Tauranga Taupo River

 

Whilst no two spawning seasons are the same, this one has been more unusual and later than anyone could have predicted.  The maiden trout have not read the many fishing books describing the Taupo spawning patterns and when to target them.  They are all wrong!

We have been reluctant to mention the TT to avoid traffic jams in their car park, but it has reached the point where we can no longer avoid it.  Since the rain last Sunday, it has been frantic.

i.e. email received yesterday from a Tongariro junkie:

Hi Ross,
Heading North on Wednesday morning, I slowed down to count the cars in the car park at the TT. Had to drive slowly because I counted 26 cars! The heavy rain the day before has obviously put a big fresh through. Never seen so many cars there.
Cheers.

As TRM had guests zeroing in on the TT for the last few days we could not report it for fear of losing their custom…  so we will restrict our comments to two inmates:

1   An experienced retired angler who has fished the TT for the last 20+ years reported he just had the best 3 days fishing in his life.

2   The highest counts landed by nymphing using a mixture of glo-bug “slushies” were over 20.

We are still waiting for these BIG spawning runs on the Tongariro for 2026, but they will happen…