We are grateful to TRM’s guests as we have relied more on their feedback for this blog. (We used to be more familiar with the TT fishing pools many years ago when vehicle access was through the quarry on the TRB. Then we caught the Big T bug and have hardly returned since.) After driving to Taupo time and time again, we could not help but notice up to 12 cars regularly jammed into the parking area, so it was time to check it out. I am sure you realise that is the main reason that the best motels have inmates for. TRM are fortunate in accommodating so many more up-to-date experienced fishy guests looking for new water, so SWMBO dropped some broad hints and waited for their results. Their response, in a word, has been outstanding!
Although yesterday an unhappy West Islander did complain. There is always one… He felt the fish were too fat and strong and too difficult to handle and could we have a word to DOC about his problem? In his experience, a trophy trout should be smaller than the Taupo minimum size of 35 cm. We cannot win them all.
There is one issue I want other fishos to consider – the crowding. If there is hardly any parking left, please be a bit more inventive and explore further as there are some excellent runs and reaches that hardly ever see an angler. Instead of parking and following everyone else, reconsider the lower river. So often we have seen guides with their clients casting just inside the delta with the back cast across the road.
If the trout have read the book, after they start their long-awaited spawning run into the river, they must take a wee while to adjust to the current and the flow pressures. After three or so years growing up in Lake Taupo they need to quickly acclimatise. The casting is so easy here with no snags…
The maiden hens congregate in little shoals, waiting for an older trout who has been up the river before to lead the way. That is when they are more vulnerable. Remember that they have lived on a diet of smelt for three years cruising around the lake edges, so it is a big adjustment, and they are not even sure what they are supposed to eat. Success is more about achieving a natural drift than the choice of fly.
The other neglected access and parking area is Tuki Street, just north of the Challenge Service Station coffee cart before the SH1 road bridge. The garage also sells a range of flies and tackle etc. and, would you believe, one of the staff was a renowned guide here. So you might need to plan to fill up the tank here while you squeeze out his latest info… Hint, hint. In the photo above, anglers can identify the track over the stop bank with a gate indicating it is usually left open, so it is up to individual’s discretion whether to live dangerously to drive in and risk the gate being shut on them. Regardless, the advantage is that the walking time from Tuki Street carpark to the Crusher Pool – see map below – is less than from the other more popular carpark to Maniapoto’s Pool. As you proceed upriver, try to read the water between the obvious pools. There are more attractive opportunities here that may not have been disturbed.
