Great little Brown on the dry

Hey All,

“Recce From Hell”

It is my pleasure to go out and find new water. It gives me the opportunity to have a fish for myself and it means that as a guide I have heaps of options up my sleeves. For instance so far this season I have had to call on this experience 4 or 5 times to find water that was not in flood, or that was a little more sheltered from the winds that we have had. The alternative would have been to cancel the guide!  This season I have had some fantastic days going into new streams and rivers and sorting out beats for the future, I love it! I have also been lucky that in doing so I have never had an issue with accidents, getting lost or dealing with any unforeseen situations. That was up until Thursday!!

Paul with 5.5 pounds of Fun

I had been talking to a very good friend earlier in the week and he gave me the name of a river in the district that I had overlooked in the past, but apparently I needed to explore. Some of the Trout were monstrous and it should definitely be on my guiding list, COOL I thought, Recce coming up.

I was up early and in the car by 6.30, arriving at the river side by 7.15, full of excitement. I had Google earthed the area and was positive I new the ground well. My mate had confirmed what the river looked like up stream and the different tracks for access. My first goal was to explore a side stream that apparently could hold good numbers of trout and was also a winter spawning stream.

Beautifull but not meant to be there!!

I found this easy pessy and as the river bed was small shingle ,the going was easy. I spotted two reasonable trout in the first 100 meters but due to the clear water quality, spooked them before I could loosen my fly line, I kept walking! This was indeed a spawning trib as there were heaps of small fish in here, I kept expecting to see some bigger ones around the next corner, so I kept walking. I knew that this trib came out onto some farm land and that there was a track from there, meeting up at the top of the main river, so I kept walking. This was a heavily bushed small stream and I kept thinking it was getting lighter around the next corner, so I kept walking. I then came to this waterfall, that wasn’t on Google! Surly I couldn’t have the wrong Trib, my mate had told me that this was a MAJOR trib of the main river and that it came out onto farm land. So I scaled the bloody water fall and kept on walking! By this stage I was starting to doubt that I was on the right trib and tried to scale the bluff on the right hand side of me, when I got to the top all I could see was shit loads of trees and more hills, I was going to have to walk back down the river, oh God that would SUCK!!!!

On my way back down the bluff I spotted a DOC orange track marker, I’m saved I thought,”" I love DOC”". I stayed on this track for well over three hours, I thought I was heading in the right direction to meet up with the main river, but in fact it was taking me away from it at about 45 Deg. By this stage I had been walking solid for about 6.5 hours and because I had been wet wading I had blisters on my feet and rashes where a man should not get them!! I was going to sue Google and beat my Friend with an ugly stick, if and when I ever came out of the bloody bush. I finally emerged from the Native onto a dirt road and had to walk for a further two hours to the main road. Since I had not crossed the main river I was meant to fish I knew I had to walk up the road to get to my car. I tried to hitch but everyone just sped by. I even tried putting my hands together in a plea as one car sped by. Bastard!!!! Finally I came across a ministry of works vehicle. The guy was doing road marking, he took one look at me and said that he would take me to my car. I love ministry of works now!

Look at those markings!!

When I finally staggered through the door at home I went straight up to my computer, dialed up Google and tried to find out what went wrong. It was simple, I went up the wrong trib. The one I was meant to go up was nothing more than a trickle, DUDE!!!!, the one I went up went into the wild blue yonder. I used the Google ruler,  and apparently I walked just over 20 KM, and  never put a line in the water. I did see a hell of a lot of bush though!

I am going back in next week to fish the main river.

So yesterday Paul Rings me up and says with a pathetic little voice that he wanted to go fishing. My legs felt like lead weights and I had plasters on my toes from the blisters. They were my girls Barbi plasters as well as we didn’t have any “man ones”. I needed to see a part of a river that I hadn’t seen and so hauled my arse  into the car, picked Paul up and away we went. We had some GREAT dry fly fishing and caught some of it on video. I should have this up on the site by this afternoon. If you have ever wondered why this style is so much fun check out the vid, there is some great action.

