The Tauranga-Taupo (“TT”) River is always very popular, more particularly after rain, or on beautiful fine days like that shown in the images over last week. It has less flow than the more boisterous Tongariro – which can intimidate some anglers. It can be crossed between pools to provide more fishable water than some other rivers. At 2pm Wednesday there were 8 cars in the car park and three 4WD vehicle out at the mouth.

But the reason for this update is to point out that aguably the best and easiest part of the river for fly fishos was neglected? That appears to be the normal pattern. The image identifies where nearly all anglers park in the “official” car park to walk and wade up river from there. To avoid any crowding, in the hope of finding “virgin” water, some anglers also proceed down river from there.

But based on catch results from TRM inmates over the last year, they suggest many might be heading in the wrong direction. Whenever the car park has more than a couple of cars they suggest to drive on towards the main road SH1 bridge and turn into Heuheu Parade which curves around to the mouth of the TT. (See map above)

This might not appeal to everyone as the left side has residential development overlooking the slower moody river. It is a completely different environment to the usual rural pine forest setting with numerous riffly pools that the TT is renowned for. We know many anglers thoroughly enjoy the long walk up to the Rangers Pool as part of the experience as stress therapy. But if the primary aim is to catch a trout to take home…

When the river gets too crowded and the angler pressure is too much, when the trout in the shallow pools soon get spooked and refuse to cooperate, then this is a good alternative option that is often overlooked. That is when the lazy lower reaches should be reconsidered. You might be surprised…

Most of the houses on Heuheu Parade are holiday homes so traffic interference is usually minor. However, the clear back-cast across the road should be watched to prevent pinging the occasional vehicle passing through… There are always a few keen anglers targeting the drop-off wading out at the delta as illustrated below.

The elevated road towards the mouth provides easy access for spotting trout passing through on their way to the upper river spawning redds. The slow gentle flow is suitable for more sensitive style nymphing and more relaxation than the faster riffles up-river. Older anglers (i.e. older than me?) will appreciate they do not have to walk far at all. A landing net is recommended.

Also for the rest of the team there is also a pleasant lake edge walk along the lake. On fine days it is paradise.

It is almost 12 months since TRM last reported on the TT. Below is the report from July 2017 which also commented on Heuheu Parade…:

It is a long time since TRM commented on the TT.  There is a good reason…

It usually performs best for a few days after a ‘fresh’ and has it’s own regular devotees who try to keep quiet about it and will be annoyed with TRM for promoting it on the web.  So please note that we are only passing on the comments from a TRM inmate.

The TT has its own special charm.  They treat it more like their private river to get away from the combat casting clinic on the Tongariro.  So it deserves more exposure just to encourage anglers away from the over popular pools on the Tongariro.

If the car park is full then it is also ‘fishable’ by casting directly from the curved Heuheu Parade – the road on the TLB leading from SH1 to the mouth at Oruatua.  But you may need a long handle landing net to land them and need to keep a wary lookout for traffic driving through your back-cast.

We particularly recommend it for novices as it is not quite so intimidating as a larger river flow i.e. casting to the seam becomes so much more ‘doable’. 

As indicated in the images the TT is a “gentle” river with easy wading (compared to the Tongariro!) and easy access, therefore it is preferred by many more ‘mature’ (i.e. older than me) anglers who carry spare parts in their anatomy – replacement knees and hips. 

You are also warned there are usually a lot of snags which are weighed down by all the hare & copper bombs and woolly buggers clinging to them. 

It is even better in the summer months for sight fishing when it is neglected by the mobs fishing the spawning runs.

Hi Ross. Just a short note to say how much I enjoyed last week [the last full week of July] at your place – as usual!  However I have to say that while the surroundings and weather played its part it was the fishing that really came to the party. I hooked and caught fish every day on all the rivers but it was the last full day that crowned it. I fished for about 6 – 7 hours on the Tauranga Taupo and literally lost count of the number of strikes, the number of fish that broke off, and the number of fish landed and returned. It was as good a day as I can remember having in probably 40 years of fishing these rivers. And nearly all the fish were ‘takeable’ with many very good fish. I recall you telling me when I arrived how good the fishing had been this season and the quality of the fish being caught – and being released! Spot on.

Look forward to seeing you again soon . Cheers, John