Wairarapa Wanderings

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    Posted: 03 Oct 2014 at 10:00am
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First few days of the new season have kicked off and river conditions are still reasonably average, due to the rain falling reasonably consistently in the ranges.

Caught and released a couple of nice fish in the middle reaches of the tributaries which I imagine are late spawners looking at them. They hit a modified woolly (using UV yarn) which I will share later. It really seems to work esp for newer anglers early in the season throwing wets, as nymphing in the early stages of learning can be quite unrewarding and technically difficult.

River color and a lot of stream mouths being  very tight or closed,  is limiting the whitebait’s run at present, but hopefully those of us that chase the sea runs feeding on them should have it better soon.

Will be interesting to see what the beetle flights will be like this year, as it has been a good winter for bugs (not to cold for too long) so hoping for another great dry fly season later on.

Fishing all next week as son off school so should hopefully have a better report soon.

If it stops bloody raining.

Cheers

Cry
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote EditB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Oct 2014 at 2:32pm
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I'm heading down there next week, taking my city kids to visit the farm cousins in Masterton. Will be throwing the rods in as the Ruamahanga & some tributaries run through the farm Will hopefully get the kids into it with some spinning gear this time, they lost a brown last time just using the ol bubble & lure technique.

I do not lie about fishing, I willingly participate in a campaign of misinformation.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Oct 2014 at 2:41pm
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Great,  any the confluences should be  coming on soon, once the water clears a bit, the river can look quite good but not hold  fish where you would think, anywhere with good willows on a bank  and deep but nor to slow pools can hold some quite good browns, however they use the trees bit like a jungle gym.  Have found a baby brown rapala  to be very good this time of year, or even glo bugs under a bubble in the shallows of a deep pool right on dark can be quite exciting for the kids.
 
We  will be out and about  to, if you want more local knowledge drop me a line
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Oct 2014 at 8:18am
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Mid week and the possibility of settled weather is still in question., Mates fishing the Hutt River over the hill have taken up drinking.... more chance of seeing a fish they reckon. Possibly the worst start to a season I can remember for a while, the funny thing is the cabbage trees here are flowering which if local predications are correct means an hot dry summer. So we may go from too much water to none in some creeks. We were thinking about heading out to the coast for a SW trip on the Kahawai but the river mouths are just brown, so out come the mountain bikes and we are off to a "special" site,
Hoping everyone has a good season.
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Oct 2014 at 2:17pm
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Well the season is getting better, stumbled onto a hatch happening which looked with my untrained eye to be Z.nodularis so I had quite a good late  morning throwing black gnats dries  to some  nice fish for an hour or so.
Rivers cleaning up nicely here, seem to be a few fish moving around back to their summer haunts.
 
Have had a real rethink on teaching fly fishing, so would be interested in feedback, I had a very experienced hunter mate of mine want to get into fly fishing so he went a did a course, all very knowledgable people etc, and then  we fished for the first time side by side nymphing up river. I caught fish he didnt, and in a discussion afterward and watching him trying to cast, mend, etc I decided to change things around abit.
Next session  I gave him a double taper fast sinking line and a few "special buggered type flies I tie), we have a 10 min lesson on across and down ( no reach cast yet) and 10 mins later he had his first fish, by the end of the evening he had four.
Again talking afterward he equated wet lining to hunting flats and slips, easier when starting out with the chance of a real result, compared to bush stalking without the right skill level.  After all presntation is not quite so important
 
Since then I have started three others the same way, all with similar results, we start on nymphing and dry flies this year.
 
The recent good rain rains have opened up the river mouths and the white bait are running and so are the sea runs and kahawai, all good for the SW flingers
 
Very sorry EditB, we could not catch up, however next time you are down will make sure you get tour.
 
Cheers
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2014 at 10:45am
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Very unusual start to the season,  have had some good catches on sea runs, but the main rivers have been flooded or running discoloured at least a couple of days each week. The fish seem not top be able to settle, and while we have caught some nice sea runs the mid  river fish are not in great shape yet. There seem to be decent numbers in the old haunts when the flow settles, but alot of the males are slabby, not badly but not good condition. To be expected I would think.
Last couple of sessions  last week were interesting, there was a decent hatch occuring but no fish rising,  one of us changed to very small woolly type buggars and soon we all were fishing them, did not see a fish rise all evening but we got a few on fast sinking lines.
The young fella is down from school, this week and we have the next two off, so lets see if we can find a few goodies.
Cheers
 
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Cheers Gulfisher, keep the reports coming.
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Season should be in full flow here, but seems to be about 3-4 weeks behind, river levels are very low, lots of slime in the main river.
Fish starting to take emergers, but not seeing the full on dry fly sessions that we did this time last year....yet.
Still good fish in the upper reaches, but the  in middle stretches few and far between, with the Rau fishing well in places( as usual).
Fish seem in better condition, however last night caught two bloody perch in the Rau on wee wets, both in the same spot, looks like they might be spreading out of the lakes, they did not get released.
 
