bigbowtrout Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I spent my first 3 days in New Zealand fishing for trout. The first two days were unguided on the Tongariro river as we were staying only steps away. All I can say is I will never complain about crowds again and from what I was told this is the slow time of year.It was pool after pool with at least one or two guys in every run. I was skunked my first day but my GF's Dad managed a nice one further up in another pool on a streamer. Day two we headed out at 7am to beat the crowds and ended up being the third group in line to fish upstream :$*%&: after talking to the last guy he was saying it was really slow and the guys before him didn't have any luck eather. I noticed that everyone was sticking to the middle and back end of the pools so I moved up to the faster water at the top and above since the last few days the temps were in the high 20's. I was rewarded with a nice Bow that spit the hook after it's forth jump. So I got right back at it and landed two more within 20min then we moved on to a few other pools where we had luck. So Day three and it was off on a guided trip up to a less travelled trout stream with our guide Marcel. We drove for about a hour until we hit this little river with lots of overgrown tree's and such so Marcel said this was it and lets gear up. The Waipunga River was like nothing I have ever seen before. It was so thick with trees and plants that you could only stay in the river and some spots were really hard to wade in but within our first 100m Curt was into his first Waipunga River Rainbow. Every pool and every run held fish and we caught a few but lost a lot more. This fishing was fairly hard and everytime I hooked into a larger fish they headed straight down stream and into the bolders and trees. I lost a lot of huge fish this way but in the end I did manage a few really nice sized trout. This might be the last ofthe Trout fishing while I am here since I am staying way up North in Russel but from what I here there are a few little trout streams up this way and lots of ocean fishing to be had so stay tuned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchy Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Right on dude!! Thanks for the updates. Gorgeous colors on that rainbow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbowtrout Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Here are few more pics This pic I really like and it's not cuz of the nice falls. This was taken after we had fished with our guide for 8 hours and we stoped on or way back. He said we should stop and look at the falls that were above where we were fishing then he told me that above the falls there are only large browns up to 11lbs up there but they only have 3 fish for every Km. I'm like why the :$*%&: did we not start there first??? LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayr Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Well done! Thanks for sharing the story and pics. Best of luck the rest of the way! Ayr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jksnijders Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Nice pics.. A few questions.. I was in NZ a few years ago, I think since they've brought in GST? (I know Aus. has). What are fuel prices, etc? Peak times as far as fishing, (I've heard Feb.-Mar. or so?) That sort of thing.. I know exchange is favourable (1 CAD= 1.40 NZ?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbowtrout Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 Nice pics.. A few questions.. I was in NZ a few years ago, I think since they've brought in GST? (I know Aus. has). What are fuel prices, etc? Peak times as far as fishing, (I've heard Feb.-Mar. or so?) That sort of thing.. I know exchange is favourable (1 CAD= 1.40 NZ?) I think GST is at 15% but its built in but the $2.90 coke I had was WOW and it was only a 500ml bottle. The last fuel I saw was at a $1.34 and the exchange is at $1.40 but the $600.00 walk and wade is still hurting my wallet. The Tongariro river from what I am told fishes better in there fall to winter as a lot of there fish move up from lake Taupo but hey it's +26 and I was catching fish, maybe not monster magazine cover Browns but some good sized Bows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jksnijders Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I think GST is at 15% but its built in but the $2.90 coke I had was WOW and it was only a 500ml bottle. The last fuel I saw was at a $1.34 and the exchange is at $1.40 but the $600.00 walk and wade is still hurting my wallet. The Tongariro river from what I am told fishes better in there fall to winter as a lot of there fish move up from lake Taupo but hey it's +26 and I was catching fish, maybe not monster magazine cover Browns but some good sized Bows. Thanks man. Been doing a bit of research, I kind of prefer firsthand info. Looks you guys are having a good trip.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taco Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I could maybe post something snide but suffice it to say BBT, I'm more than a little jealous..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beedhead Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Nice pics!!...NIce fish!!....Good stuff....Thanx for sharing.... Cheers...Jeff.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Good report and pics. Best thing about trout is they live in the most beautiful places. Glad you had the chance to fish NZ. So many places so little money! Guess I should check my lottery tickets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reevesr1 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Awesome Chris! Totally jealous. Very nice job bucking the trend on day one and fishing the fast water. Did you get out in Hawaii? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbowtrout Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Awesome Chris! Totally jealous. Very nice job bucking the trend on day one and fishing the fast water. Did you get out in Hawaii? I never made it out. After what I had to go through to get my gear into NZ I didn't want to risk using it in Hawaii. Also before I arrived they had tonnes of rain and the lakes where full and brown. So what I did instead was sit near the beach and checked out the sights I had to declare all of my gear when I arrived in NZ and then the Biosecurity folks took my gear into a back room to go over it. 30 min later I got it all back and they thanked me for having the cleanest kit they have seen but my waders where in a plastic bag all wet and soaking in some cleaner. I spent hours cleaning all of my stuff but they still had to dip the waders as its the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harps Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I had to declare all of my gear when I arrived in NZ and then the Biosecurity folks took my gear into a back room to go over it. 30 min later I got it all back and they thanked me for having the cleanest kit they have seen but my waders where in a plastic bag all wet and soaking in some cleaner. I spent hours cleaning all of my stuff but they still had to dip the waders as its the rules. I wish our gov'ts took watershed health as seriously here in Canada/Alberta Glad you had a great time, Chris!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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