(Photo on left of TRM’s Manager SWMBO interviewing prospective new staff at Waitangi – they were showing off their disappointment when they failed the towel folding initiation – Her test to check if they could achieve TRM laundry standards – see towels below)

It was interesting to receive only a couple of comments about the mish-mash – aka somewhat detached abstract Daily Fishing (?) Reports over the last week.  We confess, they were strange.

There was a good reason.  We were not here.  I was re-employed as SWMBO’s driver taking Her away up north for a brief holiday.

Many thanks to Lynley Robertson who completed her week long intensive Motel Management Course with TRM and passed with distinction.

The TRM Tour Leader decided a few days in the “winterless North” was required.  We should have stayed in Turangi.  Up north it was freezing!  Cold wet and windy would sum it up.

So it is good to be back to our little slice of heaven to recover and catch up on the fishing…

One phenomena that has become normal for us over the last ten years or so.  Whenever She takes me away from the comfort of the motel laundry, the fishing immediately improves and the BIG runs happen.

You will be relieved that for 2016 we are still waiting.  It has been a strange season and can only improve.

The fishing results so far over the weekend are typical of what was happening before we left.

Out of about ten to fifteen anglers carefully all sent to different pools so you would expect to get a good impression of the fishing?  (We have been booked out during school holidays but all the other inmates were snow bunnies)

But sorry, their was no distinct pattern or pools to report on.  Their success rate varied from nil to double figures.  i.e. John Murphy from USA in Unit 2 fished the Bridge Pool through the 6.30 am to 9.30 am Saturday morning peak traffic rush hour.  Only 7 anglers turned up.  One landed two and another landed 1.  Total 3 fish from seven anglers over three hours!.  Then after a recovery brunch back at TRM John returned and landed six.  That would sum it up.  Totally unpredictable.

Similarly the trout size and condition varied widely from small and so-so to fantastic. Most unusual, even for the Tongariro.

The river level was retreating from 75 cumecs and should have been ideal conditions.

The weather varied similarly with snow or ice evident on Mt. Pihanga to keep the anglers moving.

(Photos above are from the famous Mangonui Fish Shop –  SWMBO voted it the best meal for two in NZ for $20.  Almost as good as smoked trout…  Then below are photos are to prove how cheeky the shags are up North.  In past seasons we have relied on the duck shooting season to cull them (low flying skinny ducks?) locally but for 2016 anglers report they have become more of a pest.  So be careful when you leave any trout on the river bank or in small pools on the edge.  They may go missing very quickly.  But up North they queue up at the fish shop to place their orders?)

We checked out from the far North motel early to escape the heavy rain that Dan forecast (for West Island anglers, “Dan” is the weatherman on TV who misleads all fishermen every week night).  We returned early to check out the new bike trails and to try to assess their economic impacts on similar small towns like Turangi.  They were a real ‘eye-opener’.  TRM will report on them later.

So that was Her holiday.  After being a small bit player in the tourist industry managing a motel targeting tourist anglers, it is essential for Her key staff to escape far more often to compare how we are doing in Turangi.

This becomes even more important when the usually reliable trout fishing is so unpredictable too.

This unusual pessimistic comment is deliberately added to make sure the IRD understand we did not enjoy ourselves.

Our entire time was spent learning and reviewing and practising new towel folding techniques and comparing motel laundrette standards.  As you can see, it was really more like an intensive tourist motel laundry management orientated business course…?