Following recent blogs on Admirals Pool and Duchess Pool we should have expected the readers’ questions on other pools. There are about fifty fishable pools on the accessible part of the Tongariro River and each has peculiar characteristics known only to anglers who wade into them.
With the help of some other more knowledgeable inmates about 15 years ago TRM provided reports on every pool which were used for the “Ratings Chart” to score the pools out of 20 to report on the differences between pools. This is a very subjective exercise that involved many cups of strong tea… Eventually the pools were sorted into the following headings below.
Now the ratings are about to be revised to reflect the many changes since the original assessment, this is your chance to comment and advise if there are any other headings you might like to see.
These pools are quite historic with many named about one hundred years ago. But as the river keeps changing and the river suffers increased erosion and aggradation, any descriptions need constant upgrading. After the two floods in the last year, it now needs a major revision. The carefully selected local fishing guide to do this revision is Jason at Creel Tackle shop in Taupahi Road. Please advise him directly of any changes you would like to include.
The original out-of-date assessment is below:
Tongariro River fishing pools
| Category | Description | Out of |
| Access | 3 indicates good car and foot access; 0 indicates poor access. | 3 |
| Difficulty | Reported difficulties getting the fly to the fish or finding the lie. | 2 |
| Setting | Scored for natural beauty and pure enjoyment | 3 |
| Reliability | Indicates reliability as a top producing pool all year round. | 9 |
| Snags | No likelihood of snags scores 1; if known for snag(s) score 0. | 1 |
| Wading | If waders are not needed, score 1; if difficult to wade then 0. | 1 |
| Pressure | If a pool is too popular and regularly crowded, score 0 | 1 |
| Total | The closer to 20, the better overall rating the pool received. | 20 |
| Pool | Access | Difficulty | Setting | Reliability | Snags | Wading | Pressure | Total |
| Marks out of | (3) | (2) | (3) | (9) | (1) | (1) | (1) | (20) |
| Fence Pool | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Sand Pool | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Blue Pool | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Boulder Pool | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Big Bend Pool | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Cliff Pool | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Boulder Reach-LHS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Boulder Reach-RHS | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Poutu | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Waddells | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Red Hut | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Shag Hut | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Duchess | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Silly | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Upper Birches | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Lower Birches-LHS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Lower Birches-RHS | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Barlows-RHS | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Cattle Rustlers | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Stag-LHS | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Stag-RHS | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Cicada (under cliff) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Admirals | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Kamahi | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Neverfail | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Hydro | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Breakfast | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| Major Jones | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Judges | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| Lonely | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Bridge | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Lower Bridge-LHS | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Lower Bridge-RHS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| Swirl | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Honeypot 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Plank – LHS | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Plank – RHS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Bain | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Log | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Reed | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Jones | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Bends | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Delatours | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |