Wednesday 19th September 2018

Overcast start to the day here in Turangi today. No wind as of 8:30am. No rain as of 8:30am. The Tongariro is clear and fishable.

I headed down to the Tongariro River this morning to check out the river. I went to the Major Jones Pool but found no anglers of the two legged varietyfishing here ??? There were two up fishing at the Breakfast Pool and that was about all I saw.

There was one angler in the Major Jones pool though. A large white headed black Shag.

(Above) Looking upstream to two anglers fishing theBreakfastPool at about 8:15am this morning.

(Below) Zip … zero, zilch anlgers fishing here in the Major Jones Pool at 8:15am this morning….. any volunteers want to work for me today so I can have a lazy day fishing the Major ??

(Above & Below) I really love this statue of a Mayfly Dry Fly down by the Major Jones Pool.

The Tongariro River is probably one of the best kept dry fly fishing secrets in New Zealand.

The Mayflies are really starting to get going now. Best flies to look at for these at the momentare the Parachute Adams, Blue Dun, Adams Moostail.

Over the next few months the caddis hatches can be some of the most intense going. When I started work here in Sporting Life nearly 19 years ago I would head out on the river over the next few months and basically come across no other anglers and encountersome really hot dry fly fishing. With the invention of websites and the internet over this time word has spread and more anglers have tried fishing the dry. Dry fly fishing is exciting as you see the action on the surface. The fish give themselves away. Also a great way to introduce kids to fishing as they get to see the fish rising and splashing on the surface.

The interesting thing is during the day anglers may come into the shop saying there are no fish in the river but come the evening rise and you may get up to 30 odd fish rise in a pool at times and you wonder why anglers catch nothing during the day. The fish really lock on to these feeding frenzies.

Observation is a key fishing skill when it comes to dry fly fishing.

(Above & Below) Red at Night Shepherds Delight !! This was the really colourful sunset we had here in Turangi yesterday evening. Every couple of years or so we get treated to spectacular sights like this. The colours are really a deep orange / red and surprisingly purple.