The Killer Bug
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I was awakened in the early hours by a sound I hadn’t heard for a while … heavy rain. It’s a noise that always reminds me of growing up back in Wales. Those of us of a certain age will remember the analogue days of the telly before hundreds of channels and round the clock television. In fifties Britain when I was a kid we had the BBC and that was it. In those days they only broadcast at certain times of the day and stopped altogether each evening at 11.00 pm. Every time transmission ended the picture was replaced by a blizzard effect of white noise on the screen which sounded exactly like rain falling. But on this occasion it had a different significance for me and hopefully signaled the beginning of the end of the dry spell and the possibility of some better fishing.
I’d arranged to pick up Terry Trout from TRM at eight o’clock for a final fish together before he flew back to the blistering heat of sun-soaked Wales. They’d forecast frequent showers but as I put the gear in the truck the rain was already starting to ease.There’s very little wild rainbow trout fishing in the UK and like thousands of others from all over the world Terry is prepared to fork out thousands of dollars to travel halfway round the globe for that experience. It’s important to overseas anglers and a huge draw card sometimes over-looked by the powers that be.
Terry has been coming to New Zealand in March since 2000 but he’s been unlucky this trip. The timing of the spawning runs has changed dramatically since his first visit and this year he also had the drought to contend with. So I have a feeling future trips will be much later in the year.We decided to head upriver to a few spots he hadn’t tried before but after an hour or so we were still without a fish. By the time we got above Boulder Reach the skies had began to darken again and it started to pick with rain.We spotted a few fish feeding in a deep run just above the tail of one pool but despite Terry putting several good drifts through they completely ignored his nymphs. He’d noticed me chopping and changing flies all morning and as I changed his fly again asked me if
Another autumn phenomenon which you”ll come across while walking along the Tongariro access tracks is this toadstool. Its commonly called the fly agaric and is often found near deciduous or coniferous trees.
You may recognize Norwegian angler Tore Aalberg. I fished with Tore on the Tongariro a couple of years ago and he seems to make a habit of catching good browns because he had a fish over nine pounds then. These are from one of the rivers on his own patch in Norway. Yet another example of how highly overseas anglers regard the Tongariro. Despite having fish like this on his doorstep he’s prepared to travel halfway around the world to fish the Tongariro. This will be his third trip in three years because he’s back again in a couple of weeks.With no rain for sometime and the river flowing at its summer level of twenty two cumecs the algae growth covering the rocks is making things very slippery. If you were one of the anglers fishing opposite me in Boulder Reach earlier in the week I’ve no doubt you found it amusing when I did my arse first triple salko in the tail of the pool. I know I’d have laughed … it was bloody funny.
One of the questions you always get asked by anglers who have just started fly fishing is ”how often do you change the fly“? Too be honest there is no easy answer to this one because it depends on so many things. Like other aspects of fly fishing it’s a decision that’s based on experience which has evolved into a sort of sixth sense. Until you give it some thought you don’t know how you know … you just do. I don’t think any angler turns up at the rivers edge, glances at his watch and says to himself …”I’ll change the fly in ten minutes time“ … it just doesn’t work that way. Most of us have our favorite “go to flies“ in our box. These are patterns that have consistently caught fish in the past and if your nymphing the Tongariro odds are it will be something that represents a caddis or mayfly.
When I’m fishing naturals under the indicator I usually start with a searching rig consisting of a buggy tied bomb with a couple of flies below it. These are nearly always combinations of a hare and copper, pheasant tail or caddis larvae in size 14 to 16 like the set up on the left … nothing special … no secret flies … just well known patterns that will do a perfectly good job of mimicking the aquatic insects that trout expect to find near the river bed. The hare and copper is one of the oldest and still one of the most effective nymphs out there. If you’re not sure what to use this is the fly to try first. Its simplicity allows the fish to think its whatever it wants it to be and there’s a lot of truth in the old saying that “most of what a trout eats is brown, fuzzy and about a half inch long” .
I don’t think many would argue that so far this year there has been a marked improvement in both the quality and quantity of fish caught in the Tongariro. On Sunday I stood on Red Hut bridge along with some fascinated holiday-makers and watched a steady trickle of migrating fish slowly file past in the pool below. During the spawning runs the last few years had seen a gradual decline in the numbers of fish using the upper stretches. But this time around they do seem to have been more evenly distributed throughout the river. It’s a bit too early to tell and I’m no scientist but could the destruction of previously good spawning area’s from the lower Bridge Pool down be affecting their behavior already? The loss of places like the Braids is definitely having an effect on anglers habits.
Whether we like it or not its forcing us to look elsewhere. Perhaps its a similar story for the fish. Stretches of a river don’t become popular by accident. Easy access plays a part but anglers tend to use them because they consistently produce good results. It’ll take a few years to get an accurate overview but fairly recent ariel surveys showed that there were far more anglers regularly fishing from the town pools down than above. However if the numbers of trout using the middle and upper river continues to build then so will the numbers of fishermen chasing them. I’ve often commented this year on how few anglers I’ve bumped into while fishing between the Stag and Blue Pool. These middle/upper river pools used to be very popular until the fish using them declined a few years ago. But I have a feeling this may alter in future because this year has seen them start to fish well again and there’s always been something special about having a successful day on this lovely part of the Tongariro. 
This sounds like the start of a really bad joke but a funny thing happened earlier in the week. I’d returned to the bach to change my waders after they’d sprung a leak while fishing a very cold Stag Pool. Gail was over in Turoa doing her ” Eddie the Eagle ” impersonation before the ski fields closed for the summer. So with a couple of hours to kill before the eagle landed
Mayfly have been around for millions of years and their ancestors pre-date the dinosaurs. The oldest full body fossil was found in 2008 when fossil hunters discovered the 300 million year old ancient impression while exploring woods at the back of a suburban shopping complex in Massachusetts. The leader of the geology students who made the find said at the time ” That it was like winning the lottery because the bodies of flying insects are usually not preserved due to their softer, fragile nature. Scientists more often find only the remains of wings, which are not digested easily by predators.” The mayfly pictured right entombed in Baltic amber is a “youngster” by comparison at a mere 40 million years old. This example was found in the Kaliningrad district of Russia. Mayfly have some unique characteristics which set them apart from other insects. For instance both males and females have paired genitalia. Yep! the male has two penises …yeah twenty years ago I’d have thought the same thing too. Nowadays I have enough trouble coping with the problems one gives me never mind two !! To help the male tolerate this terrible handicap the female has two gonopores which I believe is a posh name for a hole or opening. No wonder they have such a short adult life-span they must be worn out. Of more interest to the fly fisherman is the sub adult stage in their life cycle which anglers call ” duns ” May fly are the only insects to go through another instar after they have acquired usable wings. These sexually immature adults are often compared to tiny sail-boats as they’re carried downstream and a good hatch can trigger some great surface action. 
I’ve spent most of the week on the Tongariro and had some terrific sport. With a little color in the river until Wednesday conditions were spot on and nymphers and wet-liners both caught. The unsettled weather prevented significant day time hatches but I did notice fish rising as a few may fly came off between the squally showers. For me the town pools were a bit disappointing but the middle and upper reaches more than made up for them, so that’s where I spent most of my time. With some of the other venues now open angling pressure has been non existent and on a couple of occasions once I got upriver it seemed as if I had the Tongariro all to myself. In fact the only other angler I came across on my travels was Ray from Taupo who was staying nearby in his camper van. That’s him on the right holding breakfast. With so few anglers around I was often first through the places I fished and had some great action. But things didn’t always go to plan because some of the better fish were literally unstoppable. Towards the end of the week I caught plenty of jacks displaying their best courting colors. And amongst them there were some quite silver males. A sudden increase in numbers of male trout can sometimes be an indication that a run of ladies is on the way, something to watch out for over the coming days. Its been raining since early this morning and as I write this the river is rising, currently at 80 cumecs. This will keep the fish coming and providing it doesn’t flood too badly ensure more good fishing again next week.