Its been a great week.

Regards Shane

Hey All,

I finally managed to get out and check out a new river I had been told about by a retired old fisherman,  I met a few months ago.

I had checked out the access and although I was told it was “”all good”", I was pretty sure that at some stage I was going to be on Private property and so first up I stopped in at a few houses to check this out. The guys I spoke to were all fairly good about it and couldn’t believe I actually wanted to fish this water, especially when I told them I was a guide from Taupo!

It took about an hour to find the right water as it was overgrown in the section I started off in and not much fun at all. After about 40 minutes of bush bashing and falling in overgrown holes that I couldn’t see, I did a bit of a walk into easier water. It was a good move as I started to catch Trout straight away.

I thought the water looked perfect for brownies and I wasn’t let down, in fact the brown trout were about 3 to 1 on the rainbows. In this section all the Browns were about 2 pounds, but full of fight and fair smashed the dry off the surface. The rainbows were a little bigger, getting up to 3 pounds and were a real handful. casting was a little tricky in parts but for the most it wasn’t to bad. This section held good numbers of fish!

I walked for a little while as I didn’t want to hook a trout in every pool and also needed to suss out what was up in front. I saw some really nice Browns in the next section that would have gone 5 pounds, it was tempting to get down to them but I was on a mission by this stage. When I did enter the water again I was into trout straight away, they were all around the three pound mark and the water was absolutely beautiful. The trout have obviously not seen anyone for a long long time as they were not afraid at all. At one stage I had a three pound Brown trout come cruising over and sit four feet out from me as I was putting on some more dry fly floatant. I thought “”ah what the hell”" and dabbled the fly over its head, (no line out, just trace). It glided to the surface and sipped it in, text book style, it was obviously a shock when I struck as it went berserk, leaping clear of the water numerous times. I giigled for ages over that.

This is an amazing piece of water and as I said has had NO angling pressure. I will guide on it and have permission to do so, but would like to keep it unspoiled and so won’t go there to many times in this season. If you would like to be one of the lucky ones get in touch with me and we will jack something up.

Regards Shane

Hey All,

I managed to guide most of this week on a few different rivers, this is how they fished.

The Tonagriro is having good and bad days. If you strike it on a hard day, give up go home and do something else, or change water. When the trout in here are not interested, then it is a VERY frustrating day. If you get there and they are on the bite then WOW is all I can say, you are going to have great fishing! I did a half day on here Thursday, just before the heavens opened up and found it very hard going. I put it down to the drop in barometric pressure as when it did rain we got a soaking! It put some colour into the water and when I guided there on Friday we slammed them. Once the Sun made its presence felt the Cicadas came on and we even managed to pick up a very good rainbow on the dry.

I guided on the lower Tauranga Taupo Wednesday and had a good spell with the dry fly there too. Some of these trout are fairly small but they all smashed the dry and the occasional one surprised us with its size. This section is great with the dry and you don’t have to stress about the snags and the trout will dart out of them to snatch your imitation.

Earlier in the week I had a look at the Waitahanui. There are plenty of trout in here. I don’t know if it is because of the clear water or that fisherman are just blind but I met someone on there that complained of not seeing any fish what so ever in there. I was in the lower section at this stage and politely asked him if the sun glasses he had on his head were polarized. They were, and so I just said “”oh hell is that right, no trout huh”". The fact that in the straight we were standing on, I had counted at least 10 trout two of them good fish, made me shake my head!! Look hard in here guys, the Waitahanui is not like the Tongariro, the trout don’t just swim around with big signs on there back saying “”I’m a Trout”", you have to REALLY look. Once you start seeing them then you will be blown away with the numbers in here. They blend in, apart from the huge browns, those of course stand out like dogs nuts!!

I believe that this Winter season is going to be a huge step up from the past three. 80% of the Trout I am getting my clients onto are in excellent condition and there are plenty of them. I was talking to Paul last night, (who is part fish) and he said the lake fishing is great at the moment, with the vast majority of Trout being in fantastic condition with bright orange flesh. make sure you get your licence this year guys, support the fishery and have a bloody good time in the process. Bring on Winter!!!

