Trout images by David Mead from Melbourne.

TRM has been blessed in the last month with so many anglers from Australia.  Forward bookings in November continue the invasion.

When David Mead left he whispered quietly that he had hooked and landed more trout in the last week than in the last two years in Victoria.

I asked him to email TRM as others following might not believe him.  Yesterday he commented:

WOW. WOW ?//+** what a great week fishing the Tongariro. Thanks to Ross at the Tongariro River Motel. Ross put me on to some great spots.  An unbelievable 40 to 50 fishing up to 2 kg all returned. Thanks Ross.

I think David was the scout or advance party to research the fishing prospects for Mornington Peninsula Fishing Club as there are six more members arriving early November.  So it was important that the fishing was good enough to encourage the anticipation and interest from his club and other Australians.

(Another reason may also be that we never discuss rugby.)

In the last few weeks we have had so many Australian fishos from Queensland Fishing Clubs, NSW, Melbourne, etc.  occupying as many as six units at a time.  They have far outnumbered Kiwi anglers.

Another persuasive reason they tell us is the overall cost to come to fish the Tongariro is even less than a similar package in Australia.

Another loyal inmate back for five weeks is Herbert from Austria – so well known to many TRM anglers.  TRM’s savage guard dog, Pumpkin, was so pleased to see him again – the image shows why?

Herbert has been visiting TRM long before we came here and that was about 14 years ago..  The images of him on right and below were taken from previous visits as far back as 2010.

Can you believe we have other regular inmates returning in summer who have been fishing from here for over fifty years.  SWMBO must be doing something right.  Such are the addictive charms of the Tongariro (and more recently Lake Otamangakau).

Now the school holidays are over it has been interesting to reflect on the changes to guest patterns over the last decade or so.

When we came here the holidays were a frantic time for families wanting to visit the snow.

In the last two weeks we have had only one family as such.

Nearly all the rest have been those fishy folk from the BIG Island.

I wonder if this is a national trend?  Or perhaps the National Park is losing its attraction or the Australian fishos are squeezing families out?  We hope it is the latter.

At TRM these West Island fishos are wonderful guests, particularly as they constantly remind us what a valuable natural resource we have here with the Tongariro River, (despite the hydro dams etc.) and how important it is to fight to protect it for ever.  It really is very special as it drains the Kaimanawas – all virgin native bush and inaccessible back country.  The only farm pollution threat is the Justice Department block which is mainly being converted to forestry.  So the future looks secure.

Generally everyone at TRM have enjoyed such good fishing.  We have had daily reports of over 20 trout landed.  We cannot report on these when they happen out of respect for the angler.  We need to wait until he has left.  But that can be difficult when most are staying here for a week or more.

Even better are the frustrations and disappointments with so many break-offs.

As you know, after they break off most trout somehow gain at least a pound or two.

Their fighting spirit confirms how good the overall trout condition is for these ‘late runners’ in the winter spawning season.

Excellent prospects are indicated for the remainder of the summer.

Then there is the new season for Lake O where inmates have lost count – managing somewhere between 15 and 20 to the boat – all released…  You really should get here when the fishing is “on”.

But then again other anglers probably imagine TRM might be trying to “talk the place up”?  We understand, anglers are naturally cautious characters.  If so, check out the following short video when the Mornington Peninsula Club members were interviewed last season…  They are much more convincing than I could ever be.

Or if you imagine they were just lucky (from the ‘lucky’ country), check out more critical comments from members of another fishing club nearby in Victoria – the Bellarine Fly Fishing Club, at about this same time in 2017: