It was a perfect morning for fishing a dry dropper combo at the top of Lake Matahina. The trout were rising in their lines and there was not a breath of wind. A green caddis soft hackle wee wet below a black beetle dry fly did the trick to start. Then I broke off the black beetle on the hookup using four pound test tippet. Then a chartreuse willow grub below a green beetle dry fly did the trick. Later on it was a marabou olive damsel, olive and black woolly bugger, cone head krystal brown woolly bugger, cone head brown bugger, then a cone head black bugger that all landed good rainbows.
I was launching below the bridge at first light. The river level was about as high as it gets and there was plenty of weed floating along. I few days earlier they lowered Lake Aniwhenua by 2 m to do some weed control in the canal. So while the canal was dry, the whole river was flowing over the dam. The water clarity showed some turbidity but it was not bad.
I floated down river towards the lake. It was so perfectly still and quiet I had to just take it all in. A stag barked at me about ten times. I talked back with fawn mews and it seemed to annoy him more. Then I barked back and roared so he shut up. I knew roughly where he was but could not see him through the thick vegetation.
I watched fish rising in all of the typical places and just floated by in peace. I got down to the lake and finally put my rod together with a decision to target risers with a dry dropper combo and work my way back to the bridge. I was to meet Wendy there at 1000 hrs.
It was so much fun stalking along upstream in the canoe. There was no wind and just a gentle current coming down stream. I kept using the four pound tippet I had on from my last outing. I landed a few good rainbows but broke off just as many. Four pound is just not enough, even with fluorocarbon.
Time flew and about 0915 hrs I had to paddle back up to the bridge. I went by so many risers, it made my head spin. I got there at 0955 just as Wendy arrived.
We floated back down. Wendy was armed with a spinning rod with a ball sinker above an olive damsel nymph. It was exactly the rig used last time in the Aniwhenua canal as it was still on the rod.. She soon caught a decent rainbow on it, yay. I changed her to an olive and black bugger and she caught a beauty destined for the smoker. That was her biggest trout ever landed.
It was time to change to the fly rod. Last year Wendy broke off every bigger fish she had hooked on both the fly and spinning rods. She is a rookie and rookies have to learn how to play a fish. She did everything right with the spinning rod this time. I cut back the leader to a little more than a metre of heavy flourocarbon in the 12 pound range. I tied on one of our new cone head bugger; in this case it was a cone head krystal brown bugger.
She had to learn to cast a fly again and a cone head fly was not making it easier for her. Soon enough, after some practice, she hooked up to a big rainbow. She let it run perfectly and kept the pressure on. Soon her first trout on a fly rod, and her new personal best, was in the net!
Wendy decided to have a break so I told her she could start paddling back up then. I put on a good length of 10 pound flouro and soon got another good rainbow on a cone head black woolly bugger. She used the spinner again on the way out and this time with a Mrs Simpson behind the ball sinker. We spotted a rainbow just under the surface by the wall, gently sipping dry flies. She was unable to present the cast so she said, 'well you try it then'. I should have tied on a small dry fly but I had a cone head brown bugger on. I decided what the hell and caught it on the first cast. Wendy was impressed, I think.
We decided to make our way out and head home after that. We smoked up four trout using different combinations and they were all delicious. I thought I was over eating trout but man they have been good this year. Wendy and her family and friends all seem to be loving the. That is a real bonus!
