We were supposed to go the day before but Steve delayed as we might have had some drizzle. Turns out there were some heavy showers in the afternoon but that could have only helped the fishing. A few years ago the fishing was slow until it poured with rain. It washed the caddis off the brushes and the trout went mad!
Around 9 am we put the canoe in the river at Murupara. It was a stretch Steve had shot ducks with me on but he had never fished it. We had a bit of rain the day before but this day was mostly clear and sunny. We started with a couple of caddis dries as we floated down and told stories. It was pretty quiet and not much was happening. We got to the first sight fishing spot and found a good rainbow. It ignored Steve's cicada so I tried a caddis. It was not interested. I put a bead head hare and copper below his dry and he hooked the rainbow. After a few jumps he lost it.
The next spot was much the same. The trout looked at the dries but only took the nymph below. It was one of those days.
It has been pretty clear to me this year that there are just not as many cicadas around. It is the first summer in living memory. Normally on a hot summer's day their noise is deafening. It is just not happening and the trout are not focused on them. Likewise, the foam line risers are not happening yet. There are some but they are few and afr between at the moment.
Yet, we persisted. At the confluence with the Whirinaki, I grabbed his rod and got a medium rainbow with the cicada. We had a long way to go down to Rabbit Bridge so most of the day was spent casting a big dry fly with a nymph below sometimes. We were sure the fishing would turn on at some point but it did not, really.
Steve got a great brown on a cicada after the second take. We both messed up on hookups on sighted fish but they took some coaxing to get them to take.
Oh well, it was a perfect day anyway. We told some lies, made plans for the future and had a couple of Waikatos. What else would you want to do for a day?
It took about 10 hours before we got out and the tally was not so great. But hey, we had fun and noted every spot we jumped a duck from.
The serious part: we are happy to tell you about everywhere we go. This stretch of the Rangitaiki River from Murupara down to Rabbit bridge is not for beginners. It is fast, windy and full of obstacles. You need some skill and experience to run it safely. Sweepers are things like trees in the river. When the main current goes under them, you are in trouble unless you plan ahead. My advice is to steer the bow of your canoe or kayak away from these obstacles at least 50 m in advance. It is fine to run aground and portage around. If you get caught in them, you are likely going in and losing gear, or worse. The best advice is to run the river without gear and bring a saw to clear some trees before you go down with your gear. If you just casually paddle down it will take about 5.5 hours without many stops.
But by all means go! The freakin river is normally full of hungry trout using any method. On this day we should have done some nymphing or even cast a spinner.