Most fish in the 2-3 lb range lots of smaller fish, and as usual the odd good on who isnt too stupid.
 
cheers
 
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Jan 2015 at 8:52am
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Well the true Wairarapa summer has hit, 29-31 degrees and the river dropping faster than a politian’s credibility, river levels are very low in the Raumahunga and Waiohine, the forecast for later this week is rain, but then  it was for a couple  of days  last  week. Farmers are not allowed to pull water for irrigation now and water restrictions are in place for the townies.

 

It always surprises me when a well-known side creek here dries up every few years then when it starts running again it is quickly populated and fishes well.

Little bit of concern as the water heats up and the pools become crowded, lethargic and dead fish, as in the big drought a few years ago. Let’s see what happens this year; I hear they are moving fish in the mainland to lower reaches already.

Hatches are in full swing with some good late evening fishing, haven’t heard any consistent cicadas yet but soon it will be time to get on the bike and cycle up to some little creek that I am sure is around here somewhere………

 

Been having fun with wee wet blue duns fished across and down in really shallow sections late evening,  on a floating line, a newby we are helping nearly  tuna’d a fish ( except the tippet broke…..) as it drove a bow wave to get to the fly.

(tuna’d)  : To strike so hard the fish lands on the bank beside you.

Santa brought me  TFO  Axiom 6w for Xmas and I have to say it casts as well or better than some rods I have at three times the price, have had to go up on it,  a weight class or two nearly but it still throws well no matter what I line I use, WF, DT or depth finders.

The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jan 2015 at 9:33am
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Have to share last evenings fishing as I can’t be the only one this has happened to….

 

Beautiful evening, almost no wind, and we decide to go for a late evening fish, the good lady and son are coming so a great family evening in the outdoors.

Load up the truck, drive and then wander up to the bottom of a favourite long long pool and see fish already rising.

While two set up the rods the other goes and catches a couple of the mayflies floating past so we can match the hatch….  Looks like a size 12 Dads Fav  will do tonight  comes the sons opinion, one of us decides to try a small klink just in case.

 

We select our stations and quietly slip into the river……. I watch the son miss a fish on his second cast, small chuckle… still over eager he is (Yoda the wise statement)

3rd cast a nose rises through the mirror, and my little klink vanishes in a little swirl, I wait, strike feel a good fish tear over to the deep channel peeling out the loose line, got him on the reel, he’s powering upstream, apply a little side strain and pop the hook pulls………….

Little smile from the good lady, shrug of the shoulders and the thought… well there will be another

Then my lesson began…….. 45 minutes and 5 lost fish later, I was getting a little wound up, have checked hooks, done everything I know just can’t keep them on, or hook them after the take.

Then I see a really good fish for this river in about 2 ft water feeding freely, sneak in behind, perfect cast to the side wrapping around ahead of him, watch him rise to it, here we go all will be forgiven…..slurp, wait, strike….. a solid feeling like getting snagged then nothing………  #%$&@ echos down the river, I am not happy… I look up and see my family laughing at me….. And then I laugh.

 

I learnt a valuable lesson last night… fishing is fun even when I get it wrong.

The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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You won’t need wading boots on some sections of the rivers around here now, you would be lucky to get your toes wet wearing jandals, one mate commented  on the weekend.

There are fish around if you are prepared to walk where no one else can be bothered too, lots of pressure on the easy access  pools not only from the fisherman but this weekend nearly any spot that could be reached by a four-wheel drive seemed to have someone swimming in it. Some riffles have a few fish but some of the runs have a good build-up of slime (if good is a suitable word)

Good hatches occurring just not seeing the usual level of activity we would normally see, as you would suppose it is much more concentrated now.  An unconfirmed report from a cockie said he could count 80 plus fish from the cliff top above a pool through his property.

I hear the rivers around the lakes are fishing well so might be time for road trip.

The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Rivers very low now, little bit of flush in a couple of them over the weekend, due to rain we had in the hills but most rivers still very low.
Plenty of green beetle in the manuka, but no cicadas yet, I imagine that is due to the ground being so
hard they cannot tunnel out???????
Using wee wets in the riffles is working OK, still a few in the better pools for evening hatches, but nothing like last years tallies.
But it is the Wairarapa, and constant 30 degree odd days are pretty normal, what we haven't had is the rain through spring, if this dry lasts  till Mar/April as  it is likely to could be interesting again.
 
