is pretty cool to fish in Summer. I fully recommend walking it slowly with a good pair of Polaroids.

Yesterday I fished the upper Hinemaiaia. I was going to shoot down to the Tongariro as a fresh trout would have been nice for the table, however there are some fairly hideous road works going on past Hatepe and so I turned in and headed up this stream instead. I haven’t fished up past the Winter Limit for ages. This part of the river is really stunning. The track is awesome to walk, (probably the best in Taupo for Native beauty) and the pools, although tricky to fish are equally as enticing.

The very first Run I came to, I spottered these trout chasing each other around. I watched for a little while to make sure I hadn’t spooked them and on deciding No they were just playing, edged down to the Toi Toi. Due to the river being low I had on a short leader of 8 feet and very little weight for my Dropper. My point fly was the Winged Reaper in Black. I unhooked my leader and using the Bow and Arrow cast launched my Nymphs out. The trout closest in the picture never thought twice about moving up in the water column and gobbling them down. I struck when he turned and I was in. Not bad for my first cast of the day. It was a spawned out trout that had been there for ages and so the fight wasn’t that grand, he had Shag Worm to boot. I would have taken a picture showing off his amazing Gill plate colors but he was tired and needed water, so I flicked the hook out, (barbless, so easy) and slipped him back.

I walked all the way to the Limit. There are pockets of trout but the going was fairly lean. I took a great little fellow all of 1/2 a pound on the dry at one stage. It came completely out of the water, from behind my dry and pounced on it from above. It was the best take on a dry I have ever had and makes me giggle every time I think about it,”Death From Above”

The weed is starting to become an issue on the Hinemaiaia, so if you are going to nymph it, you will need to fish light. A dry Fly and dropper is certainly the way to go. I am using a meter Tippet between my Dry and the lightly weighted dropper. If you get into shallow water and are fishing to a trout then I will sometimes reduce the length of my tippet. At one stage yesterday, I was Nymphing to a trout. I had put about three good drifts over him without success. He was moving slightly from side to side, which always gets me going. It was sitting in about 3 feet of water. I shortened my leader, (to detect the strike faster) and lengthened my Tippet, (to give more natural drift) and you guessed it, first cast hook up. I love it when that happens. Sometimes the effort it takes to change your rig, is the difference between hooking the trout, or walking past it thinking” it was never going to take anyway”!

This photo goes to show two things. 1) I was getting down and 2) this nymph is so good, even Rocks like it.  Seriously though I caught this in the Pig Pool, on the Waitahanui. I fought this thing for a good 10 seconds. I wondered if it was a rock just after hook up but then the current took hold of it and it made a good run down stream It swung in the current and I realized it was just a rock. had me going though!

Lesley made me start up a Taupo Fishing, FaceBook Page. I had a client at the start of the year mention I should get off my Butt and do it too. So if you guys would like up to the minute reports and maybe win a few free things as well, look me up and say hello. It would be great to see some of the fish you are hooking.

I would say the Tongariro is the river to be on once again.

Regards Shane

Hey All,

Wow we have had some cold mornings. It dropped down to 3 Deg on Wednesday morning, the hands felt it.

I had a good poke around the Waitahanui and although there were trout in this System, it was certainly hard going. They were quite spooky as well, so I don’t know if they had seen a few people in the days leading up. Its a good way to start your day, walking the banks of the Waitahanui. The Bird life is really good in the uppers and the massive stands of Kanuka are relaxing to walk through. I have never taken anyone to the Swirl Pool without them going “Oh Wow”. I see the DOC cutters have opened up a small ByPass track just up from the Snag Pool. The Bank in this area has been under eroded and would have given out. The work the DOC cutters do is really impressive. I would say this season they are going to be rushed off their feet trying to cut back Blackberry and foliage.

On Thursday in a spur of a moment decision, I decided to have a look at the Tongariro. I had been down the week before and caught a few when the river was being flushed and was hoping it might have sent a few trout up. I was not disappointed! Over a 4 hour period I lost count of the number of hook ups. At one stage it seemed like I was fishing to a gigantic run of fresh Trout. It was a hit every cast. This little darling of a nymph did the trick. I must have hooked 10 trout on this one alone before it looked too beat up. I had been given the order to bring back food, so was trying to be choosy with the fish I dispatched. I could have gone home after 10 or so drifts if I wanted to. Most of the trout were about 3 pounds but fought like 5. Even the older darker fish gave me a struggle, I was really impressed. I was using the 3.8 Ml Tungsten Hairy Reaper for a dropper, a 10.5 foot tapered leader and the Winged Reaper  for a Point Fly. I mainly took all my trout from the faster water and once I had gone through a run I changed to the 4.2 Tungsten Reaper and pulled a few more, due to getting down faster.  The Winged Reaper will be on the Shopping cart by this afternoon.

I was REALLY pleased to see the amount of Smolt, (baby baby trout) in the shallows. This is the most I have ever seen, its a great sign for things to come This was one of the very silver Hens I took. This trout is in here to spawn and it’s February , is that a late or early spawner?

Regards Shane