After two phoned requests this morning – to ask whether the wet stormy conditions in Turangi will allow fly fishing – I offered to take the photos above to convince them it is all a hoax. For weeks now, the forecasters have kept anticipating the worst miserable wet conditions. Dan should be repatriated. They continually warn of possible flooding. Photos above and below were 11 am this morning.
I suspect some of this is the direct result of the spirit of commercial competition with each station trying to outdo the other with the fear of bad stuff. Perhaps that must improve their ratings. The sad thing is that it works.
Considering the time of the season when the famous Tongariro winter spawning runs are starting and BIG trout are clearly seen close to the banks along the Tongariro River Trail, the river on a weekend should be crowded. Sorry – everyone appears to be waiting for the weather to recover. We know from our bookings that the next few weekends are full.
Nature’s pattern is that the BIG jacks sneak up from Lake Taupo first to locate a suitable spot to clean the scum off the gravels to prepare a bed (aka as a redd) for the ladies still arriving. Then they wait to ambush the “hens” and scare off any other Jacks that might want to move into their redd. These entertaining mating games can easily be identified from the river bank, even without polaroids.
The truth is, nobody has interviewed the trout yet but that annual migration pattern appears to have started. So where are the anglers?
SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed manages the motel and always has to have an answer to satisfy inmates’ questions) suspects the wider difficult economic conditions are keeping folk away. i.e. She suggests they are too scared to spend anything at the moment to partake in the greatest weekend activity combining sport, recreation, therapy, fun, exercise, and holiday enjoyment available. Throughout all holiday destinations, tourist accommodation providers are closing, restaurants have been struggling, it is worse than during the covid emergency regulations. The misleading diabolical weather forecasts provide them with an excuse to stay away.
