More essential weekend study for anglers…
This one pool, the Duchess Pool, confirms the rich history of the Tongariro River.
But first, a brief video of a West Island inmate, Murray Cullen in 2014, shows how easy it is… sometimes.
Previous TRM fishing reports back to 2005 describe the history and characteristics of this famous pool. Regular readers can guess what is next… The views over this pool are some of the best from the Tongariro River trail. Yet there are no tourist information panels to tell them of the 100 year old history – i.e. who was the Duchess? This essential requirement of every other walking/biking trail in NZ needs to be applied to the Tongariro River Trail to enrich the experience for tourists. TRM even offered to design and pay for them, but was declined by Toepaw Council. How sad for promoting tourism.
Previous TRM blogs below:
Duchess Pool
DUCHESS POOL
The Duchess – May 2005
Another pool which has changed considerably since the February 2004 flood is The Duchess. After the previous “Great Flood” – 24 February 1958 – the Duchess also altered significantly – so it is only the general location which has remained unaltered. Access is north along the TLB (True Left Bank looking downriver) riverbank – about 15-20 minutes from the Red Hut car park via Kowhai Flat. Please respect the access over private property
After the 2004 flood the most visual change immediately apparent from Red Hut bridge was the disappearance of the island above the bridge and changes to the course of the main channel – from the TRB to the TLB – these are indicative of significant alterations to the pools and river bed all the way down past The Duchess. Changes further upriver – to what was The Breakaway – were even more dramatic.
Prior to the 2004 flood The Duchess was fished from both sides but now it is more suitable from the TLB only. The depth of the pool has been reduced with the deep gut – hookup zone – now spread wider with the main flow on the TRB. The general pattern is to nymph below the big boulder or wetline at the head of the pool. The broad expanse of boulders extending from the Shag Pool indicates that the Duchess will continue to change in depth and character with each new flood.
Although this part of the river may take longer to access, it is still popular, but is now reported to be struggling to justify its previous reputation. However, despite this condemnation,
The Duchess pool still deserves compulsory attendance if only out of respect for its traditions and natural beauty.
In the 1960 book Freshwater Admiral – on the Tongariro that was – Harold Hickling describes the pool much more eloquently in technicolor prose as follows – “…..In the precipitous cliff on the far bank are strata that range from white to deepest brown; nearby on lower ground rise tall poplars, like golden church steeples in the fall; and, as a pediment, the river, here white where it tumbles over the rapids, there in deep water an indigo blue changing to emerald and aquamarine as it shallows….”
That is what I was going to say too.
Hickling suggested this might well be called the Royal Pool of the Tongariro due to the series of visits by Royals – named after the Duke and Duchess of York who camped and fished here in 1927 followed by Queen Elizabeth.
Devotedly following the early Royals are their subjects, in the form of various Governors General, who were obliged to confirm their aristocratic breeding skills by trying to improve on the Royals precedent by fly fishing The Duchess – just like shoal fish? These included angling Excellencies – GG’s including Lord & Lady Bledisloe, Lord & Lady Galway, Sir Cyril Newall, Lord Cobham, etc. Prince Charles broke the regal pattern in 1981, fishing the Birch Pool whilst anglers like Zane Grey did not even deserve a mention. So you are following in many regal footsteps.
Few river pools in the world could claim such a provenance of noble angling history, so it deserves a compulsory flick – just to say you¹ve been there, done that.
(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.)
August 2006 Update
Generally there are no major physical changes to the Duchess Pool from 2005.
The new hot spots nearby – no-name pools above and the run below the Duchess, are reported to be increasingly popular but they could easily disappear – or improve? – after the next fresh. The braided river below the Duchess changes with each fresh and is worth a close inspection if anglers are already in the Duchess Pool. The river course above Duchess, below Shag, changes with each flood and are becoming more braided.
The pool at the head of Duchess, or below the old ‘Racecourse’ where the tumbling white water turns sharply left against the cliff, was originally known as Gentlemen’s Pool, but disappeared when the 1958 flood diverted the river into the old by-pass. The pool was so named because of the high number of jack fish that were caught here After 2004 flood this pool has reformed at the head of the Duchess.
Naming History (X Barbara Cooper’s Pools of the Tongariro – 1975)
Duchess Pool is named after Queen Elizabeth, wife of George the Sixth, then Duchess of York when the royal couple paid a visit to New Zealand in 1927. The Duke and Duchess expressed a wish to do some fishing while they were in New Zealand and a special camp was set up on Kowhai Flat. Later the buildings were moved to the Hatchery at the Birch Pool.
The camp was built with labour from Rangipo Prison Farm. To keep the visitors supplied with fresh bread, it was brought by horse-wagon from Waikune Prison which had the nearest bakery. The Duke and Duchess were taken to various pools but with indifferent success. The Duchess had remained in camp one day when the Superintendent of Rangipo Prison arrived with the supplies. He mentioned to the Doctor accompanying the visitors that they were camped near one of the best pools on the river, although it seems that until then they had not fished it. The Duchess went out and caught the best fish of the day there.
