Wiltons World of Fly Fishing

The first of October a long awaited almost religious date on the New Zealand trout fishermans calender. This year the first found me eagerly prepared the evening before, car packed & ready to go, my favourite six weight, a good cut lunch, lawns & chores completed a few days before & of course a fresh bunch of back country nymphs tyed in anticipation of the sport that my favourite back country river would undoubtably provide.

 Opening day of a new trout fishing season is always filled with anticipation, of renewed hope & excitement of what lies ahead.In the days leading up to the first anglers will be found cleaning gear, gazing over old maps or now days scanning over google earth planning their trips ahead. Memories will turn to seasons past, of some remote back country river tucked away in the hills an image burnt in the anglers mind of some hidden glorious pool a golden flanked brown suspended near the rivers surface, quietly sipping mayflys from the foam line as you round the bend. Personly for me its always like that. Vivid memories of crystal clear bush lined streams, remote wilderness rivers the roar of distant rappids ecohing in your ears in some sunlite valley, fantails in flight plucking mayflys in mid air & of course the trout.That glorious image of silver shimmer deep in the dephs of a mysterious pool as a wild rainbow or brown ingests a nymph completely unaware of your presence.

Before the first arrives & then well into November local options on our Taupo rivers continue to keep anglers interested.October always sees me somewhere between an excited angler & maybe an excited kid with a bag full of lollies, the options are that good. Like a few other keen Taupo anglers I look forward to the release in fishing pressure the first of October brings to our local rivers. Much of the intense angler pressure that exsisted over winter will now disperse leaving long stretches of Tongariro water devoid of anglers, even fewer anglers on the Tauranga-Taupo & possibly a barren Waitahanui. The fishing well it always surprises me with what it still has to offer as often its almost as good as at any time over the spawning season. Runs of bright silver rainbows will continue to entre the rivers well into spring slowing only into November as river flows drop encouraging fish to return downstream to the lake. If spring rains continue & no large floods occur these late runners will hold over in the upper reaches of our rivers, who needs to drive miles into the back country when you know these fish are there. With the arrivial of firstly mayfly hatches, then green manuka beetles & finally evening caddis & all day cicidas these fish will look up with interest to a well presented dry fly.

 If however the temptation of solitude combined with the charm of wilderness water is your thing then of course some great adventure awaits you. Early indications look good for our back country rivers this season with ideal weather conditions over the last few weeks. If favourable weather patterns continue river flows will remain stable encouraging nymph life to be active, resident fish to take up their summer lies & yes I've already seen a few mayflys hatching. Having missed opening day after all that preparation because of family obligations I promised myselve a day in the wilderness, the seveth of October saw me alone, deep in a wilderness gorge. The fishing was only average compared to other seasons but then alone on a bright sunny day on a majestic wilderness river the water all to myself was rewarding enough.  Several bright silver rainbows came to the nymph from the fast water at the heads of pools & the day was completed with two beautifully coloured browns spotted & then seduced to the surface with an adams dry fly, who needs more! Back country experiences are like that being one with nature first then the river & its fish followed by one or two quality moments, its a soul fulling experience.

 In summing up, the Taupo rainbows that entered our rivers this season have been in great shape. Average weights on the Hinemaiaia have been around 1.6 kg with some impressive early running fish of 3kg & more. Rainbow numbers holding in this river over June & July were impressive & like the Tauranga-Taupo River provided some great sport for those anglers that were there immediately following a fresh. As mentioned early I'm sure there are still a few late run fish to follow especially in the Tauranga-Taupo & Tongariro Rivers. This along with the promise of a good summer on our regions ' Fish & Game ' rivers & life is idead good if you're a fly fisherman or women.

 So see you out there on the water on one of our many rivers this season & if its not some where in the back country well sorry but I'm probably still up one of our Taupo rivers, fresh run rainbows & the odd brownie coming to the nymph or dry fly. The fishing all to myself.

   ' Tight Lines ' Peter.