Those of you that walk the T.R.B above Red Hut bridge may have noticed the smell of fresh pine in the air. On my way back to the truck on Thursday afternoon I could here the buzzing of chainsaws in the distance. A little further along the track I was stopped by a forestry worker look-out warning people that they were felling trees nearby and as we chatted another pine crashed to the ground. According to info on the Advocates for the Tongariro web-site :” The project to eliminate pines started several years ago, with poisoning in the Department of Conservation reserves on the left bank of the Tongariro River upstream of the Trout Centre and later, by the AFTR, on the right bank. The work, unfinished, has moved upstream to about 1 km above the Red Hut suspension bridge. The effect of the poisoning there is not subtle, there are many trees in the brown stage, in which the needles die and drop. Soon the skeletons will turn grey and later they will rot away “.There must have been a change of plan because originally I don’t think their intention was to cut them down. So if your up that way don’t forget your hard hat.Last report we looked at fishing with smaller size flies and lighter tippets but its not much good scaling everything down { especially fishing the dry } if its connected to the leader/tippet with a great big barrel of a knot. So I’m going to let you in on a secret. Its a knot that was shown to me over thirty year ago while fishing in Ireland near Disert which lies in the foot hills of the Blue Stack Mountains. Brendan Walsh was an old mate who occasionally guided fly fishermen visiting this area so rich in Celtic history. His claim to fame was that after a careless moment while unhooking a large pike he was the only one handed gillie in County Donegal. Ever since he was a small boy he’d formed a fascination with the mechanics of knots and was regarded as a bit of an expert. Some of the trout in his patch were notoriously finnicky and would closely examine the dry before they sucked it in. So after countless fishy refusals he came up with the smallest knot ever invented … which he called the ” Secret Knot ”
HOW TO TIE THE SECRET KNOT.
This week we’ll return to the subject I started a couple of weeks ago before I got side-tracked by those lovely fat silver rainbows that ran the river … learning from our mistakes. I’ve noticed that whether you’re a beginner or a first time visitor to the Tongariro, when we start fishing this river most of us tend to make the same bad calls. Looking back I was in the same boat as everyone else and didn’t have a clue !Last time we looked at ” concrete feet syndrome ” which is a fairly common one and will not only cost you fish but the good will of other anglers. Unless of course you’re a devotee of the Bridge Pool which as well as being one of the most consistent stretches during the spawning runs also has its very own special set of rules. This week another classic cock up … fly size. 
After they deported me from the South Wales valleys and I eventually caught my very first glimpse of the Tongariro, my immediate impression was … big river, full of big fish, big is best, so big flies … BIG MISTAKE !At the time, it seemed logical to me that in a large river like this the trout would not only be able to spot a big fly more easily but would find a big meal more attractive.I can’t remember the exact setup that I was using but it would probably have consisted of a couple of size 10 unweighted gold head Hare and Copper or Pheasant Tail nymphs. Not too much wrong with the pattern choice but at that time I also hadn’t realized the importance of using weight for success on this river.My unleaded offerings were tied using pretty light gold beads and unless I was drifting them through shallow water its a fair bet they were nowhere near the bottom. Even if they had got down to some feeding trout a lot of the time those big nymphs would have aroused a little bit of suspicion unless the Tongariro had suddenly been invaded by mayfly the size of sparrows ! Ok that’s a bit of an exaggeration but you can see what I’m getting at. I’m not inferring either, that trout won’t ever take big nymphs – on occasions of course they will. During the spawning runs for instance, you may find that you catch more fish than usual on the bomb.
Right! I hear you say but its bigger than the P.T nymph next to it. Yes it is, except that’s a size 18 and the bulk of the nymphs and larvae I found were smaller than that.
We’re back on Taupahi Road this time at Creel Tackle and to round off the series a couple of dry flies from ” Scotty ” and Steve. Again they wanted to plumb for caddis but after I explained that was a case of ” join the queue ” they came up with two very good second choices … the Cicada and Passion Vine Hopper. Both of these terrestrials first appear in significant numbers at roughly the same time, usually between January and March but this can vary depending on climatic conditions. 
But by the time this happens they should be really switched on to taking big surface flies. With plenty of other patterns to choose from just change to one of the more bizarre rubber leg creations tied in various colors using foam and other materials. When trout become pre-occupied with these large terrestrials they’re one of the few food items they’ll move any distance for. Try drifting one along the feed lanes in a pool, occasionally giving it a few twitches as it travels downstream. Even if there aren’t obvious signs of trout feeding the sight of a big juicy cicada apparently struggling on the surface will often tempt them up from the depths. The deer hair version also makes a great indicator and you can easily improve its visibility by tying in a brightly colored tag behind the eyes. 
The other dry fly from Creel is another summer phenomenon which trout latch on to … the Lace Moth or to give it its proper name the Passion Vine Hopper { Scolypopa Australis } This West island import reached New Zealand in 1876 and is regarded as a pest species. They can be found in the warmer parts of both North and South Island and it isn’t only commercial fruit growers that have to watch out for them. Where I live in Kapiti they are a real headache for summer gardeners and despite their name these sap sucking insects will feed and lay their eggs on all kinds of native flora. 
Large infestations of hoppers on any plant will quickly weaken it causing it to wither and eventually die. When they feed on the Coriara shrub more problems occur because the plant contains the neurotoxin tutin. In New Zealand the plant is commonly called the “Tutu” or “Tut” pronounced “Toot” and has a Maori origin which probably refers to the toxin. As the insects digest the sap they excrete a poisonous honeydew which is gathered by foraging bees and taken back to the hive where they unknowingly contaminate the honey with tutin. The last recorded death from eating toxic honey was in the 1890′s but there are still non fatal poisonings from time to time. So far only a few areas of New Zealand have been identified as high risk places where this toxic honey has frequently turned up. But in these places beekeepers have to closely monitor the spread of Coriaria plants and passion hopper populations within a three kilometer radius of their apiaries. Like cicadas the females insert the eggs in rows inside the soft inner stem of the host plant where they overwinter for six months before the wing-less nymphs appear between October and December. These are lighter in color than the adults but with the same mottled brown markings and have curious white filaments protruding from their rear end. This untidy waxy tuft is responsible for their nickname … fluffy bums! 
Like the nymphal stage of other insects, as they grow they go through five instars, finally appearing in January through to April as adult vine hoppers. The Tongariro’s biggest hatches occur in late January and the first weeks of February and is particularly noticeable downriver. The foliage on both sides from the Bain down used to be covered with lace moths and on breezy summer days many of them would end up in the drink. I say ” used to ” because things have changed down there big time with nearly all of the over-hanging cover gone from the true left bank. Many of the old spots are unrecognizable and it remains to be seen how this will affect the dry fly fishing in this part of the river. Elsewhere on the Tongariro trout soon notice this steady stream of easy pickings and you will often see fish feeding on them for hours totally oblivious to anything else coming their way. Unfortunately not all these trout are monsters because the abundance of lace moths also coincides with a river full of juvenile trout making their way to the lake. However there are usually plenty of chances of something much better and although lace moth fishing can be a frustrating experience its possible to have a lot of fun when you get it right. 
Good afternoon Mike,” Firstly, the photo attached is the 5lb brown caught at the bend in the bottom third of the Reed pool at 6.00 pm on 3 Feb 2012. It took a cicada imitation dry fly and when opened up contained 30 cicada (Amazing how time exaggerates the memory). I had missed an earlier take by striking too early and pulling the fly out of the trout’s mouth before the fly could be properly set … over excitement.Secondly, I fished this week from Monday 2.00 PM to noon on Friday.The first couple of days the water was a little cloudy and globugs were successful. I also had some success with the wetline. From Wednesday the water started to clear quickly and I used a small hare and copper #14 successfully.I think the fish are better condition and size than at the same time last year and there have been more of them. Mind you my logbook shows the water clear and the weather fine this time last year “.
This week we’re on the other side of the mall at Greig Sports and its the turn of Tim Healey to recommend a dry fly for the Tongariro. Tim’s choice another sedge pattern … the Elk Hair Caddis. 
This legendary dry fly had an equally legendary inventor Al Troth who sadly died recently age 82 in Montana where he guided for many years. He came up with the fly in 1957 and originally intended it to be an emerger pattern. But because elk hair is hollow and floats so well it made its mark as a dry fly. At the very least many regard it as the best adult caddis imitation ever thought up and even if caddis aren’t hatching its a great searching pattern. Use it in medium flow water under overhanging foliage, or through faster runs and riffles. During a hatch its a great choice along the bubble line in the slower water or pool below a run, where adult caddis often end up after being carried down river. Tim suggests tan or black and his tip is to fish a wee wet on a dropper below it … want to know more? … why not call in for a chat.
As the annual spawning runs continue to build so will the numbers of anglers eager to get in on the action and for the next couple of months we’ll occasionally encounter another annual Tongariro phenomenon … ” concrete feet syndrome.” Its one of the most common mistakes that anglers new to fly fishing or more experienced fly fishers new to nymphing the river make … I know because when I first began fishing the Tongariro I had a mild case of it myself. In my own defence I had just arrived
The big news has been the release of Tarawera trout into the Taupo fishery. It has already caused a lot of debate and anglers have voiced opinions both for and against it. Speaking as some one who emigrated from the U.K the Tongariro has always been a very special place to fish. The majority of rainbows in the United Kingdom are still found in stocked lakes and are usually sourced from commercial trout farms. Some of those fisheries also specialize in growing super-size rainbows and the current record stands at almost 37 pounds. When rainbows were originally introduced from North America many of the experts were convinced they would be unable to spawn in U.K waters. 