Zane Grey and his son fished this pool on a return visit in 1932. A letter from C. A. Whitney in NZ Fishing & Shooting Gazette, June 1932, recounts the following: ‘Practically all Zane Grey’s fishing was done on the Kowhai Pool some four miles above the bridge over the Upper Waikato (Tongariro) … He had a long plank stuck out into the river from the end of which he and his son cast their fly into the best part of the pool, and in this way they were able to reach the fish lying in midstream. Visitors were deluded into imagining very long casts being made with short rods. I watched both fishing on an afternoon with a light wind from behind and was not greatly impressed with their casting and especially the way in which the fly lit on the water.’
Unseasonal in Duchess Pool…
Hopefully the photos tell the story – a real blow by blow action slide show…
Whenever I bike up the TRT (Tongariro River Trail) I always stop above the Admirals Pool where there is a good look-out at the top of the cliff. Apart from needing an excuse for a rest there is a wonderful elevated view over the upper Tongariro. But more importantly the Duchess Pool is a good barometer to see how many trout are passing through the upper river pools.
The first impression for peak time on a Saturday afternoon was so few anglers fishing. The only other anglers seen were one in the Hydro, three (Dutch tourists previously reported on – see: http://www.tongarirorivermotel.co.nz/daily-report/page/2/ ) in Kamahi, and this one in Duchess Pool.
However last Saturday, the last day of October, I noticed something else about the bloke fishing – for the first time this season,
It was a relief to know I was not the only angler wet wading in late October.
That is how pleasant the temperatures have been, despite Dan on TV1 always painting the worst forecast.
As usual the trout were all lined up in military fashion as shoal fish do just off the lip of the sand bank (beyond the over-flow river bed) while our brave angler was just daintily drifting his nymph down over them.
It is not often that one can clearly view such blow-by-blow details of a hook-up from such an elevated viewpoint where we could see all the action. Some of the feeding trout waiting for anglers (?) can be seen without polaroids in the photo above.
Fortunately one trout was fooled into attacking his nymph and then did an excellent impression of the traditional hard fighting spirit of Tongariro trout with firstly a full panic reaction and then putting on a tough act trying to out-muscle him in the depths of the pool. Then our brave angler waded back to shore and followed down river while patiently playing the trout which as a last resort tried to use the strong current in a last ditch attempt to escape. It failed.
It all only took about 5 minutes which was a long time for the angler holding his breath.
Meanwhile all the other trout bolted.
After the angler dragged the exhausted trout into the sand bank we surprised him with a big cheer. Up until then he had no idea he had an audience watching from the heavens. See him looking up in surprise when we shouted out.
Then the inevitable priest was produced and the trout was quickly and humanely as possible dispatched.
So the last last photo below is the delighted angler holding his trophy aloft for you to admire. Thank you to our film star whoever you are.
This Duchess Pool has always had trout waiting for anglers for at least the last four-five months so is well worth the extra walk from the Red Hut Car Park.
Also have a squiz at the short video of the Duchess Pool with another inmate, Murray Cullen showing how it is done. Some anglers make it look so easy…
Revised assessment needed of Duchess Pool?
Duchess Pool in decline?
TRM just had another angler wanting to know what has happened to his favourite – ‘world famous’ (?) – Duchess Pool?
It may look the same but was not holding any trout as usual… Strange… I concurred as last week when I was exploring the upper river pools on my bike I could only count 3 trout in it – compared say to about 15 in Cicada Pool or 20 plus in Admirals. (Ditto in 2018!)
First your Geography lesson… Previously TRM have invented stories when pools get obliterated by sand banks slowly moving down the river with each small flood. In the good ol’ days these did not occur as there was adequate flow to carry all the debris out to form the delta. But in the last forty years half the flow has been diverted to Lake Rotoaira so the flood debris gets strewn along the river bed.
This aggradation (‘aggradation’ is the geographic term for the process of a river depositing sediment on its bed, therefore raising its bed and causing flooding) debris contains more than just pumice and gravel. Often it includes volcanic ash which would be toxic to trout. The sand drifts cover the healthy gravels and restrict any insect life – caddis etc. so the spawning runs flash through such sand banks very rapidly. But as there was no sign of any sand bank at Duchess Pool we cannot explain why (?) so the usual editorial strategy is applied to confuse you and distract any readers still surviving this by repeating TRM’s Pool Report for the Duchess Pool from 2006 – which was an update of the May 2005 report.
If nothing else, such interesting pool descriptions confirm why the Tongariro River retains its world famous status. Fly fishing the Tongariro is traditionally much more rewarding to the soul than just fishing any other river. Purist fly fishos (like Murray) respect the historical connections more and cannot understand how other fishy destinations, such as Mataura or Twizel canals, can ever compete with such rich history…