Update 2012
Rating: 9 out of 20 (based more on previous reputation than recent form?)
Images on right taken in February from the TRB where the bypass emerges.
The problem we have with this pool is that we never hear anything about it?
That means it is either very good and sneaky anglers do not want us to know or that it is a waste of time?
We suspect the latter.
It is struggling to deserve the 10 rating based on lack of feedback.
Then again, if you want some seclusion and a pool to yourself this could be a good choice as the trout still have to pass through it and it is easy casting off the elevated gravel bank on the TLB.
As mentioned below the access to this pool also provides an opportunity to check out the neglected Poutu Pool – particularly from the TLB to fish the tail out.
Rafters who cover this stretch of the river more often than anglers tell us that there are always heaps of trout at the confluence of the Poutu and Tongariro but it is very difficult to get a drift on to them. They also lie very deep.
Anglers can also try to wade and walk along the base of the Poutu Cliff to drop a line into the seam of the confluence. For ‘right handers’ this needs a backward cast but lefties will find it easy. This was a very good spot a few years ago but as mentioned above we have not heard any feedback recently.
But every now and then the trout have to drift off down to the tail to feed…. OK?
Waddells Pool 2008
Rating: 9 out of 20 (based more on previous reputation than recent form?)
(2007 Googled images of upper Tongariro River Pools. Waddell’s Pool is fished from the LHS – see the long gravel bank above the conflence with the bypass and below Poutu River junction. This image is also interesting to still indicate the old course of the river prior to the big flood of February 2004, above the Cliff Pool, where the Breakaway Pool is now a dry riverbed. Where it joins the river is now Big Bend Pool.)
2008 Update: TRM Pool reports are usually based on a wide range of diverse opinions and comments; some true, some pure BS, from anglers who regularly fish the Tongariro River. The traditional problem with anglers is that – and I know you gentle reader may find this unbelievable – some have been know to bend the truth. Or even worse, they may try to mislead us or not tell us anything. But we are distressed that over the last two seasons we are not aware of a single report from Waddells Pool? (Ditto Poutu Pool)
(Photo right -Waddells Pool looking up river towards the Poutu Pool at the confluence with Poutu Stream.)
That means those devious Tongariro anglers are either refusing to advise us, or Waddells has been deserted as the fishing has deteriorated from it’s previous excellent reputation. Prior to the 2004 flood Waddells was one of the hot pools for several seasons and you had to get there early to find a spot.
Now Boulder Reach appears to have taken over that popularity.
The proximity and numbers of fish in the Poutu Stream would indicate Waddells has to hold fish. And it looks superb.
So in the dearth of any accurate information we regret we have had to guess the rating above. As such, we plead to any anglers who have fished this pool recently to correct our “guestimates” if we are wrong.
Our most recent inspection was on 22 April 2007. The footprints indicate the pool is visited regularly and one angler was anchored in the lie.
Access
Park on State Highway 1 – a large car park is available about 50 metres south of the Red Hut car park. The track entrance is at the southern end and emerges into the shallow bypass.Follow the footprints across the gravel fan aggradation to Wadells Pool. It looks a delightful resting place between the fast water of Poutu Pool above and Waddells Pool below.Also check out the confluence of the bypass below Waddells – there are always fish in the deep pool below the cliff.
NOTE: Pool Reports for the Tongariro River are prepared from
guest/anglers experiences. As such, Tongariro River Motel do not
accept any responsibility for the opinions of other anglers who are
traditionally acknowledged liars about their best fishing pools.
Images on right taken in February from the TRB where the bypass emerges.
Rafters who cover this stretch of the river more often than anglers tell us that there are always heaps of trout at the confluence of the Poutu and Tongariro but it is very difficult to get a drift on to them. They also lie very deep.
