Waiteti & Ngongataha

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Had a weekend away trip to Rotorua. On the way down Vanessa and I stopped for 20 minutes at the Waihou where I had one rise to an olive dun dry fly on my 2nd cast. Refused at the last second, and that was the last fish we spotted before continuing on.

I was showing Winston (my brother in law) and Vincent (my sister in law's boyfriend) how to fly fish. Unfortunately, the weather was overcast and rain most of the time, so it wasn't a pleasant introduction. We fished a few hours on the Ngongataha, which was very low; so yes, the rain is needed. Spotted a few small fish, and Winston hooked up briefly on a Bloody Butcher but it busted him off. On the Waiteti I spotted one fish in the 3 lbs range holding up in a pool, and I could get him to chase a Leslie's Lure but not take. Wouldn't even look at it if I pulled it slowly, had to strip fairly quick it to get a follow. Perhaps faster would have induced a take? Since the fish got tired of chasing after a few tries, I didn't get a chance to experiment further. Later in the day, I noticed the fish was back, and it was willing to chase a Bluenose Squirrel Tail but again no take and the fish got tired of chasing after one try, and so left again.

So, no fish to report, but Winston and Vincent both had some fun despite the poor conditions, so in the end, a big success.

- Jeff

[Mike Thomas]

Hey Jeff, sounds like a good weekend. If you want to take some learners out and be fairly sure they will get some fish I would recomend the Waioumu river, it is not far from the Waihou of the Matamata rd turn onto Waioumu Rd, past the school and park by the bridge, there is some lovely water upstream of the bridge, I think your wee wets would go well!
All the best.
Mike.

[JeffHamm]

Thanks Mike! Winston and Vincent weren't with us at the Waihou unfortunately (I find the parking lot pools by White's road pretty good for beginners - always some little fish there that, on sunny days, go nuts over the spiders!) I haven't tried the Waioumu (didn't know about it), but I will give it look next time we have time to explore.

- Jeff