But talking to friends over there the fish have proved them wrong and there are now some isolated pockets of rainbows spawning in rivers
Before I was fortunate enough to emigrate every single rainbow trout that I encountered had been bred in a trout farm and were very different animals to our New Zealand steel heads. I remember when I began fishing the Tongariro and hooked my first “silver bullet”
In early August 2012, as part of a small research project, the Department of Conservation released 5000 marked yearling rainbow trout into the Taupo catchment. Fingerlings were released at the river mouths of the Waimarino, Tauranga Taupo and Tongariro Delta. Releases were also made at the Bain, Birch and Blue Pools on the Tongariro River and a small release in Lake Otamangakau.This experimental release is aimed at researching the feasibility of reinstating and reinforcing the early part of the spawning run that sustains the winter fishery in Taupo. This is part of the project described in the last issue of the fishery magazine “Target Taupo”, and is endorsed by the Taupo Fishery Advisory Committee.Dr. Michel Dedual, resident fishery scientist says “Tarawera Trout obtained from Eastern Fish and Game were specifically chosen due to the common genetic ancestry they share with Taupo trout, and their early spawning tendencies”. The fish released were of a suitable size to avoid likely predation by browns in the river.As a follow up to previously published articles, further details about the project will be presented in the upcoming issue of Fish and Game and the next Target-Taupo issue. “Fears that this will undermine the “wild” status of the fishery are unfounded. This is a small experiment involving only 5000 fish, and will have no lasting effects on the wild spawning in the fishery” says Graham Whyman, Chairman TFACThe trout have been marked with a fluorescent dye identifiable by colour to their release location. The dye has been marked behind their right eye and is clearly identifiable to anglers. These trout will become part of anglers catch in two to three years. If anglers land any of these marked trout, please contact the Taupo-nui-a-Tia area office with the details of location, date, size and colour of dye.ContactsKim Turia, Programme Manager Community Relations,Department of Conservation Taupō-nui-ā-tia,Ph (07) 384 7163 
This trip my plan was to concentrate on the middle and upper river with an hour or so around town each day. Chopping and changing my start point every morning meant I fished all these stretches at different times of day. The river is at its slightly higher winter level and looks very fishy. There’s also a good even spread of trout and with the earlier spawners dropping back and more runs coming through you get that nice overlap, so you should be able to catch something where ever you fish.
Lots of juicy olive green caddis larvae around and the majority of my fish took a larvae imitation used with either method. Fish them through fast riffles or disturbed water at the head of a pool. Poking around like this as I made my way upriver from Red Hut, I had some nice fish and kept a couple of fat silver hens for the smoker. As you would expect there have also been some strong jacks reported, especially round the town pools. This fella which picked up the bomb in Judges gave me a really hard time and even took me for a little jog downstream. While it may not be the prettiest fish I’ve ever caught it certainly was the best scrap I’ve had for a while and I hope we meet up again some day. This and one other fish that took a globug in Cicada were the only ones that went for something other than caddis. 
This week a couple of classic dry flies that both have connections with one of America’s top ten trout fishing destinations … the state of Michigan. With over eleven thousand inland lakes someone once commented that ” Michigan had so much water … there was nowhere left to stand “. Even its name which is derived from the Chippewa Indian word ” meicigama ” translates as ” great or big water “.
According to angling writers who have studied early examples in museums the contemporary versions don’t look much like the originals tied by Leonard Halladay. Describing his fly as having a thicker body, heavily dressed hackle with overly large wings and tail. However most agree that much of the Adams success is due to the clever variation in color achieved by mixing grizzle and brown hackle feathers over a grey body. Like other enduring ” classics ” this produces a fly with the uncanny ability to become something that’s nothing in particular. Which is why the Adams in its many different guises remains the best known, most used dry fly in the world and a ” must have ” inclusion in any fly selection.For all us fly fisho’s who still can’t resist the temptation to carry a dozen boxes packed to bursting point with flies of every shape, size, color and weight … that haven’t seen daylight for five years here’s a fishy quote that sums up the addiction :” I look into my fly box, and think about all the elements I should consider in choosing the perfect fly, water temperature, what stage of development the bugs are in, what the fish are eating right now. Then I remember what a guide told me: ‘ Ninety percent of what a trout eats is brown and fuzzy and about five-eighths of an inch long ‘. “~ by Allison Moir, ” Love the Man, Love the Fly Rod “, A Different Angle : Fly Fishing Stories by Women ~The other fly featured this week is the Griffiths Gnat, one of the best small dry fly patterns ever invented. Its creator was American fly fishing ” great ” George. A. Griffiths who was one of the founding members of the conservation group Trout Unlimited. The organization held its first meeting in July 1959 at Griffiths’ cabin called the ” Barb-less Hook ” built on the banks of Michigan’s famous AuSable River. This initial gathering of just sixteen sportsmen lead to the formation of America’s foremost river and fisheries conservation organization. From those modest beginnings T.U now has an estimated 140,000 members dedicated to the protection and ongoing restoration of trout and salmon fisheries across the United States.
Griffiths’ simple, pattern uses only two materials, peacock herl and grizzly hackle and if you’ve still got young eyes this combination on small hooks does a great job of representing an emerging or adult midge. Midges are found in rivers and lakes across New Zealand and because they are attracted to artificial light can be a real pest in homes that are near water.
I have to admit I struggle with these small patterns. My eye-sight nowadays is very similar to a bat
Even though its now over forty years since George Griffiths was first credited with inventing the fly not many would dispute the fact that its still the best midge pattern out there and hasn’t been bettered. Its not one your going to use every time you fish the Tongariro but it does have a place.
NEWSFLASHHad the news earlier that Mt Tongariro had erupted for the first time since 1897. All roads have now re-opened . There is a significant ash cloud almost 7000 meters high moving in a north easterly direction across the region and some flights have been affected. Police have warned motorists to avoid travel in the area and some people have voluntarily left their homes. At least that’s what the news told me. Now go towww.tongariorivermotel.co.nz and click on Daily Report for the true story.Tight lines guys
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 Don’t worry your on the right page … its not an old movie review I’m just trying to get your attention. To finish off the nymphing series I thought it might be a good idea to offer beginners and visiting anglers some suggestions on what to use if they intend to pinch our fish from the Tongariro. All of the nymphs can be bought locally in any of the tackle shops, so there are no “secret flies ” amongst this lot. I’m also going to assume that everyone already has the two old favorites … the Pheasant Tail and Hare & Copper in their fly box. Together with the patterns listed below you should manage a few takes whatever time of year you turn up. It doesn’t matter if they’re used with a traditional Tongariro nymphing rig tied to a dropper off the bomb. Or as one of the flies that go to make up some of the other nymphing methods we’ve looked at over the past weeks, with this selection most nymphing situations on the river will be covered. A real mouthful to start off with … the Gold Head Flash-back Rubber Leg Pheasant Tail, yet another variant of Sawyer’s famous original. I’ve always been a big fan of rubber-leg flies and many patterns old and new now have rubber-leg versions. Personally I find some{ but not all } of the commercial offerings cut the legs a bit short which robs the fly of the movement that the addition of rubber-legs gives the nymph. I tend to use it as the middle fly off the bomb as a sort of attractor pattern in size 14 or as the point fly in size 16. Fresh run fish can be suckers for rubber and this time last year I had great fun using this same nymph.   Caddis are probably top of the list for feeding trout once they enter the river. The Tongariro supports a huge caddis population and I’m not the only one to have retrieved their artificials at the end of a drift and found live caddis larvae impaled on the hook point. Colors vary but the most popular are olive/green or dirty white in size 12 – 16. At present there are some large green caddis in the river, probably equating to a size 12 hook just like the one pictured above. I like to tweak shop bought white caddis with water-proof marker pens. Most insects have a lighter under-side, you can easily replicate this by coloring the back of the fly and smudging it with your finger. By experimenting with different colors you’ll eventually end up with quite a realistic looking nymph … but don’t overdo it. The larval stage is usually divided into three types, cased, net building and free swimming. There are dozens of patterns to choose from but the ones tied with a defined body segmentation look more like the natural insect. If your not sure which color to go for turn over a few rocks before you cast out, there should be plenty on the underside.  