Getting much closer to home now. As the Bridge Pool and Judges Pool are both within easy walking distance from TRM, they have been subject to close scrutiny by our inmates to note any changes. Of course there have been numerous little changes after the 600+ cumec flood at the end of August but the only way we can effectively show them is by comparing “before & after” photos.
As one local angler suggested, “We all had it too good for too long and were lulled into a sense of security with the brilliant season we had been enjoying”. In previous years there were more floods and change was constant but the last ten or so years the annual floods did not do so much damage. Doomsday global warming conspiracy theorists will love that. So let the photos tell the story.
Above and below are today’s photos of the famous Bridge Pool. The complete lack of any angler pressure says it all. Where have they all gone?
It is now much safer for those motorists who used to cross over the Tongariro River bridge on the way into Turangi from the north. Previously it was obligatory to peek out to try to count how many were in the Bridge Pool as a barometer to assess angler pressure on the river. Now there is no need. There are no anglers queued up below the TLB any more. Some have tried since the flood but the flow of the current is too strong to allow their flies down onto the bottom where the trout are resting under the flow. They might need a heavier depth-charge bomb.
I don’t think there is any doubt that for the last decade the Bridge Poo had been the most popular trout pool in NZ. Photos below from successive previous years provide the evidence that the pool hardly changed for several seasons.
From our casual observation most anglers have either headed further down to the lower Bridge Pool or headed up-river to Judges Pool. Judges has changed as indicated by the anglers wading out but is still very fishable.
Warning: The anglers’ access track down along the TLB from the end of Te Aho Street has been mainly washed out and is no longer safe. Too many soggy anglers have returned from this side suffering shock and exposure from when they slid into the freezing cold river. SWMBO cannot afford to lose any inmates. We heard of one “mate” who was swept down the river for a couple of hundred metres before he was able to climb the bank. His strange twangy accent changed into a squeak after his impromptu swim.