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Originally posted by Gulfisher Gulfisher wrote:

Mid week and the possibility of settled weather is still in question., Mates fishing the Hutt River over the hill have taken up drinking.... more chance of seeing a fish they reckon. Possibly the worst start to a season I can remember for a while, the funny thing is the cabbage trees here are flowering which if local predications are correct means an hot dry summer. So we may go from too much water to none in some creeks. We were thinking about heading out to the coast for a SW trip on the Kahawai but the river mouths are just brown, so out come the mountain bikes and we are off to a "special" site,
Hoping everyone has a good season.




Very prophetic there Gulfisher, Hutt got down to 3.5 cumecs
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After a couple of weeks off due to a shoulder injury, I finally got back on the water over the last few days, the rivers as expected are low but seem to have settled into a good rhythm, if that makes sense.  Wandering along the river it was good to see quite a lot of small fish ( 1lb) around  and the better runs  with some cover are holding some  nicely conditioned  fish.  As usual they can be few and far between, and most of the time seems to be taking dun colored emergers in the evening, and beetles during the day.  No cicadas yet…   Last night I threw half a fly box at a couple of nice little fish feeding really hard in the bubble line, sometimes just a nose would appear other times they nearly broached they hit that hard.  In the end I was successful with a 16 willow grub, which made little sense, but thats fishing.. Don’t know what they were feeding on in reality as I did not kill a beautifully conditioned 3lb hen who really did not want to come to the bank.

Hope you are all enjoying the season.

The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Feb 2015 at 11:20am
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The Rau seems to have settled in for summer now and is  fishing pretty well at present, concentrated areas but the fish are not too spooky, although we are using 4 m leaders so.... The all seem in good condition bellies were  full of flies, bees, emerging mayflies the odd dragon fly and stick caddis so plenty of choices I suppose.
 
If you are up for a walk to areas not often accessed then you wil be rewarded, also look to the banks under willows where the waters runs into the bank, have found some nice fish holding in shallow water well under cover.
 
Also been hearing cicadas, not in big numbers yet but heres hoping.
 
Have a great weekend everyone.
 
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote chief Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 May 2015 at 10:48am
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Hi Wairapa Wanderings ,

heading to NZ, Carterton in particular and staying in Gladstone. Could you please give me any updates on fishing in the area. Planning on getting out on the Ruamahanga,would appreciate any local advice you could give.
regards

Darren
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 May 2015 at 4:55pm
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Back in the world, fish moving  now, and there is odd good-un about... we are seeing fish passing through a section ( right below my mates house lol)   that is now closed, which is a few weeks earlier then the last couple of years.  Doing OK on nymphs but having a ball again on wet lining right on the bottom at the confluences.
 
Catching up with a new fishing buddy this weekend, to hopefully show him some fish, as hes only here for a while so I hope the fish are hungry.
 
Noticing that the purple and/or UV mix bettwer than usual at present, on smallish wets  wonder if it is due to low light conditions now, any one else trying that combination?
 
 
 
 
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jun 2015 at 11:19am
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Have been lucky enough to spend the day on the river with Chief, while the fishing was hard that day, a great day was had just standing in the river.  Was a true pleasure to fish with him, and look forward to future trips.Handshake
 
The concern is the river is still really quite low, fish have moved up as expected and a couple of nights ago we got to watch some very good fish in a closed river( we were looking for deer). There are currently some local discussions around water being taken from the river for agriculture, as they are already talking of lowering the take for next season.  Being a fisherman and in the business I see both sides of the arguement, and neither side will be happy.
 

Having success with a small modified woolly, green marabou tail with a couple of gold filaments, body is really simple the main body is  bright green synthetic chenille, warped sparsely with either brilliant red or blue chenille, and nothing else.

 

Easy to tie and effective around here at present.

 

The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2015 at 12:05pm
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Interesting trip up to the Hawkes Bay recently, never seen the rivers this low this time of year.  They still have lupins and summer growth in the beds which means they havn't had a winter flood to clean out the river....
Top that off with the Cabbage trees here flowering even earlier, if I was a betting man I would say spring has sprung....
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Gulfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov 2015 at 12:43pm
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Well  a month into the season, and alls going well, fish seem in good nick mainly due to consistant winter flows, only got a couple of real floods late. River is pretty low for this time of year, already.....  mostly taking  either  hard on the bottom or  just under the surface, havent seen any good rises yet, but cant be far away.  Few crickets in the fields, hoping the ground might soften so we can get a  cicada season, last season never really happened as the ground was so hard the little sods didn't seem to be able to dig their way out??? 
Cheers
 
The only excuse for not having a go is.... Sir I'm dead Sir !
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