As soon as the brief video of the town pools was posted in TRM’s history report (?) on the Breakfast Pool, requests arrived for the others… We were not trying to hide them. They are simply outdated due to changes in river flows.
These were produced about 11 years ago and are therefore obsolete for some purists. (i.e. compare the Bridge Pool back then!) SWMBO’s devious marketing strategy (She Who Must Be Obeyed is the Manager of everything at TRM) was to produce four brief “slide-show” glimpses of the upper, middle, town, and lower river pools, to entice new guests, like prospective fishos, who will need to book at least four nights to test them all.
They provide a basic, introductory overview to prepare novice anglers for what to expect and how easy it is to cover about fifty different pools. In the past, they were sent to prospective tourist fishos to keep them away from other, more remote locations like Twizel… I have just posted them to an Irish angler who was planning to stay next February and is comparing various locations.
As long as the novice angler is reasonably fit and competent, they just need to be able to wade a little, cast a line to achieve a natural drift, and combine endless patience and perseverance. Contrary to traditional expectations, Tongariro fishos do not need to be distinguished or good-looking, nor to have lots of charm. There is no need to look like a disguised terrorist on the Tongariro to look cool. Female anglers are especially welcome, provided they catch fewer than men. Perhaps the only essential gear is polaroid sunglasses and a sun hat (& rent money?), but otherwise any designer label from China is accepted on the Tongariro.
Also, note that the river pools in the videos remain open year-round. This distinct advantage is often overlooked compared with most of the rest of NZ, where rivers are closed off during winter spawning runs. Fishing is only restricted by heavy rain that causes flooding. There are odd exceptions of course, but these can be reduced by staying at a well-known established anglers’ motel (TRM qualifies, having survived here serving fishos needs for 65 years) where they can learn heaps more of the latest information on flies, weather, etc. from other inmates. OK? Not that we are biased, of course…
It has been made easier by training the Rainbow and Brown trout to swim from Lake Taupo up the river to spawn throughout the year, and not just in winter. These are not cunning river fish. To make it easier for anglers, they are outside their normal lake environment. After growing up and thriving on Lake Taupo smelt (whitebait) for the previous three years, they hardly know what else to eat. They are too busy adjusting to the river currents and checking out the competition to worry about food. They often attack flies in a frenzy of spawning behaviour. (i.e. If one trout looks at a fly, another will attack it just to piss him off.) Anglers are often surprised when trout are cleaned, to reveal lumps of pumice and wood devoured by mistake. They make it soooo easy… How could you miss?