Phil with his first rainbow on a dry.He spotted this fish behind a rock feeding on the surface and Phil being Phil decided to throw his large terrestrial dry at it, I,m not sure who got more of a surprise when the fish lept on the fly and charged of accross the other side of the pool.Needless to say Phil was pretty chuffed with himself. The day was one of...
For those of you who have been on my quad bike adventure in the Wanganui you will know how stunning the scenery is and of course the fishing. It is quite an effort to get yourself in there so I am putting together a overnight camping option on the banks of the Wanganui river so you have more fishing time both days and less travel with the option of fishing... 1 comment(s)
A job from Huka Lodge turned into a very casual day for myself and fellow guide Marcel. Tom,Bill and Joe .We picked these guys up from the lodge, packed lunch and seemed like a few bottles of wine in the pack as well. We took them down to the Tongariro, geared up, walked down to the pool. They did a bit of fishing and decided it was time to have...
Carl ex Taupo and Phil from Albany WA booked me for the quad bike adventure. I picked them up at 7.30 and off we went . They had just spent 2 days fishing the Tongariro. On the ride in we tried a spot of golf ,Phil had the edge over Carl on that one for sure. When we parked the quad we had some bush bashing to do before we... 1 comment(s)
Drew with a small fresh run rainbow Me with a solid rainbow destined for the smoker The fishing has been patchy,the weather has been crazy with hot humid conditions and torretial downpours,the cicadas don't know what to do,one minute it is hot and they are going flat out then the rain comes and they go dormant. The rivers are high one day and down the next, the lake fishes really... 2 comment(s)
Ben with his Wanganui jack after some frustrating earlier action in which we had some just plain bad luck and stage fright from Ben on some big feeding rainbows. The day started by picking Ben up from Seasons camp ground here in Taupo. Ben is here for 2 months living his dream of fishing in NZ. He wanted a heads up for the start of his flyfishing adventure so we...
Brendon with a solid Wanganui rainbow Brendons first fish of the day Jono with a nice jack I first meet Brendon and Jono in the Yasawa Islands Fiji, I was fishing my way through the Islands and they were partying . They had a go on my fly rods, these guys can cast . We got talking about trout fishing and kept in touch.They were keen on the quad bike... 2 comment(s)
Lucky Phil and son Darcy with a nice rainbow from the lake destined for the smoker along with a couple more. This was the finish of our 2 days fishing. The first day was spent fishing the upper Wanganui accessed by quad bike . The day was perfect, no wind and sunny, the river was low and clear and the big rainbows could easily be seen cruising the deep pools... 2 comment(s)
Jeff,and Zane Heli fish on the Waiau for a day in the wilderness fly fishing and spinning for rainbow and brown trout. The river looked good , clear water with no one in sight except for the odd dear. The flight took about 15 minutes or so, we looked for other anglers, saw none and dropped into the gorge with the trees seemingly touching the blades- and landing softly on... 1 comment(s)
Ira with a solid rainbow taken on a dry fly on our recent quad bike trip into the Wanganui. Our 3 day guide trip started on the Mohaka , sunny skies and little wind with the river low and clear. The fishing was tough, the usual multitude of small fish were absent to be replaced by a few very large browns and rainbows. These fish were in the slow deep... 1 comment(s)
Gavin from South Africa in action on the Tongariro. Nymphing and wetlining the Tongariro today provided Gavin with some good action. We could see the rainbows cruising the pools and shallows , feeding occasionaly but not rising. Still a little early for the dry fly as the fish were firmly on the bottom.Gold bead PT, caddis and the gold bead green woolly bugger did the trick today. Gavin landed 4...
Ken and Mitchel on the Tongariro river Guided Ken and Mitchel yesterday on the Tongariro . Neither had fished before so the morning was spent learning the skills of flyfishing. Casting, retrieving, mending the flyline and actually playing the fish all rehearsed. The Tongariro is a big river and can be quite daunting for the first time angler when you need to put out a 20m cast, quick mend, and...
Macca with his rainbow destined for the smoker and Xmas lunch. Macca, Neil and Doug from Napier charted Maverick for a few hours for some trout fishing on Lake Taupo on Tuesday afternoon. The lake was flat up till lunch time then the dreaded westerly picked up with quite a few white caps around. This always makes slow trolling difficult as the wind blows the boat around, takes you away...
Smoking fish is an artform. I have seen, tasted and smoked myself some fish which could barely be described as edible. Some people smoke them to the extent they become dehydrated, dry ,chewy and smokey,has half a packet of salt and brown sugar plasted on it and they think it is fantastic. Well not this camper. The fishsmoker itself needs to be a size which is managable for the amount...
Fished the Acacia Bay fishing Comp with Rick Cooper and Lisa. Briggs came along as usual. We landed 25 rainbows and this nice Brown which weighed in at 2.4kgs with a condition factor of 59. Nice fish but good enough only for 2nd place, won a nice ham tho !.Another brown of 2.8kg was weighed and a 2.3 kg with a condition factor of 61 won the day. Lots of...
Opening day on the Hinimaia River was a wet affair. My plan was a lat start to avoid any early morning rush and arrive arround 10am after the first wave of anglers had charged through all the pools. I only saw a couple of other anglers so not sure if the river was heavily pressured or not. I fished for a couple of hours, landing 6 rainbows in different places,...
Guided Bill and Brian from the UK today, we went to the Tongariro for a start, hooked a couple of rainbows, got soaked in a downpour so we decided to call it quits on the river and hit the lake for the afternoon on Maverick. We spent a relaxing couple of hours staying dry and landing a couple of fish as well which will be cooked for them as I...
Guided Tongariro 1/2 day today with a Canadian couple. First time flyfishers and they managed a couple of rainbows. Dave picked up the casting like a pro and is now hooked for life, hanging up his spinning gear and buying a fly set up. Full day tomorrow and off to the Mohaka . My Wendesday golf will have to wait. Also have a full day on the boat on Saturday...
Guided Andrew from Canberra on the Tongariro yesterday,he could cast a nice line, managed to land a couple of rainbows on small beadheads. The fish were rising to a good mayefly hatch. We hooked a nice brown but it got the better of us, and managed a rainbow on the wet line. Had a barbaque last night and spent the day recovering working in Greenstone Fishing The lake is fishing...
Summer is just around the corner right ? Yesterday shorts and T shirt and today thermals and jacket ! Lets hope we get some settled weather for summer and some hard fast action on the cicadas. November heralds the start of the dry fly season with evening hatches. If you are lucky enough to be on the rivers at dusk you should see some rising fish. A klinkhammer , parachute...