Case builders surround themselves in a sort of tube and spend most of their time inside it. The case itself is made up of tiny bits of twigs, sand or gravel which they attach using a silk like substance which comes from a gland near their mouths. They crawl along the river bed in their portable homes…a bit like hermit crabs with their legs and head protruding from one end. Free swimming caddis only build shelters when they are ready to pupate. Net builders construct a retreat or net using the sticky silk like secretion and this also helps traps food items washed downstream. Although you’ll find small numbers of cased caddis in the stomach contents of trout it will be the last two that show up most often in gutted fish on the Tongariro. Here’s a great little globug if you fancy a change from the Fire Orange egg fly usually recommended. I’ve been using these flash tail mini-eggs in sizes 16 – 14 for a couple of years with some good results. I tend to treat then more like a nymph than an egg because they’ll even work in clear conditions as the point fly under the big dry. Although you get globug patterns that catch fish with multiple eggs on one hook, trout don’t spawn in clusters. Occasionally if they drift downstream you’ll get a few eggs that have stuck together but most of the eggs fish encounter will be singles. These smaller globugs look more like a real fish egg and the light reflecting off the tail is an added trigger which really gets a trouts attention.  It has undergone a few changes since it first appeared in the 1930′s but another consistent fish catcher that’s been around for years is the Prince Nymph. A little bit of digging revealed that when it was first dreamed up by brothers Dick and Don Olson it was originally called the Forked Tail nymph. Doug Prince from Monterey, CA began using and tying the fly in the 1940′s and it became a hit on his favorite possie the KIngs River. Legendary fly tier and tackle shop owner Buz Buszek decided to include the pattern in his 1940 mail order catalogue but had forgotten the name of the fly that Doug Prince had tied for him so he called it the Prince nymph and the name stuck. The most obvious difference between the original fly and the modern version is the addition of a bead. In the 1930′s there was no such thing as a bead head fly, in fact they’re a fairly recent innovation in fly tying, first appearing on flies tied by Austrian angler Roman Moser in the 1980′s. The Prince doesn’t imitate a specific insect but has a number of attributes which together make it attractive to fish, like the contrasting white biots used for the split wing, the natural shimmer of a peacock herl body and a bead head to help get the nymph down fast to feeding trout. Tied without the bead in smaller sizes its useful just under the surface as an emerging mayfly and some anglers use it on bigger hooks as a streamer type pattern with a sinking line. Like all successful flies there are now hundreds of variations on the original idea and I expect it will still be catching fish when we’re all long gone.  Most of us know David Lambroughton as an internationally famous angling photographer but he’s also an Umpqua Signature Fly Tier and one of his most popular creations is the P.T Cadillac Nymph. This cracking little fly has accounted for fish all over the world and is a New Zealand favorite. His original pattern uses pheasant tail fibers for the body … hence part of the name … but others often replace the feather fibers with dubbing which not only shortens the name but makes the fly more durable. This is another versatile fly which suggests various mayfly or stonefly nymphs.The Cadillac is equally at home on a dropper off the bomb or my favorite, dead drifted suspended under the big dry. A useful multi-purpose fly that I wouldn’t want to be without.  The ” Z Wing Caddis ” is another well known pattern by American angler Mike Mercer who is also an Umpqua Fly Tier. A really simple caddis pupae for us amateurs to copy it can be tied with or without a bead and will catch fish right through the water column. In sizes 16 and 18 its a beaut as the point fly on the long dry and dropper and I often team it with the Bead Head Olive Emerger that I always use with this rig.I remember fishing Cattle Rustlers during a late afternoon hatch last year. There were half a dozen rainbows spread across the tail of the pool feeding in the clear water but I had a frustrating 30 mins until I drifted the setup mentioned above over them. That’s when they finally showed some interest and I managed to tempt a few of them before they had enough of me and disappeared into deeper water. So there we have it seven flies easily sourced from any of the tackle shops in Turangi that should get you catching when nymphing the Tongariro … now all we need … are the fish.  Talking of fish, this weeks famous fishy quote : ” It has always been my private conviction that any man who pits his intelligence against a fish and loses … has it coming. ” ~ John SteinbeckTight Lines GuysMike |
A series of interesting articles by Mike Hughes – Tongariro Fishing Guide – on Nymphing:
Nymphing – Part 1
Tue 3rd April, 2012
Within a few years of the completion of the Tongariro Power Developement Scheme in the 1970′s nymphing and especially upstream nymphing became one of the most popular and productive methods used on the Tongariro. The last two years have seen a resurgence in the popularity of lures and wet-lines but the first choice for most anglers is still the yarn indicator, bomb and nymph.
There’s a good reason for this, most trout tucker is found within a foot of the bottom of the river bed. The larval and nymphal stages of caddis, mayfly and other aquatic insects that trout prey on spend most of their lives below the surface in amongst the rocks and stones and upstream nymphing is one of the more effective ways to imitate this important part of their life cycle.
You can’t talk about nymphing without mentioning Frank Sawyer, its over fifty years since Sawyer a river-keeper on Wiltshire’s River Avon invented his famous range of nymphs. With flies like the Killer Bug, Grey Goose, Bow Tie Buzzer etc he was confident he could catch trout anywhere in the world. 
After years of observing and studying feeding trout and their interactions with the aquatic insects they were eating he was one of the first to realize that most of this activity took place below the surface.
This was a completely new approach at a time when advances in fly-fishing were driven by the dry-fly. His simple but deadly Pheasant Tail nymph became the fore-runner of modern weighted nymphs and it or one of the many variants is as much used today as ever it was.
I don’t think a day on the river ever goes by without me tying on a P.T. nymph at sometime and it wouldn’t surprise me if anglers a hundred years from now will be saying the exact same thing.
The Pheasant Tail was originally tied to represent a swimming mayfly nymph commonly called an agile darter. These torpedo shaped nymphs are found in trout streams and rivers world-wide and belong to the family of mayfly most anglers call ” olives .” Sawyer tied his famous creation without legs because he had noticed that while swimming the legs were folded back keeping the nymphs streamlined shape. But not all of the aquatic invertebrates that trout prey on are such accomplished swimmers. Most are very much at the mercy of the river flow and if dislodged from the stones and rocks drift helplessly in any current near the bottom. Every so often they’ll give a little wriggle which causes them to rise and fall, eventually if they don’t get eaten they will slowly sink to the bottom.
This downstream journey can be imitated to a certain extent by using a variety of different nymphing techniques depending on the type of water your fishing. Unlike other freshwater species like bream, carp, or tench, trout are not bottom feeders, for a start their preferred environment is very different. The former prefer slow moving rivers and still-waters carrying plenty of color with a muddy bottom.
Trout and their off-spring thrive in the cold, fast, well oxygenated water of clear stony rivers like the Tongariro. True they feed mainly below the surface but you don’t see trout grubbing around the river bed looking for a meal. To do this they would have to have their head down and tail up which would waste precious energy. In faster water trout are masters at conserving their energy reserves and learned long ago its far easier to take up a position near the bottom where the velocity of the moving water is less and let the food come to them.Once a trout has found a good feeding station it won’t move far from it while actually feeding. May be a couple of feet backward or forward, a few inches from side to side and less than a foot in an upward direction unless there’s a hatch taking place or they can see or sense plenty of other insect activity at the surface. The position of a trouts eyes mean that when looking forward or upward both eyes are used { binocular vision }. Looking to the side and rear only the eye on that particular side comes into play { monocular vision }. It has two blind spots, one beneath it and the other more well known one directly behind it, which canny fly fishermen take advantage of while stalking fish. Trout can be picky and suspicious about the depth and speed that your flies are traveling, so one of the skills you have to master when you first start nymphing is how to achieve the so called “natural drift”. Next time we’ll look at how to do this in a little more detail … with or without that big fluffy indicator.
Nymphing Part 2
Mon 16th April, 2012
So we’ve established that trout are ” drift feeders ” positioning themselves where there are concentrations of the aquatic insects they live on. For most of the time this will be near the bottom of the river bed so all we have to do is chuck out a couple of weighted flies underneath an indicator then haul in the fish . . easy … well, not quite.
