Guess which pool above?  A clue:  it was the closest pool to the Dreadnought.

So where is the famous Dreadnought Pool.  TRM’s reply is very simple.  We do not know?  But we now know where it was!

The danger of suggesting that usually results in a flood of enlightening correspondence, emails, etc.  We know, as this has happened often before.  You really would not believe how many fishy experts are out there in cyberspace who have read so-and-so’s book and are certain their Tongariro River geography is accurate.  If you believe everything you read about the Tongariro River pools, then I am sorry for you.  I mean, we still regularly get asked if  TRM’s (now sold out) mockumentary, Tongariro Skulduggery, was true.  Of course it was…  Well, I am sure some of it was, except where I lied…

Read “Tales of the Angler’s Eldorado, New Zealand” or any one of Zane Grey’s westerns (Riders of the Purple Sage) and then decide? In his 1925 account of fishing the Tongariro, he dedicated several pages to describing the Dreadnought Pool, i.e., “the green-white thundering Athabaska, green crystal water, the Oregon steelhead suffered an eclipse, he weighed eleven and a half pounds,” etc. No wonder anglers are still seeking the location, but remember, the NZ Government had paid him to compose such praise.

Or read Hickling’s Fresh Water Admiral and check his dubious history, and then decide.  They were published to sell books, not to provide accurate factual information.  OK?

But with the mysterious historical Dreadnought Pool, even on the official 1955 (pre-flood) NZ Geographical maps, it was moved again.

Turn to any of the old Tongariro River maps to discover that once the pool had been eroded away, the pool location somehow moved up and down the river, somewhere above the Poutu Pool and below the Big Bend Pool.

After the BIGGEST 1955 flood wiped out the Red Hut swing bridge, anglers used the flying fox below to access this fascinating upper section of the river.  That is one of TRM’s guests, Robbie Cadogan waving to you.

To consider how the river has changed below Red Hut, look towards the Shag Pool and compare the massive changes.

Another alternative to access the location of the Dreadnought Pool was to cross over the Poutu River from the old SH1 – now rerouted – see photo below.  Zane Grey raved on about a rickety pole bridge swung on wires attached to branches of trees, spanning a dark rushing little river,” etc.  That wire bridge must have been replaced by the bridge below.

During the last one hundred years the flooded river has altered its course so many times below the Poutu Pool that it has wiped out other famous pools, such as the Breakaway, aka Harry’s Rock, see top photo, that the exact location is no longer discernible.  All it needs is another decent flood and it might return.  Does that answer the question?

So finally, if the actual physical location is still bugging you, TRM have the best answer.

Visit the Tongariro Trout Centre. 

They even display the original AA sign directing traffic to the pool.

For any anglers wondering where to go on a miserable, cold, soggy, winter day,  the Trout Centre should be at the top of the list.  There is so much interesting historical information on display.  Even if you have been there before, you might still find new information, such as the location of lost Tongariro pools.