'Yes, the Wire Pool of old no longer exists. Just a straight run right down to the Windmill. Three or four good spots with overhanging vegetation. No wire either but the measuring station is still there.'
I used to have a few contacts at Waikato Regional Council and got a ride down to the Wire when tester used to re-calibrate the flow/depth gauge. I'd leave my car by the main road.
They used to string an array of flow meters across the river and it took about 2 hours to do the job.
The tech was a nice guy and used to watch the anglers and liked to net any fish but he was like a bull in a china shop and used to scare the fish and you'd lose it more than land it.
I daresay, with much more advanced equipment, you don't need to use the wire, especially as they have a newer sensor near the main road bridge. The 2 flows will be nearly identical and all they need is a depth. It;s the depth that's important following a fresh and river crossings.
I had a couple of days staying at motel and one really frosty morning (-5) used the chart to cross at the Cliff, knowing it was crossable. River was cloudy so started my crossing but unknown to me a log had jammed into sand near the other side. I was already near the top of my waders then the depth suddenly got deeper and I was under water.
I got caught in current and had to bounce off the bottom to get air but managed to get to shallow water about 100 metres down stream.
Got to bank and was freezing cold. My new waders were goretex and had no thermal protection, just the fleece trousers inside, which were now soaking.
I stripped naked and squeezed as much water as I could out of my clothes then re-dressed and put waders on. Drank my whole flask of hot coffee to warm up. Decided to have a flick on what looked a good spot and got a few. Decided to head back to motel for a hot shower.
The walk warmed me up and the sun was strong so had another few casts and took jacket off and a wasp just landed on my arm and stung me. A few minutes later , playing a fish, I high-sticked my rod and broke the tip.
Hell of a day!
Moral - don't cross a high river in the dark