TRM’s Anniversary weekend family activity plan…

Next weekend is Wellington’s Anniversary long weekend. The following weekend is Auckland’s Anniversary. That is followed by Waitangi Day which is usually extended into a long weekend. What an ideal time for scheming, to plan how to introduce kids to trout fishing. This follows on from the blog yesterday on the importance of introducing kids to fly fishing…
Time to start planning for the next long weekends. The ‘historical’ report has been copied from the TRM Daily Report dated August 2005.
That shows how long – 19 years! – that TRM have been posting this message. Some optimistic Taupo Fishery license holders might imagine their license fees should be used for promotion of the trout fishing or it should have been the responsibility of other organisations such as the Taupo Fishery Managers – DOC (Department of Conservation). When we reflect on trout fishing progress over all that time, the Taupo Council tourism promotion team (DGLT – Destination Great Lake Taupo better now known as “Love Taupo”) has achieved more effective promotion in the last couple of years than DOC – the Taupo Fishery Managers – have done (or not done?) in over nineteen years. Extraordinary really.
But this is not about them. It is how you can do it – by employing a TRM cunning strategy to help yourself.

Even though in that time frame there has been a huge shift in human recreational behaviour, following the development of the internet and cell phones, etc. since 2005 – this brilliant simple conceptual basis and revealing text about how to convince Mum and the kids into fly fishing, was prepared over nineteen years ago, following a tourist’s inquiry.
Some things don’t change…
The keen fisho father had recently followed SWMBO’s advice. (She Who Must Be Obeyed is the manager of everything at TRM) He had taken junior to the kids day at the Trout Centre and was asking how to get his kids more interested in fly fishing as a family activity. His problem of course is the kids have their noses stuck to iPhones and iPads and iPods or whatever those other mobile internet device thingies are.
This all started when I was pretending to take TRM’s guard dog for her walk along the Tongariro River Bank. What I was doing was escaping the laundry to enjoy listening for cicadas and spotting trout of course. I was standing there admiring a big brown when the family approached. Dad was amazed at the size of the old brown trout resting below Major Jones Pool so we started yapping – calculating the best method to get a fly down to it…
But his real concern was Sonny Jim who had his nose in his phone-thingy and had no idea of what he was missing. Dad shook his head in bewilderment. When I showed Dad some sympathy for his plight – he had done well just to get them out there in the fresh air – we discussed the difficulties of how to get such sick addicted kids interested in fishing. That is when I remembered TRM had tackled this question before – over ten years ago. That was before the kids knew what these mobile devices were. I promised I would find the blog for him. For this solution a little bit of old fashioned fishos’ ‘cunning’ has been successfully employed by other inmates.
So I redirected him to the Birch Pool.
Birch Pool
Access to the Birch Pool is via the National Trout Centre car park. This pool is particularly popular for anglers accompanied by family.
We promise hatchery visitors will be entranced by knowledgeable friendly staff, fine historical exhibits, fly fishing methods, trout life cycles, film & video casting lessons, feeding trout, underwater viewing chamber, – we could go on and on – all without realising they are being quietly seduced by the enchantment of fly fishing.
The strategy for visiting Birch Pool should be planned with military precision as what you are after – let’s be honest here – is to induct all the family to fly fishing as a cleverly disguised eco-tourism propaganda exercise.
The basic hidden agenda is to convince the family of the need to send you fly fishing more often. We meet so many relieved Dads who discovered the magic route to a happy contented lifestyle by introducing family to a new world of fly fishing, as their most soul-satisfying pastime, by starting at Birch Pool.
Now a closely guarded TRM secret… Birch Pool trout will wait almost anywhere that looks remotely fishy below the public walking track. Why? There is a continual parade of kids feeding them from the leftover pellets (salmon food) that their parents bought them for the kids’ pool…
Dad then demonstrates his manly skills – almost like catching fish in a barrel. But it is the other tourists enjoying the Trout Centre river walk admiring Dad’s skills that set them off. Then fly fishing will immediately become the ultimate outdoor interest for the whole family. The problem of how and where to start is solved – the Birch Pool environment provides the perfect non-intimidating learning and entertaining facility. Never-ending costs of new rods and gear are no longer an issue.
Then suddenly Dad is free of the shackles of a guilty conscience and encouraged to feed his addiction every weekend – well, SWMBO suggests perhaps every second weekend – as his passion is encouraged in the interests of a family bonding exercise in NZ’s 100% pure environment. So the cunning strategy is to plan Birches visit as the ideal family fly fishing introduction course.
Hence the following helpful hints are provided as a preliminary guide to succeed in the Birch Pool. As you can be assured of an uneducated public audience admiring your brilliant casting skills, wear chest waders with every possible attachment – i.e. landing nets, wading poles, priests, spare reels, clippers, camera, several trace reels, etc. that were previously discarded.
The choice of a TRM lucky hat and sun gigs is critical, far more important than fly selection.
A fishing vest is compulsory with at least 20 pockets for a liquid lunch.
Preferably, do not let casting look too easy. Try to wade deeper to provide more backcast room to avoid hooking up the passing parade of pedestrian traffic admiring your athletic display. A full red-blooded copybook long looping cast is preferred – no fancy roll casting please – with double the usual false casting to dry the indicator.
Try the dropped shoulder technique with vigorous bodily effects to impress.
Wet line techniques may be too boring – nymphing with oversized brightly coloured indicators is recommended. It looks more spectacular and the drift is easier to follow. Do not worry about spooking fish by splashing a few times – excessive mending is obligatory.
I am sure you get the general picture.
When your loved ones discover you entertaining admiring trout centre visitors they will beg to learn your skills. That is the moment to show your generous spirit – immediately donate to them all your old rods, leaky waders, cracked lines and race to Creel Tackle shop to re-equip, all in the interests of family bonding for Anniversary weekend.
A family that plays together stays together.
You will be seen to give that most precious gift – a healthy activity to be enjoyed by the whole family while at the same time providing increased opportunity for you to enjoy the finest fly fishing available in the world.
Eco tourist anglers travel to the Tongariro from overseas at great expense, their trip of a lifetime, to experience what you are giving to family for free. They will be so impressed.
What a Dad.
What a guy.
Such are the magic charms of the Birch Pool and the Trout Centre River Walk.
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.