Tirau Rivers: New Zealand

Hi,
Over the last weekend the Auckland Freshwater Anglers club had a club trip to Tirau. We were met up by some fellows from the nearby Matamata club who had arranged for access over some private lands so we could fish parts of the rivers not easily accessed otherwise.

A friend of mine (Uwe, pronounced "Oo-vah") had only been fly fishing once before, and he had blanked that trip. I brought him along in the hopes that he would catch a trout before he moves from New Zealand to Denmark (later this year).

On Saturday I fished the Waihou, but Uwe was put in another group and so he fished a different stream. The usual approach on the Waihou is to use a huge nymph (size 6, heavily weighted) and then tie a small nymph to the hook bend. This gets the flies down deep in the surprisingly fast flows. Having generally had luck with spider patterns on a different stretch of the Waihou, I figured I would continue fishing near the surface. I could see the odd mayfly hatch, and there were midges about, and something small and caddis like was occasionally dancing on the surface. I didn't have any really heavy nymphs either, so it was a floating line and 3 spiders. I recieved a few looks and glances, since this was pretty much the complete opposite of what we were told to try.

Things started slow, but after a wee bit I had a take on one of the spiders, landed and released a 28 cm trout (an ok size for this river).

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/ ... stFish.jpg

I was fishing over a hill and round the bend, so my success went unwitnessed.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/ ... aihou1.jpg

I was picturing eveyone else into their 4th or 5th by now, and would have liked for them to see that I was not completely wrong to try near the surface. The guide for our section came to check on me, and then I was into my 2nd, and then my 3rd! I showed him what I was using, and then he told me that nobody else was having any luck. So, he switched to a wet fly and floating line, and then he was into a fish. Nice.

I met up with another club member, and he had only landed one. After fishing the next section up,

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/ ... aihou2.jpg

I headed back to our starting area, fished that section of water, and quickly got into my 4th.

Talking with my group, it turned out that I had the most landed for the morning. On the next river (the Waimakariri), I switched to some winged wets and quickly was into some on the Parmachene Belle. I tie a lot of wee wets, so I gave a bunch to the fellows in my group, and that after noon I ended up with 6 more, for 10 that day. Collin, who had one in the morning on a deep nymph ended up with 9 more in the afternoon on wee wets, and so on. Our group landed about 25 fish that afternoon, almost all on wee wets as nothing else was working. We found that the group who fished the Waimakariri in the morning had all blanked, and that they were all nymphing.

Indeed, there are times when wee wets are just exactly the right style of fly to use. And, this day was one of them.

Unfortunatley, at the end of the day I found out that Uwe had hooked, but lost, one fish. So, on the next day I took Uwe to the Waihou, set him up with a team of 3 spiders, and he ends up with his first fish :

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/ ... hiteRd.jpg

Not only that, a few minutes later, he's into his 2nd and 3rd fish! A double! Then his 4th, and later his 5th!

That's what I call a good trip.

- Jeff

Jeff,
Thanks for the great report! In your second photo that shows the bend of the stream, I notice multi colored bottom of the stream. Is this sand and weed beds or different colors of just weeds??
Thanks,
Doug

Hi Doug,

That's a mix of sand and weeds. The section in the photo is a lot deeper than it looks too. This doesn't show one of the really deep pools though, and the heavy nymphs tend to get used to fish through some very deep sections. Fortunately, with the steady hatching that was going on, the fish were higher in the water column and feeding on emergers all day. Those are the ideal conditions for drifting wets on a floating line.

- Jeff

Jeff,
There is a body of water in central Oregon that has big weed beds and the fish swim in channels between them. You have to get your fly in the weeds to catch the fish. It's really a paradise for the fish because of the protection of the weeds and the bugs living in them.
Doug

Jeff, Nice one, dont you just love it when a plan comes together! I am still in Australia and hanging out for a fish, I can hardly wait to get home to N.Z. and give the streams a good thrashing 8) .
Have you managed to replace all your lost gear?
All the best.
Mike

There's fish in Australia too Mike! LOL

Hey Gringo, I hear there is some good fishing in Sydney but unfortunately (sp?) I am over hear working plus I did not have room in my bagage to bring even a saltwater spin set :( , I wish I had, maybe next time. Those Flathead sure look like a fun fish to catch on a softbait. 8)
All the best
Mike.

Hi Mike,

Yah, it was nice to see things "work to plan". I've fished the Waihou a few times (White's Road area), and have usually pulled one or two out of the pools near the parking lot with spiders so I wasn't too surprised to get something. However, it was the clear difference in performance between nymphing (usually very successful on these streams) and the wee wets on a floating line, which is rarely even considered it seems.

I had just landed and released one on the Waimakariri, and was recording it in my fishing log with the rod tucked under my arm and the line drifting in the current and sure enough, I had another take and the fish hooked itself! One of the fellows was watching me and he saw the take as the flies were bouncing on the surface and then had a good chuckle while I tried to put the book back in my pocket so to get proper hold of the rod to land the fish! Since I've not debarbed all my hooks, this one stayed on despite my lack of control and was released shortly thereafter.

As for my stuff, I've just about got it all replaced. Down to a few things left to get. Although we were close to Rotorua, I didn't have my car so I couldn't make it into town. So, I'll have to replace the pukeko some other time (O'Keefes is the only store that can sell it). I got a lot during Tisdalls sale, and will slowly find the last few things I need (a few wings from various birds, and a few hard to find colours of Uni-floss and threads, etc). I've not heard yet from the insurance company, but I'm hoping they send a cheque soon!

Anyway, after you get back, if you fish the Tirau area don't forget to try a few soft hackle spiders and/or wee wets. Yellow flies were doing well, so a yellow bodied Greenwell's Glory or an Invicta would be the winged wet flies to try out, and a partrige and yellow would be a good try for a spider. Although, I was getting hits on all sorts of spider patterns, so I'm not sure the colour is as important as the movement.

- Jeff

Mike - let me know next time you are coming, I will see you get fishing.