The name of the game is to present your artificial nymphs in such a way that a trout is fooled into thinking they are the real thing which in turn produces the confident takes we are after. This isn’t quite as simple as it sounds because there are several things you have to factor in before you have any hope of achieving that ” natural looking drift ” … the most important of these is depth. You can tie on the most realistic, fish slaying pattern ever devised but if its not getting to where the fish are feeding you’ll have an empty smoker again. The analogy I sometimes use with novice anglers is to ask them to imagine they are sitting in a very comfortable chair at the end of one of those long medieval banquet tables. Running the whole length of the center of this table is a narrow conveyor belt continually being loaded with their favorite food. Occasionally as all this ” luvly grub ” is brought towards them a couple of the goodies roll off the belt onto the table. If these are within arms reach they”ll probably grab them as well but if food suddenly appeared six feet above their head why would they leave the nice comfy chair and go to the trouble of stretching up, when they only have to stay put to enjoy all the other stuff that’s delivered directly to their door. There are numerous things you can do that help get your flies down near the bottom of the river where trout and the nymphs and larvae they prey on spend most of their time but we’ll start with the most obvious … weight. One question that always crops up is how heavy do you have to go to get down to the fish. I’m afraid its one of those
” how long is a piece of string ” things because it depends on where you are, what your fishing with, your casting ability, water velocity and so it goes on but one thing is certain if you are moving around the river you will be constantly adjusting the amount of weight that you use throughout the day.THE WEIGHT Of THE FLY
Broadly speaking the heavier the fly the quicker and deeper it will sink but you pay a price because adding weight to the fly itself alters the way it behaves in the water and tends to kill any movement it may have. Some of the large heavy nymphs in common use on the Tongariro are little more than delivery systems to get lighter ” naturals ” down to where the fish are feeding. Fly-tiers get round this by incorporating materials like rubber-legs, flash or soft feathers to give weighted patterns the appearance of life and movement. Fish find these triggers attractive and you may notice if there are plenty of keen freshies or hungry kelts around its not uncommon to take just as many on the bigger, heavier flies as you will on the smaller nymph or egg imitations used with them. Indeed some of the most popular and successful flies world-wide in recent times all have a common theme … weight.
Many patterns that have been around for donkeys ears have been transformed and their fish catching qualities improved with the addition of colored wire, lead or gold or other colored metal beads. New flies have appeared like the Copper John which was considered heavy when it first became popular in the early nineties but nowadays would be thought of as average. Visit any good tackle shop and there will be bead-head or weighted versions of just about every pattern you can think of … why?
… because they work. On the Tongariro the standard rig for ” nymphers ” is a heavily weighted fly incorporating a big tungsten bead, lead wire or both which is known as the bomb. Tied to the bend of this is around 14 inches of flurocarbon to which the smaller, lighter nymph is attached. Its a concept that many first time visitors to the Tongariro struggle with, most are surprised when they are shown just how heavy a typical Tongariro Bomb can be. If they have fly fished before you can see them thinking how am I going to cast this thing out there and live!ADDING WEIGHT
Of course you don’t have to use a heavy bomb to get your natural patterns down to the feeding zone. Some anglers prefer to dispense with it altogether, adding weight to the leader above the point fly, usually by pinching on a couple of split shot or by moulding on some tungsten sink putty. The latter is a great alternative because unlike lead its not environmentally toxic. When
I was last in the UK lead weights and split shot had already been banned on most waters because of the poisoning of water-fowl especially swans which are protected. These fatalities were attributed to discarded or lost rigs incorporating lead and I understand many other countries are now following suit. Using sink putty or shot instead of a bomb also works out cheaper in snaggy areas because its one less hook to get caught amongst any debris on the bottom … or in Ben’s case the back of his head ! Most of the time my own preference is to stick with the bomb and hope the hook gets caught in a trouts mouth … preferably a big one.
FLY PROFILE
You can also influence the sink rate by using skinny tied flies or patterns coated in epoxy resin. Bombs are especially useful when tied like this because they cut through the water and get your flies down fast. Some of the mayfly nymphs I like to use are just made of thread, a few turns of wire and a couple of bristles from a paint brush. The top of the head and back are darkened with a waterproof marker pen and the whole fly given a coat of 5 minute epoxy. They don’t fall apart, sink like small stones and best of all the fish luv em !
Next time we’ll have a look at the joys and delights of casting those heavy flies, the leader, a little on controlling the drift … oh! and may be a quick look at a nymph you might not have tried before.
Nymphing Part Three
Sun 29th April, 2012
A bit of a change of plan again with this weeks content because my surgeon unexpectedly ok’d some fly fishing. Of course there were a few strings attached and I had to promise to be a good boy and not do anything stupid. He was keen to point out my ticker would still be his property for a little longer and he didn’t want his handi-work undone. The timing couldn’t have been better with Turangi wearing its Autumn coat of many colors this is always a beautiful few weeks to be out and about on the Tongariro. As an added bonus there was the ongoing maintenance work being carried out by Genesis Energy at the Tokaanu Power Station. This would ensure the river would be at its ” natural flow ” of around 44 cumecs for a couple more days and the higher levels had already encouraged some fish to move. Combined with the forecast of more heavy showers we had all the makings for some great sport, so with the Braids still looking like an abandoned quarry I headed for Judges.
Even though it was already eight o’clock in the morning I only passed one other angler who was trying his luck below the road bridge. This was surprising because conditions looked perfect and I was fully expecting to be sharing the river with others, especially around town. Once there, the Tongariro didn’t disappoint but there were a couple of hefty snags right where you didn’t want them to be. Inevitably I lost a couple of sets but with a change of tactics, most of the time I was able to avoid them. A bit later I was joined by Bill McKinnon a previous client of mine and when we left at midday we had already landed several nice conditioned fish and not a slab amongst them.
Bill is another new fan of the ” long dry and dropper ” and it proved its effectiveness again. The conventional rig under the indicator accounted for only one fish, all the others sucked in nymphs under the big dry. With my fishing time limited to only a few hours its not much of a report but a couple of phone calls confirmed there are some good fish throughout the river. Small Pheasant Tails, Green Caddis and Quasimodo patterns are all taking fish and will continue to do so especially once the river returns to its controlled flow and levels drop. With settled weather on the cards again this week I know where I’d like to be but I have to start some proper physio, gradually increasing the exercise regime.
My pick if I were on the river with a mate {and two vehicles} would be to park a car at one bridge then drive to the other, cross-over and fish the T.R.B back upriver. This way you’d cover some great water on the middle and upper Tongariro and not have to worry about the walk back … now what was I saying about increasing the exercise!!!While I was on ” my holidays ” in Wellington Hospital immediately after the surgery I spent a little bit of time in I.C.U. It was there that I first heard the “reassuring” tale of another hospital’s Intensive Care Unit where regardless of their medical condition seemingly recovering patients died in the same bed, at 11.00am on Sunday mornings. This was obviously a huge cause for concern to the dedicated nursing staff and puzzled doctors even thought it might have something to do with the super-natural. Despite months of exhaustive in house investigation no one could solve the mystery as to why the unexplained deaths occurred around 11:00 am on a Sunday, so an International team of experts was assembled to further examine the cause of the incidents. The following Sunday, a little before 11:00 am all of the doctors and nurses nervously waited outside the ward doors to see for themselves what this terrible phenomenon was all about. A priest was standing by and some staff members were holding wooden crosses, prayer books, and other holy objects to ward off the evil spirits. Then just as the clock struck eleven, in walked Pookie Johnson , the part-time Sunday sweeper and unplugged the life support system so he could use the hospital vacuum cleaner.Here’s one you don’t see used that often but its worth keeping a couple in the box. If all the usual suspects have failed and conditions are right this one can get you out of trouble. It’s a big nymph so its handy if there’s a bit of color in the river when you’d probably go up a hook size or two anyway.
The larval form of the Dobson fly is called a Hellgrammite { toe-biter } to you and me. The origin of its name is a bit sketchy but it may be a combination of ” hell ” and ” grim looking “… no one really knows. Its the largest aquatic nymph found in New Zealand waterways and certainly is a pretty fierce looking insect with those large biting jaws which can give quite a nip.
Dobson flies are also found in both North and South America, Africa, Asia as well as Australia. Although they have a life-span of two to five years most of this consists of the larval stage. They spend only a few weeks in the pupal stage and around one to two weeks as an adult fly. As the nymph grows it goes through a number of instars { molts } sometimes as many as a dozen by the time it matures. During this time it is an aggressive hunter and mayfly nymphs are high on its list of favorite grub but they will eat any bottom dwelling aquatic insect. They prefer to live in cold, well oxygenated stony streams and rivers like the Tongariro and are mostly nocturnal. During the day they tend to hide under stones, logs or other debris on the river bed, which is why some anglers are not familiar with them unless they turn up in the stomach contents of a gutted trout. I must admit I find these time consuming and a bit fiddly to tie. To get a realistic looking nymph you have to imitate three pairs of legs and the eight pairs of gill filaments that run the length 
of the abdomen. Most patterns use biots or rubber legs for this, luckily Umpqua produce an excellent toe-biter nymph and nowadays I’d rather pay the couple of bucks.
Because they have such a long larval stage they are available all year round but I’ve had most success fishing them after a fresh just as the water begins to clear. The increased flow washes them out of their hiding places and as they tumble downstream near the bottom trout are only too happy to pick them off. I prefer to fish them singly on a longish leader with a suitable size split shot a foot or so above the fly. In deeper water stick with the indicator, in the shallower riffles I discard it and watch the end of the line to spot any takes. Try to imitate the natural insect as it trundles downstream along the river bed. For instance if your fishing close in, an occasional lift of the rod tip will impart some vertical movement into the nymph which could induce a take. On the Tongariro the Hellgrammite is never going to be your number one, go to fly but if things are a little slow or you have one of those browns that has ignored everything else why not give it a try.
