Landed and released a 5lber in the Wainui on Sat morn - so far this season the fish I have landed there have been in average condition only i.e. not fat and not putting up much of a fight given their size.  Those Wairarapa photos look great Slab - wish the master and commander gave me a greater time allocation so I could get over there................... 

 

Was that one going back or a keeper?

I released the trout - it swam away strongly after a 10 second breather. I rarely keep fish these days but did keep a Wainui brown a month or go - it was full of horned caddis I think (the long skinny shell jobs) and nothing else. Small drys work best for me on the Wainui - have tried caddis nymphs but no joy.

After having no time for a fish since pre x-mas and not knowing when I can next slip out I decided to have a crack on the Wainui last night despite a howling gale and a bit of rain  Conditions were too tough for my abilities on anything other than a sinking line and wet flys which I could still get some distance with and reasonable accurancy. Managed to land the attached on an olive woolly bugger style wet with a hot spot beadhead and a bit of red attractor in the tail (can just be seen in the trouts mouth). Weighed just under 6lb - broad across the shoulders but again in average condition and a lazy fighter for its size. I didn't completely ignore your advice Badger - I placed the fish on some wet grass for the photo before releasing (couldn't do any better with a camera phone, fishing alone and landing it from a deep pool). Spotted a number of other good fish - in general conditioning appears to be deteriorating as summer progresses - not sure the Cicada season really hits the Wainui but the fish there are in need a good feed