I never did get to go out and look at this new piece of water so maybe this week will be the week.

Regards Shane

Hey All,

We have finally had a decent spell of hot weather. The stuff we received a week ago almost put and end to the Cicada hatches, they went very quiet there for a while.

I have managed to get on most of the Taupo tribs except the Tauranga Taupo. If I was going to fish this river it would either be up the top off kiko Road, or down the bottom from the SH1 bridge up to the rock wall, (one KM above power lines). This water is fairly deep with plenty of snags for them to shelter amongst. Dry fly is worth a go!

The Hinemaiaia has a stack of browns just up from the lake, first thing in the morning for these, small weighted nymphs, tiny indicator and bloody accurate casting. Walking up this river during the day is good for the soul. Keep in the back of your head there are some good fresh trout lurking in here.

I fished the upper pools of the Waitahanui last week as well. there is a good mix of fresh Rainbows in there as well as the occasional Brown. I was surprised not to see as many Browns in there as this time last year but might do a good walk on there this week and have a better look. The Rainbow we hooked up on was in excellent condition and dealt to my client all over the place, finally busting him off under a bank. If I don’t get to fish this water for a month or two and then go back to it, I am amazed at its beauty all over again. At least there are no huge stands of DEAD trees everywhere! Yip still not over it.

I am currently having a bloody blast back country. I stumbled onto some water the other day and it is full of rainbows up to 10 pounds and the odd Brown even bigger. My client hooked into a true trophy today but in the environment we were casting in and the fact he was using a 5 weight, the outcome was fairly one sided. We had a plan in place for IF it took the dry and were confident it would, but when it actually came up and sipped it in, the reality of what was going to happen dawned on both of us at the same time. I almost got the net to him but JUST missed the bulk of his weight and he then proceeded to beat the S%#t out of us. Mike and I stood there giggling away for a few moments. Due to the Proximity of this water I think I am the only angler fishing it, but don’t want to thrash it. Add to that it is for EXPERIENCED anglers only!! No photos available sorry as Mike dropped everything today, (smile).

I have done a heap on the Whanganui over the past ten days and am absolutely stuffed. Some good fishing is to be had on this awesome river with the dry fly taking most of the trout now. There were a heap of bikers and quads in there over the weekend but as usual most of them couldn’t find the water. Getting into the national forest is one thing, getting down to the water is another.

I am out this Wednesday for myself. I have been looking at an area close to Taupo for some time now that apparently is VERY under fished and under-rated. I have done the research and now comes the fun part finding the access and fishing it. Apparently it has some HUGE browns lurking in there, but is not for the faint hearted.

So hopefully I will have some news for the middle of the week.

Until then, tight lines

Shane

Hey all,

If you are new to this web site please have a look around and feel free to download the recipes in that section. You can contact me for any of the photos I put up for a larger copy. I am a full time Trout fishing Guide and have a large area of the central North Island that I fish on a Regular basis. You can contact me through my guiding page for more details and prices. I update my Trout Fishing report page as much as possible, in between guiding!

Well the longest day of summer is well behind us now. The days are getting a little shorted and the mornings a little darker. This time last year we were having  the Cicada season from Hell! The little chirping buggers were everywhere. This year has been a little different with heavy rain and strong winds damping down their activity. It is still worth giving this fantastic sport a go and I have had some excellent success and fun using them on the Tongariro and the back country rivers I fish. Its just not going to be like last season!

The Tonagriro has been a good producer of trout for me over the summer months. The Rainbows are in there in large numbers and are in fantastic condition. This means the winter run trout will be the same, we can expect a much better winter!! The Brown Trout are in the Tonagriro as well but have had their mouths shut during the day. If you really want to target these monsters then stay after dark or hit them early in the morning, They can be taken!!