Nymphing Part Four
Fri 11th May, 2012
Ozzie angler and TRM regular Murray Cullen emailed me last week with whats fast becoming a FAQ:” When you use a large dry as an indicator (eg cicada etc) how long is the leader from the dry to the nymph, caddis etc? Do you try and have the point fly on or near the bottom? I imagine this would be required when fishing for rainbows but not necessarily for browns?” Stay well, MurrayIt seems that more and more anglers are trying this alternative method of nymphing parts of the Tongariro, with good reason because it can produce excellent results if used in the right places and will often out fish other methods. Its far more versatile than you would imagine and will take fish from all kinds of water but the rule I always stick to is, if its deeper than four feet use something else. 
After lots of experimenting over the last few years … well somebody has to do it … I now space the flies as follows. From the indicator fly to the middle nymph is approximately three and a half to four feet, then around two and a half feet to the point fly. I’ve mentioned before the term ” dry and dropper ” is probably a little mis-leading because in this case the dry is there purely as an indicator. Although the image on the left shows a modified deer hair cicada used to register any interest;
I also carry several different large patterns in various colors for changing light conditions on the river, black is particularly useful when there is a lot of reflected light on the water. This is an ideal way of imitating the increased sub-surface activity that occurs before a hatch when the caddis pupa or mayfly nymphs are preparing to leave the river bed and begin the risky ascent to complete their life cycle as adult insects. As always my own preference is to fish three flies and as long as the gap between the middle to point fly is less than that from the indicator to middle fly you should have no problems with tangles. If you have chosen your water correctly you will be fishing over depth but not necessarily hard down.The middle nymph is always weighted, I use a bead-head caddis emerger. The much lighter point fly can be another caddis imitation or some form of mayfly or generic nymph like a small Pheasant Tail, Hare’s Ear or Cadillac, just look under a few rocks and see whats around. The only other thing I do differently is to use a { floating } braided tapered leader … another bit of kit I got used too while in the UK. Tackle manufacturer Air-Flo produce a range of leaders from floaters to sinkers which come in varying lengths and sink rates, including braided and I normally go for one 5 ft long.
I find they help turn over the big dry but some dislike them when conventional dry 
fly fishing because of their 
concerns about delivery. They quite rightly point out that because the braid is hollow it has a tendency to hold small amounts of water. This not only makes the leader feel heavy but its then forced out during a cast in the form of tiny droplets which I suppose could spook wary trout.
Luckily for us the fish that run the Tongariro are for the most part very obliging and are not usually put off by this kind of thing. At either end of the braided leader there is a loop … the butt end is first of all attached to the fly line with a loop to loop connection and then I use around 6 ft of six to eight pound Maxima off the tippet end, again connected loop to loop, to this I tie on the indicator dry.
Its important that you connect a loop to loop join the correct way. Keep everything nice and straight as you tighten down because if you get it wrong you’ll end up with a hinge effect which prevents the smooth transference of energy during a cast. It will also be difficult to undo especially if you’ve had a couple of hard fighting Tongariro trout pulling the ” knot” even tighter. Nymphing with the long dry and dropper is an absorbing and exciting way to fish and opens up parts of the river that you might otherwise find difficult, nowadays I use it all year round and it rarely lets me down. Have fun with it and don’t be afraid to play around and try different things. I used to get some really funny looks walking along the river with one of the rods set up with a big dry, especially when every one else was using bombs and glo-bugs! Which reminds me you don’t always have to fish a natural as the point fly {see cryptic clue below} my sneaky tip if the sun is out try the small one with the thin flash tail.
CASTING HEAVY NYMPHS.
Like many others before me one of the first problems I encountered when I started fishing the Tongariro was how to manage the very heavy flies you sometimes have to use when nymphing this river. I found it easier to forget all I had learned about the basics of fly-casting and start over again. Eventually after half a century of fly fishing and a reluctance to get my knackered shoulder sorted out, I seem to have ended up with something that is a combination of water loading and an elliptical cast, a bit like the ” Belgian Cast ” mentioned below. It doesn’t look all that pretty but does the job and so far I haven’t had to wear a hard-hat. The advantage for me is it involves very little false casting which puts less strain on the rebuilt “bionic” shoulder which I had fixed up a couple of years ago. Gail and I were talking about this the other day and it seems that with every passing year another part of my anatomy is replaced with an expensive metal bit. This has two very different effects … the first is I’m putting on weight and the second … my scrap value is soaring !!!Below is an explanation of of what happens when you tie weight to the end of a fly-line with some suggestions on how to combat the pit-falls involved in casting heavy bombs. This one was written by former Alaskan guide and angling journalist Philip Monahan … plenty of other good stuff at www.midcurrent.com” Heavy flies present casters with several troubling problems. We are all taught that good casting means throwing nice, tight loops and that high line speed makes for longer, more accurate casts. When there’s a lot of weight at the end of the line, however, you need to rethink these rules.If you throw tight, fast loops with a lot of weight at the end of the line, the results are shocking…literally. At the end of every forward and back-cast the heavy fly acts like a running dog hitting the end of its leash, bouncing backward. This sends shock waves down the line to the rod and screws everything up. When the fly bounces back at the end of your backcast, for instance, it introduces slack into your leader, which keeps you from achieving smooth acceleration. This often results in tailing loops that cause knots and rob you of accuracy.This slack in the line also causes you to lose control of the heavy projectile, which endangers your person and your fly rod. Given a little slack, the fly drops toward toward the ground in midcast, which also causes problems—especially if it lines up perfectly with your skull.The key to casting big flies, then is to slow everything down, widen your loops, and avoid sudden changes in direction. To accomplish all these, you need to learn the Belgian cast (also called the oval cast). Rather than moving the fly back and forth along a two-dimensional plane, the Belgian cast keeps the fly moving at all times through a three-dimensional pattern. This means that there are no shocking stops, extra slack, or dropping fly.To perform the Belgian cast, you make a sidearm backcast and then a forward cast over the top, with a nice, wide loop. The name oval cast comes from the fact that, if viewed from above, your rod tip describes an oval, rather than a straight line. When you are making the Belgian cast, line speed is not important, but you must keep the line moving at all times to keep the fly from dropping.” 
CONTROLLING THE DRIFT.
Whichever method you choose when upstream nymphing if it involves the use of a floating line then you will have to learn how to control and make adjustments to the fly line as it travels downstream. We call this technique ” mending ” and our goal is to get the nymphs to drift past feeding trout in a manner which to them looks natural and doesn’t arouse suspicion. You can learn to become the most proficient caster on the planet and rig yourself out with the best equipment money can buy but if you can’t ” fish ” those flies you’ll be wasting your time and money. Although I’m a firm believer that we sometimes credit fish with far more intelligence than they actually have … they are not stupid and instinctively know when something is not quite right. For instance the nymphs and larvae they live on don’t usually shoot past them at a hundred miles an hour nor do they suddenly stop dead and hover in the current but if you don’t mend properly these are just a couple of examples of un-natural behaviour which could make a trout hesitate and refuse your flies. Even with good line control, during a normal drift your flies only behave like the natural insects for a relatively short time and as soon as you cast out that clock is ticking. I’m not quite sure how they did it but someone worked out that during the average 30ft cast, by the time they sink, they will look just like the natural insects for about three feet, something like them for about fifteen feet and bugger all like them for twelve feet ! 
So you can see the importance of effective mending for realistic presentation. When upstream nymphing with an indicator we are trying to convince the trout that the nymphs are drifting downriver unattached to a line. This would be fairly easy if the river flowed at a uniform speed across the surface and down through the water column … but it doesn’t. Friction causes the water at the bottom and sides of the river to travel more slowly than the water at the surface or middle. If we did nothing after casting, the fly line would quickly be forced into a downstream bow, dragging the indicator and leader with it, stopping the nymphs from ever reaching the river-bed. Mending is the technique of intentionally repositioning the line and sometimes the indicator to lessen the effect the current has on the fly line and help prevent the nymphs from dragging. The first mend is probably the most important, setting everything up for the rest of the drift and is best carried out as soon as the line hits the water. The mend itself begins by raising the rod tip to lift the fly line off the water and then rolling the wrist in a semi-circular motion in the direction you want to place the mend, this flips the line and forms an upstream curve. On this first mend I prefer to move the indicator upstream as well. By repositioning the indicator upstream of where the flies landed this immediately introduces slack into the drift allowing the nymphs more time to get down because there is no drag on the leader. This is the only time I’ll deliberately move the indicator { unless I’m fishing close in } because if you try it again at distance you’ll pull it and the flies towards you lifting them off the bottom and away from the feed lane. The key to a good drift is to keep that slack in the system as long as possible by throwing a series of smaller mends either up or downstream as everything travels down river. Eventually the indicator will catch up and overtake the nymphs no matter what you do but you can squeeze another few meters by throwing a few downstream mends before everything really tightens up and you have to start again. Mending is a complex but vital part of fly fishing and probably more difficult to master properly than casting. This has been a very basic introduction for beginners, covering just one aspect of line control, in this case when nymphing with an indicator. Its a huge subject because every new fishing situation or method requires a different mending solution. The best way of learning is to find a quiet spot on the river away from other anglers and practice … who knows what could happen as those nymphs travels downriver.
