Winter is here on the Central Plateau but with the warmer temperature and not enough rain, the big fish runs haven’t truly kicked in yet. The Tongariro River saw some good early rains bringing big Brownies through the Turangi pools, but the Rainbows haven’t followed in numbers.
Your traditional winter nymphs will be the most productive way to catch them as of now. Globugs, heavy stoneflies and mayfly patterns as well. Plan to do a bit of walking if you are going to move through pools fairly quickly to find where fish are holding.
There are trout in all the local rivers but they seem to be in smaller pods and moving through very quickly, making fishing really unpredictable. You may find if you like to stand in one pool for hours that there’ll be nothing, then a flurry of activity for half an hour, then nothing again.
The Waitahanui this week had a tinge of green in it but few fish in the lower and middle reaches. When the sun came out fish did start rising in the upper pools.
One of the best options at the moment is the river mouths as trout are stacking up waiting for the bad weather. This weekend we should see a change in the weather to get those big winter runs into gear.
We are gearing up for some great winter fishing over the next few months. So get your trip booked now!
Until next time, tight lines and good luck! Remember to send us any photos or stories via our Facebook page.