The lower reaches of the Tauranga Taupo have also been a good place to throw a cicada pattern. This river is not thought of when it comes to the summer fishery and therefore gets very little pressure. The upper reaches off Kiko road are FULL of trout but man are they spooky little buggers. Its a big walk in there but well worth the effort.

The Hinemaiaia is full of little 1 pounders with the odd bigger fish thrown in. I had a guide there the other day who caught a trout on his backcast!!! He was dropping his arm back to far and the dry hit the water behind us, BAM it got hit, and I almost got hit in the back of the head with a small trout!! As I say heaps in there. The Rip is starting to produce some nice Browns after dark as well.

The Waitahanui is the same. A few more Browns in there though and some of these are monsters! Walking up this river spotting for them is great fun, getting them to take is a little frustrating though! The quassi in size 16 has been their undoing for me! The rip is starting to fire up as the lake temp increases. The Waitahanui is cold!! Spring feed it attracts the rainbows and the Browns from miles away. Taking a Brown out of this Rip at night time should be on the tick list of all serious Trout fisherman!

Back country, things have really taken off with the dry fly action. In fact it is all I am using at the moment. Some of the takes off the surface have been mind blowing. Full body rolls, tail walking hook ups and clients being taken out onto the backing have all been the go. Love this type of fishing and as I say we are in full swing with it at the moment.

Take care out there on the water and I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Shane French

Look Steve your favourite Rod!!!!

Hey All,

Another great week behind me and now a few days to reflect on what has been one of my best guides ever. I was lucky enough to have Dan from the UK for four days and in this time we fished a hell of a lot of water all over the central North Island. Dan is a dry fly specialist and so that was predominantly what we fished. This was fine by me as I got to learn a few more tricks with this exciting style and even picked up a drifting technique, which I thought I had down pat!

One of the days we were going to fish a Mohaka trib, however when we got over there the river and all of its Tributaries were still in full flood. The amount of water through this area must have been some force of nature and it would not surprise me if it has done some serious damage to the trout population. They will certainly be bashed around over there and a good couple of days exploring this will be needed. On this particular day I had to drag out plan B and do some serious driving. It ended with one of my best days trout number wise, with well over thirty landed. Nymphing played a part this day and the Prince nymph came into its own. Most of the trout were in the three pound mark with the odd four pounder thrown in. All of these were in great condition and made the little five weight bend like a twig it is.

We managed to get into the Whanganui as well and fish a beat I haven’t done all season, what a mind blow this was! When I first started guiding on this water four years ago the average size was a bout three pounds, this year has seen a massive increase with most of the trout in that five pound plus range, fat and incredibly strong. I warned Dan that he was going to get taken out onto his backing on the Whanganui and apparently he didn’t believe me, until it happened, (twice). At one stage we were in trouble of being spooled. This guy could land trout too, probably having a 95% landing rate, which in my opinion is freaking awesome. All the trout on the Whanganui were taken on the dry fly with some of the best surface smashing takes I have ever seen. I should have had a film crew with me, you would have been blown away!!!!!

Back in the local area there is still some great fishing to be had. Although the Cicadas are not as prolific as they were last year, they are still taking them off the surface and if you persevere with some sort of imitation, the rewards are there for the taking.

I managed to fish the Waitahanui on Friday and pulled a few from the lower reaches including a nice brown that took a dry. Walk slowly up this river and watch where you step! The rip is producing steadily, in fact most of the Taupo rips are. I poked my head into the Waiotaka rip the other day, this is running nicely into the lake and I might just go back there this week and have another look after dark.

Yesterday I played Paint ball up at Johns Quad biking farm, SH1. Malcolm his son, is doing a great job running this side business and it is VERY well set up. I took my son Steven with me and between the two of us went through 600 pellets. The group we played with were having there Stag night that night and kicked it off with Paint ball. So a small plug for Malcolm here. If you want to try something different that will get your adrenalin PUMPING then organize a few of your mates. He can make up teams by placing you with other people as well. A great way to kill a few hours. Phone 07 3776404

Take care and great fishing to all.

Regards Shane

Hey all

I have had another great couple of days on the rivers.