Tight lines guys
Mike
Nymphing Part Five
Nothing causes more confusion for new fly fisher’s than the design and function of the leader/tippet and many mistake tippet and leader as meaning the same thing. Good fly fishing leaders are always tapered but there are exceptions as we’ll see later. Most people choose from three basic types … Braided tapered … knot-less one piece tapered or compound tapered which are made by knotting together successively thinner level lengths of mono. By mixing and matching various lines compound leaders can be designed to behave differently for specific fly fishing situations and are a science in themselves. There’s even a web-site with a free download called “LeaderCalc” http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/leadercalc/download.php which promises us ” the most comprehensive tool for calculating classical and contemporary leaders-and designing your own formulas for knotted leaders ” so no more excuses for our flies “alighting” like a pile of spaghetti in the middle of the river. A well designed fly fishing leader has to perform several important functions.
As we cast it should help transfer energy from the fly-line to ” turn over ” the artificials so that they land quietly onto the surface. It provides a less visible link between the thick easily seen fly-line and the fly and puts distance between the two so that fish are less likely to spook. Finally the leader should enable the fly to drift unhindered without dragging as it travels downstream. Whether you hand tie your own or choose one of the many types of commercially available products a properly constructed tapered leader is basically made up of three sections, each one with a very different role. The “Butt” is the thickest part and is connected to the end of the fly-line to ensure a smooth transfer of the energy built up during the cast. The ” Mid ” or “Transitional ” section helps continue that process to achieve the desired presentation of the fly. Then lastly the ” Tippet ” which is the thinnest part and where we attach the flies or adjust the length of the leader.
Most of what we’ve discussed so far and a lot of what follows mainly applies to the construction of leaders for situations where a more delicate presentation is required. But three common leader types needed for the Tongariro would include the following :For sinking lines and large streamer type flies a leader that straightens quickly and puts you immediately in touch with the fly is best. Faced with this situation most would go for a short tough leader made from a single length of fairly stiff line.Small dries that need to be presented in a more natural manner and dead-drifted without drag across changing surface currents will be easier to control with a long thin leader constructed out of softer, much more flexible materials.For general purpose nymphing the leader needs to be durable and long enough to allow the nymphs to reach feeding trout quickly. It would also help if it was designed so that less of the thicker butt section lies below the surface during the drift, where the effect of the current dragging on the heavier line would hinder its descent. You don’t really need a traditional tapered leader for heavier nymphs because any hope of delicate presentation goes straight out of the window as soon as you add weight to the equation. 
Another aspect of leader design that beginners are unsure of is how long to make each of the three main sections that together make up a tapered leader ie; Butt, Mid-section and Tippet. There are all kinds of weird and wonderful formula’s out there but if you want to keep things simple just remember the good ole 50% … 25% … 25% method which is one that has been around for years.
The leaders I prefer on the Tongariro are pretty straight forward affairs, do what they need to and sometimes even help catch a few fish. For dry fly fishing I use a 5 ft AirFlo leader made from tapered braid to which approx 6 ft of suitable mono is attached with a simple loop to loop connection.
The diameter of the mono will be dependent on the size of the fly and whether or not I’m using a dry and dropper nymphing rig. When nymphing with the indicator I use 5 ft of fifteen to eighteen pound Maxima for the butt section which is again connected to the fly line loop to loop, it also carries my sliding indicator setup. This is made using a couple of rig crimps, two small beads and a swivel and once crimped correctly easily slides up or down for instant depth adjustment. To the other end is attached another tiny swivel which gives me a convenient connection point for the remaining 8 ft of the leader/tippet. I used to make this bit using equal lengths of 10 lb and 8 lb Maxima Ultragreen but nowadays use only the latter to which I attach the bomb. I carry several butt sections made up with the
” indicator carrier ” already in place so in the unlikely event I have to replace this part of the leader its a quick and easy change over.
So far we’ve managed to keep things fairly simple but leader/tippets aren’t only measured in terms of length … now the dreaded X factor!
The in depth explanation below was written a couple of years ago by someone with the username ” morilla ” and is one of the better ones I’ve found so far.
UNDERSTANDING THE X FACTOR IN LEADERS AND TIPPETS.
Most fishermen are accustomed to identifying ‘fishing line’ by its “pound test” rating; i.e., the breaking strength. In flyfishing, leader and tippet material are primarily designated by their diameter. While this can be used to infer an approximate breaking strength range, in reality, the diameter does not, of necessity, translate into a specific “pound test” designation.Without going into the historical context, let’s just say that tradition is a very potent force in the sport which is flyfishing. On occasion, efforts have been made to mitigate some of the impacts of this force when it comes to modern technologies and consistency in the marketplace. For instance, manufacturers are currently – or, I should say, “once again” – attempting to move away from the “ought” (e.g., 12/0, 10/0, 8/0, 6/0, 3/0) designation for fly tying threads. Simply put, one manufacturer’s 6/0 tying thread is not representative of another’s in terms of strength, diameter, or how it lays on a hook.
The same type of potential ‘inconsistency’ is actually part of where the “X” designation stems from in leaders and tippets used in flyfishing. When referring to the diameter of these materials, the actual measurements are in thousandths of an inch. In that context, it is simply much easier to reference a leader/tippet as, say, “5X” than “6 thousandths (.006) of an inch in diameter.”
In mathematical terms, the “X” label is not a ‘factor,’ it is a ‘constant’ derived from a specific reference or base. Without getting lost in the historicity surrounding how this constant was created (think silk gut used prior to monofilament), let’s simply stipulate that in this equation…
“X” = 11
The base, or reference point, is that “0X” leader/tippet material is 0.011 inches in diameter. Any leader or tippet smaller in diameter is designated by a number which is then subtracted from the base number of 11 to indicate the material’s diameter. Sound complicated? It’s not… Really.
Take the 5X material I cited a moment ago. I said it was easier than saying it was “6 thousandths (.006) of an inch in diameter.” If you don’t already see how it works, try this…
Take the constant of 11 and subtract 5… i.e., 11 – 5 = 6.
Now, remember this is a designation in thousandths of an inch; thus, the “6” actually means 0.006 inches in diameter.
If you’re still having trouble, try it using the decimal places…
0.011 – 0.005 = 0.006
Put into words, “5X” means that the material is five thousandths of an inch smaller in diameter than the reference point of “0X.”
The smallest, practical size of leader/tippet material generally available is “8X;” which has a diameter of 0.003 inches. (11 – 8 = 3 … OR… 0.011 – 0.008 = 0.003) There are smaller diameters out there; but, they aren’t very practical from the standpoint of turning over a fly of any size on a cast and in terms of…
Strength
As stated, leader/tippet material used for flyfishing typically has a higher strength-to-diameter ratio than standard fishing line. This is important when working with material smaller than “OX.” Why?
One of the key factors in getting fish to take flies is in the presentation of that fly as something that looks like a natural food source. If the line attached to the fly is too large or too stiff, the fly looks anything but natural; e.g., it doesn’t drift appropriately in the current. This is one of the reasons flyfishers tend to use the smallest diameter leaders and tippets they can given a variety of factors such as type/size of fly, species/size of fish, wind, etc. As a result, manufacturers of leaders/tippets intended primarily for fly angling are constantly striving to make smaller diameter materials stronger.
As an example, let’s take the ever popular Maxima Ultragreen monofilament. In that brand, you can obtain a 110 yard spool rated at 4 lb. test strength, depending on your source, for around $7 – $10.
The diameter of this 4 lb. test is 0.007 inches, which would designate it “4X” (11 – 4 = 7 or 0.011 – 0.004 = 0.007) in flyfishing terminology. Without picking on a specific manufacturer, a 30 yd. or 30 meter spool of “4X” flyfishing monofilament tippet will run around $4 – $8. However, the test strength will run between 6 and 6 ½ pounds; i.e., half again or more stronger than the Ultragreen for the same diameter.
