Weather: 10.2° Partly cloudy. Scattered rain developing late afternoon, clearing at night. Southerlies, strong in exposed places, easing this evening.
River Flow: 26.9 Cumecs (m³/s)
What a blustery night and day here in the central plateau just like some of the North Island. With wind warnings in place for a lot of the eastern side of the country we didn’t seem to be getting the brunt of the front but it was definitely nasty out there with the added chill to the air coming from the south.
We had a little dump of rain the last few days which saw the Tongariro spike to about 57 cumecs and drop back down to about 28 by the next morning. Not quite what we were hoping with the rain would bring but it was better than nothing.
Reports coming through the shop have been mixed with most catching nymphing with egg patterns in the morning and then on naturals like caddis and hare & coppers. Wet lining today or pulling out the 2-hander on a day like today was quite wise.
A bit of work but there have definitely been fish out there. But it hasn't been on fire like we hoped. Yesterday was a much calmer day on the river for most. Mike sent me the photo yesterday of his friend who managed to land a nice wee brown.
Looking forward to this weekend the rain seems to have left us behind and we are looking at a cloudy but clear weekend and week ahead. With cold temperatures overnight we will see the frosty mornings come back. Hopefully the river doesn't drop too low over the next couple of days, but we will see the stealthy approach being the best, as the trout will become spookier as the river level drops and the sun starts to shine again.
Cameron has been out this morning like many others braving the gusty weather in hopes of landing a few fish. On days like this we do see an increase of broken rods from rouge flies, so we encourage some caution with being out in weather like this.
Cameron was able to hook into a few fish and sent me through a photo of nice fat jack he got to the net showing that even in extreme weather like today that fish is out there and still willing to munch on flies.
We will see what the next few days bring and hopefully I can get out for a fish over the weekend.
Tight Lines everyone, stay warm and as dry as possible.
~Niamh (Bluey)