Yesterday I had a big fright as the Mohaka, (where I was going to go) was in flood and so had to make a split decision on where to go with two guys that had never picked up a fly rod before. I think I made the right choice as the small river we went onto was full of trout ranging from 1 pound through to 3.5 but all fat and feisty. We lost count of the hook ups and by the end of the day they were pro at setting the hook and playing trout, it was a good guide!

Today and for the next three days I have Dan from the UK. This guy can cast with the best of them and has a good understanding of mending and rivers in general. He wants to be pointed to the trout and pretty much left to do his stuff. Today to warm him up, I took him onto the Tongariro. The Browns have got their noses firmly planted in the rocks at the moment but the Rainbows are feeding off the surface and taking well weighted nymphs. we saw some BIG rainbows in there today.Our last catch of the day took a big ugly floaty thing. I was spotting high from a bank and Dan put in the perfect cast, this trout came out of the depths and erupted from the water in a brilliant take. It had to be the best dry fly strike I have ever seen. It was a great way to end the day!

This is going to be a fantastic week on the water.

Regards Shane

Hey All,

I have had some of the best fishing of my life over the past week, both back country and within the Taupo rivers. All the rain we received ten days ago obviously moved fish into the Tongariro and other Taupo tribs and when the water cleared they were hungry and willing to take.

I stuck with the Dry fly for most of the week as the terrestrials were out in force with the hot humid conditions, at times the cicadas were deafening and all my clients have been amazed at the noise these little buggers make. The takes from the top of the water have been awesome to witness.

Yesterday I had two neat Americans on the lower Tongas and we had a blast. At one stage I got Andre to fire up a huge ugly looking cicada thingy into some water below a overhanging willow, and let it drift down past us, (simple mend in the middle of drift) to about thirty feet down stream. Ten feet into the drift and still up stream of us a HUGE brown smashed the surface about 6 inches behind the dry. Andre didn’t strike and the trout proceeded to porpoise behind the fly almost to the end of the drift. It must have had ten goes at it, I was a mental wreck at that stage!! In the end we picked up a smaller brown that I am sure I have hooked before in the same spot.

I was back on the Tongariro today and was doing really well with a standard Nymphing rig when the river came up in volume and the colour turned to dark brown. It totally spoilt the morning. I gather there was a recreational release, why the colour changed is beyond me. We had just started to pick up some nice Rainbows as well.

I did a quick walk of the lower Waimarino a few days ago with Shane from Alaska, we had a great morning on the Tonagriro spotting and casting to some big browns but decided to have a change of river. There were very few trout in the Waimarino and we started to walk a little faster and talk a little too much, (about BEAR hunting, crazy bastards) when we semi spooked two browns in shallow water that would have gone 10 to 13 pounds. These were hogs and didn’t hang around to wait for the dry fly. Great to see though.

I am back out all next week culminating in a Whanganui trip Thursday. The last time I fished this the water was high and coloured, I am looking forward to clear conditions and being able to spot and stalk these trout.

For those who know me, you will understand my love affair with Fluorocarbon. I fully believe that when the water is low and clear this stuff comes into its own and will help you achieve a good days fishing. When I ran the lodge it was cheap for me to buy and so I always had it on my rig, sometimes just using a full length for the leader. Due to the price of this stuff I have had to become measly with it and only use it when necessary. The other day I was in Rod and Tackle, (corner sports shop by the lake). Peter has it there in stuff called VANISH. It comes in a huge spool of 228 meters and is bloody good stuff. If you want value for money check this out at his store. Also ask for the secret little nymph Shane has been slaying them with, he will know the one. Pearl bodied pheasant tail looking number, takes Rainbows and Browns!!

Take care out there.

Regards Shane

Hey all,

Its been a case of fish when and where you can this week, with all the rain the central plateau has been receiving in the afternoons. If you are planning on getting onto the water then try and make it as early in the day as you can. The mornings have been bright and sunny and this has made the trout come on the bite. By the afternoon the barometer drops and the trout certainly are harder to get.