Put another way, if you were willing to fish with 4 lb. test tippet material, you could drop at least one “X” size smaller (5X) in diameter; a potentially crucial factor when dealing with spooky fish. Remember, you are trying to emulate the trout’s natural diet with your flies. You want the flies to both look and act naturally as they drift with the current. See it from the trout’s perspective. How many mayflies or caddis do you see with a “rope” sticking out of their heads? How “naturally” does a fly float when attached to a stiff piece of monofilament?
If you were willing to pony up for fluorocarbon material made specifically with an eye toward flyfishing, the difference becomes even starker. Both Umpqua’s SuperFluoro tippet and Rio’s Fluoroflex Plus tippet, in “4X,” have listed test strengths of 7 lbs. Think about that for a moment.
To get the same, relative test strength from Maxima Ultragreen, you have to upsize to 0.009 (6 lb.) or 0.010 (8 lb.) or a 2X and 1X diameter respectively. That’s a BIG difference when it comes to fly angling.
Going the Other Way
Interestingly, the “X” designations don’t go very far in the ‘other’ direction; i.e., larger than “0X” (0.011 inch diameter). From a certain perspective, the reason is simple. Once you get above a certain diameter, the test strength becomes the critical factor while the concept of a ‘natural’ presentation tends to become less critical. Generally speaking, you are venturing into big fish and big fly territory.
Insofar as this discussion is concerned vis a vis the “X” factor, the important thing to bear in mind is that leaders and tippets larger than “0X” (0.011” diameter) are designated with the “0” and an additive. In other words, rather than subtracting, as with smaller diameters, you add the number to the “OX” base.
For example…
The next size leader/tippet larger than “0X” is “01X.” So, you start with the base number, “11″ (0.011). Then you add “1″ (0.001)…
11 + 1 = 12 … OR … 0.011 + 0.001 = 0.012
“02X” should be… 11 + 2 = 13 (0.013”) and so forth.
The problem is that, once again, we start to venture into a bit of a ‘gray area’ when it comes to manufacturers and ‘standardization.’ While those sizes smaller than “0X” are all supposed to be ‘uniform’ in diameter, there are minor differences; e.g., while 4X is standardized at 0.007” in diameter, that’s an average. Actual sizing can vary. I once did a test run of several manufacturers a couple years ago and found that 4X tippet material ranged from 0.00674” – 0.0074” in diameter; with one company, which shall go unnamed, making me wonder how they were getting away with their “X” designations. In fact, the variances weren’t just between manufacturers, but occurred between series from the same manufacturer.
When looking to leader/tippet material larger than the base measure (“0X”), such variance becomes even more pronounced. Why? Remember, once you decide to “go big or go home,” you’re pretty much throwing “subtle” out the window. Thus, the emphasis becomes focused more on strength than on maintaining a high strength-to-diameter ratio. This is part of the reason why you will generally see, with a few exceptions, the “X” designation stop once you hit about “03X.”
Some Final Thoughts
A spool of tippet material will be uniform throughout the entire length. A tapered leader will derive its “X” designation based on the diameter of its “tip” at the smaller end. This means that you must select your tippet material based on the “X” size of the leader you’ll use; e.g., the largest tippet material you can use with, say, a 4X leader is 4X tippet. You can, in theory, however, effectively use three “X” sizes of tippet for a given “X” leader size… IF what you’re solely matching diameter and not test strength. As a practical matter, you don’t want your tippet to be stronger than your leader. For example, you wouldn’t want to use 4X fluorocarbon tippet (7 lbs.) on the end of a 4X monofilament leader (6 lbs.).
When attempting to decide which size tippet material you wish to use for a given fly size, remember the number “3.” Let’s say you are tying on a size 12 fly. Divide 12 by 3. This gives you “4.” Care to guess which “X” size this indicates?
Generally, you can get away with 1X smaller or larger using this method. In other words, for the size 12 fly, you can use 3X, 4X, or 5X tippet. Bear in mind, however, that this is just a general rule of thumb. There are plenty of times when I’ve fished size 12’s on 6X and even 7X or size 18’s on 4X tippet. This method just gets you into the ballpark in terms of what most hook eyes will comfortably accommodate.
Truth be told, even most flyfishers don’t think in these terms. They tend to think in terms of the ‘size’ (“X”) that works on the particular water they’re intending to fish or would be consistent with the methodology they intend to employ. Be that as it may, I hope I’ve provided a little better understanding of this ‘system.’ In the end, understanding is better than guessing.
Right! stop scratching your heads and put your calculators away. Unfortunately I’ve been tied up again with hospital appointments, more tests and I’m convinced I’m supplying the Emergency Department at Wellington Hospital with blood but next week is looking good so with a bit of luck I’ll be out and about and will let you know if anything exciting happens. In the meantime remember;
” The fly angler who says they have never fallen in while wading is either a pathogenic liar … or has never been fly-fishing. ”
Jimmy Moore
Tight Lines Guys
Mike
Repairing a fly line loop.Wed 18th July, 2012
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Many fly lines come complete with a factory welded loop but eventually they will wear and break down … if your a beginner don’t despair, this is one of several ways to easily fix a broken loop.
During the late 1940′s through to the 1960′s there were huge advances in the design and manufacture of the early plastic coated lines which paved the way for the fly lines we use today.
Up until then it was the braided nylon core that formed the lines taper which was then covered with a plastic outer coating. This was an expensive and labor intensive process using specially adapted braiding machines and even with skilled operators each one could only produce about eight lines per shift. The biggest change occurred in the mid-fifties when mad keen fly fisher’s and founders of “Scientific Anglers” Leon Martuch, Paul Rottiers and Clare Harris began experimenting with different coatings.
The breakthrough came when they invented a process of forming a tapered coating over a level braid core, instead of the other way around. This was a less labor intensive and much more cost effective method of making a fly line. Other companies quickly followed suit and came up with their own methods which in turn started a ” line war ” as manufacturers raced to develop all kinds of specialized fly lines to increase their market share. Nowadays we have lines for ” every occasion ” something that would have been impossible with pre-1950′s production methods.
We can use the braid center of the line to create a new loop. All you need is some acetone or nail varnish remover, a wire bobbin threader, Aquaseal or any flexible urethane repair adhesive and a pencil. First of all make sure your line has a braided core, some budget lines don’t. If you can’t determine this by inspecting the damaged loop end use the steps described below to remove some of the coating on the reel end. This will save your front taper and give you a little bit of practise. When your ready to start cut off the broken loop and place the end of the line in the acetone for approx 20 to 30 seconds. 
This helps soften the outer coating. Using your thumbnail remove a few inches of the plastic to reveal the nylon braid. Insert the tip of the threader into the center of the core a bit like sticking a needle into a vein and as close to the outer coating as you can get it. Push the threader about 3/4 of an inch up the center of the braid and then exit it through the side. Thread the tag end of the exposed braid into the bobbin threader and begin to pull it into the core. 
At this point insert a pencil into the partly formed loop to stop it closing completely then ease the rest of the tag end into the core and out through the side of the braid. Trim off the excess tag then apply some Aquaseal starting from the fly line to the base of your new loop. Wet your fingers and smooth the adhesive into the braid then leave it for approx 24 hours before you use it. The images show how to create a loop in any length of braid. In a future article we’ll look at how to fit a home made or shop bought braided loop to a fly line that doesn’t have a braid core.
The river peaked at 600 cumecs but has fallen rapidly over the last couple of days and is currently flowing at a very fishable 55 cumecs. This is just what we needed and will definitely shake things up a bit. Tongariro regulars know only to well that in recent years the timing of the annual runs and the way both species behave while they are in the river has been changing.
I was looking at some of the reports written last year, if your interested scroll up, click on 2011, then the month you’re after. The Tongariro spawning runs have become very unpredictable and are never the same two years on the trot. Temperature, biological history, rainfall, all play a part but there are ” trends ” you can pick up on and there was some better fishing during the second half of this month last winter see ” Some good fish around “. My best rainbow of last year was caught in July … unfortunately it came from the Braids, although I’m sure there will be some big changes over there after this flood. The first significant rainbow trout runs of 2011 and from memory 2010 turned up during the last two weeks of July with August through to October the most consistent months … so we’ll see. I’m not out again until Friday, by then things should have settled back giving perfect conditions. With the forecast looking good from mid-week on the Tongariro could switch on big time in the lead up to the weekend … I’ll let you know … unless I get skunked!
This has gotta be my favorite fishy quote so far : ” My biggest fear is that when I’m dead and gone … my wife will sell my gear for what I said I paid for it “. ~ Koos Brandt
Tight lines guys
Mike