You are warned – this is sort of an ‘advertorial’ for the Fishing & Outdoors newspaper.
Trophy trout?
If you are really keen on fishing for huge trophy trout the solution is soooo simple…
To paraphrase from The River Why (a 1983 ‘must read’ novel by D J Duncan) analysis of The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton… (The River Why has become TRM’s bible – there should be one in every unit)
Fishing for Trophy Trout wherein Piscator reveals that the Highway to Hefty Trout is traversed through no matching of hatch, nor lengthening nor lightening of leader, nor perfection of presentation or imitation, nor naturalness of drift, but through fishing in the dead of night “with a strong line, and not a little hook; and let him have time to gorge your hook”; for a fish with bloody wounds in his vital organs will scarcely quarrel with you at all.
In this month Fishing & Outdoors newspaper lead article is all about ‘blind fishing’ the Tongariro hot spots with night fishing lessons from the expert – Toni Marks – image at top – who has been fishing at night for the last thirty years. Don’t miss it.
More images of recent catches in the last week on right are from Scott Collins from Auckland. He booked into TRM last Thursday for the weekend fishing and is still here… Who could blame him? (i.e. Compare the size of his trout with Toni’s trout at top or Richard’s trout below)
His limit bag illustrates the sudden (impossible to explain why?) improvement in trout size since the dirty weather last weekend. I can hear your sighs of relief from here… The three ‘keepers’ were all landed during the late morning shift in the lower river.
Five others were released and reported to be of similar length. His biggest rainbow looked to be close to five pound. Heaps of similar sized trout have been caught since the weekend.
The only logical explanation is that obviously the trout on their spawning runs waited until you all went back to work?
Up until then there was a noticeable steady procession of just legal trout in TRM’s smokehouse. They were in good condition, fat fighting fish, but so many just over 40cm.
Several anglers have suggested they were really only two year old on their spawning runs a year early?. But since the weekend the TRM smoke house evidence is much improved – more like the good ol’ days.
On left is Geoff Mundy from Taupo and on right is Bruce is another veteran Tongariro fisho – Bruce Hutchings from New Plymouth with his keeper.
Another TRM inmate, Peter Harvey from Auckland had already gutted his before we could get a photo.
Richard Mowforth from New Plymouth with a typical sized rainbow earlier in August – good condition but only just legal.