I had Alan from Australia for a few days this week and we ended our time on the Tongariro chasing the browns on the dry fly. I love it when a client can show me a thing or two and I am ALWAYS open to this. Alan has spent many years chasing the Browns in the South island  using dry flies and so had a trick or two up his sleeve. It was a pleasure to watch him cast and we certainly put a dent in the population, or though none were taken. By the way Bob he says you are a girl and that if you were to fish the Whanganui you would have to loosen your Bra. He sends his love to Chris as well, although at that stage I was a little frightened he4 might hug me, (again)!

I enjoy taking you Aussie boys out as you love your sport and are quite capable anglers, (until I load you up with weight) and then it all turns to custard!!

There are a HEAP of trout in the Tongariro, more so than I have seen for years and they are in AWESOME condition. The reports from the lake are good as well with many trout in the 45 + range and FAT!!! This was always going to be a telling season for the Taupo fishery. To his credit, Brendon Mathews, (book, Volcanic Trout) saw all this coming and predicted the outcome. So far this has been on the spot, nice one dude, goes to show how well you know the fishery. For anyone wanting that type of knowledge his book can be found in most book shops in New Zealand.

I have a massive February coming up with some really exciting guides into all parts of the North Island, I am really looking forward to this part of the season. However if you want to grab me for a half day on the Tonagriro and learn this dry fly stuff get in touch and I will see what I can do.

Tight lines out there.

Regards Shane

Hey all,

What a day!

I was up at 5.00am and picked up my client, (Allan) from where he was staying in Hatepe bang on 6.00am. I had been keeping a very close eye on the river levels as the amount of rain we have been receiving is scary. We were supposed to be going into The Whanganui with John Sutton of Taupo Quad bikes, but with the weather it didn’t look good! I made the call to have a look and at the worst Allan was going to have a fun ride in for no charge, if the river was un-fishable.

As we got down onto the Whanganui I was shocked to see how much water was coming down, it was up and coloured as much as I have seen it. John and I always have a plan B, (and sometimes a plan c) so we put this into action and within a short ride Alan was knee deep in the river. It was a beautiful day and I could tell that the river was dropping, in fact within the first hour it dropped 4 inches, much to my relief!

Half way up the first run we fished the indicator shot down and on lifting the rod a beautiful brown boiled to the surface, this was a heavy fish and didn’t really know it was hooked for the first few minutes, by that stage I was behind it with the net and the fight was over. Its always good to get the first strike of the day on dry land!! The fact it was a Brown that pulled six pounds made it even better. At the top of the run a Large Rainbow Jack came up out of the murky depths and attacked the indicator. Probably due to me squawking”" strike”" and flapping my arms like a Blue Duck, Alan struck, I watched as the entire leader flossed the Jacks mouth and the dropper stuck firmly in its Jaw!! This was a first for me as normally you miss these strikes completely. This Trout went NUTS tail walking down stream and tearing off in all directions. This one proved  a little harder for the poor old guide to get into the net, but with the skill Alan showed fighting it, the end result was the same as the Brown.

We carried on up the river….

In the next pool we encountered, another rainbow attacked the indicator, this time we missed the strike and so I decided to put on a big Dry fly. Twenty casts later it came up from know where and scoffed it down, Alan waited for it to turn then set the hook like a pro. It was another nice Jack that went just over five pounds.

It went a little quiet after that and so I changed back to a standard Nymphing rig. We immediately picked up a VERY good Rainbow that tore off upstream and lept clear of the water, unfortunately it landed on the leader as it splashed down and pulled the hook. It was a very good fish!!

In the last pool of the day we once again came across a trout that had a go at the bloody indicator! We changed over straight away and two casts later it took a home made fly that Alan had tied before coming over to NZ. I managed to snap this picture of him giving me netting instructions while perched on a big rock! What a fantastic way to finish the day off.

John had the Quads all ready for us at the extraction point, and we made our way out feeling very satisfied. This is an awesome river, I have NEVER been let down here and can only say the fishing is out of this world.

Tight lines

Shane