Larry was back for another day of trout fishing. Dan and I had done so well at the lower end of Lake Matahina that I thought we had better check out the top end. The forecast was for rain; in fact it was the start of a weather event that would dominate the North Island for the next few days.
We put the canoe in the river where the bridge crosses at the southern end of the lake. Water levels in the hydroelectric dam were low so the river was running fast with some decent rapids to navigate on the way down.
It was raining as per the forecast but we had absolutely no wind to speak of. It was quite pleasant paddling along the edge of the lake while Larry cast a bead head krystal olive woolly bugger to the edge. We use a six weight rod with floating line and six to eight pound fluorocarbon as the tippet. I had my new Go Pro on the job, strapped to my head. Today was not a day to tick off new fly patterns; Larry was there to get his fix and catch some trout.
It was a bit of a slow start but Larry started hooking plenty of both brown and rainbow trout as we approached where 'river meets lake'. This area constantly changes depending on water level and wind. You usually see a large mat of weeds and floating debris concentrated in a small area. As the algal blooms begin, there is a distinct change in water clarity at this point. Today we were treated with a dead deer as part of the flotsam.
Shortly thereafter I heard a crash and looked back to hear a large boulder roll down the steep side of the lake and then saw it crash in the water. That would be pretty scary if it happened directly in front of us. It reminded me of years before on a calm morning when I heard an ear-shuddering snap then watched as a great grandaddy pine fell off the cliff it had clung to for so many years. Then a little while later we came across a rotting stump end of an old pine sticking vertically out of the water. It had weeds growing on it and reminded us how deep the water must be below those cliffs.
The fishing continued to improve with many missed strikes. Then the weather cleared somewhat and the sun almost came out. It got the red damsels flying and the trout began to rise. The next couple of hours produced many fine fish; we did not count but we released all of the 15 or so fish landed. The lake is on fire from one end to the other!
The rain set in again late afternoon as we made our way back up the river. It was a bit of a challenge walking the canoe back up along the edge of the rapids. I think next time I might just paddle from the lower end if they keep the lake levels low.
It is now a few days later and I suspect the river will be dirty and high. Next mission will be to fish the Rangitaiki River when we can. It never lets us down.
So the new Go Pro Hero 10 is working ok so far. I have yet to read the manual and learn how to use it properly. It came with a rubber cover which seemed to muffle the audio a bit so I might leave that off next time. The battery might last an hour or two so I should probably get a second one as the memory card is huge. All of the photos were taken with the Go Pro which is a new feature compared to my old one (it does not even have a number). It still works perfectly well by the way. And dah, when going through the footage and deleting photos, I accidentally deleted a bunch of videos. No big deal, I still had enough for a video. I have a chest mount which I do not see much use for the way we do things. I also have a tripod/selfie stick to record underwater releases which I have not gotten around to yet. The video is attached. Tight lines!