Arrived down at the Tauranga-Taupo river, just south of Taupo, central North Island, NZ, just after 1pm, last Sunday. Thirty minutes later was on the river, which was clear and as I found, full of fish. Brilliant fishing for round, fat and fit rainbows in the 3 to 4 lb. range. Better still I had the river to myself.
Tucked myself into bed that night, happiness filled and expecting more of the same next day.
Well it was more of the same that Monday morning, but by afternoon the rain Gods decided to exert their superiority over the river. Very heavy rain persisted down all afternoon, all night, and Tuesday morning revealed a river risen to flood, and I contemplated an early drive home.
I decided to stick it out, and see if the river dropped on Wednesday – it did and became fishable if not still high and slightly milky coloured. Not only did it remain fishable by it seemed that several big pods of fish decide to use the increased water levels to make their way up the river from the lake.
But the drop in the water level was accompanied by a mini invasion of anglers. Locals know that extra water means extra fish in the system. But by walking further up the river I was able to find un-populated water – and heaps of fish.
So despite the weather interruption had an excellent 3 days fishing.
