It has been many years since I have taken Larry fishing. I am guessing it was 10 years ago. He likes to cast a bladed spinner and one of the last times we went out, he caught 50+ trout. He thought it was 65 and, who knows, he may be right.
We floated down the Rangitaiki from Murupara. The plan was to keep moving as we had a long way to go and pick a few spots to stop and target trout with a dry fly.
So we floated and Larry cast his spinner. It seemed he at least had a fish follow on every cast. He caught trout after trout of all sizes, all day long. There was nothing special about the spinners; they were around size 2 and any colour worked.
The highlights of the day for me were when we stopped to target rising fish with a dry fly. An elk hair caddis dry fly was the winner but we also tried a deer hair cicada and a passion vine hopper without success on some spooky trout.
The video below highlights the dry fly fishing.
In nine hours Larry landed 59 fish. Landed was defined by at least touching the leader of the spinner. You can imagine at least the same number of trout were lost. That worked out to be about one trout landed every nine minutes. It was a little silly.
Most of you know that I invented stand up paddle boarding but of course I do it in a canoe. I have a long paddle just for it. I do this so I can spot fish on the edges. I also do it to stretch as it can tear the ass out of you sitting in a canoe all day. As I SUPped down the river, I spotted more trout in a day than I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot of fish on a lot of days.
I certainly recommend you go and try this stretch of river. You can take out at the Horomonga or Rabbit Bridge. It is a long trip that would take you almost six hours to complete if you are not fishing. A raft would double this time. While it is not a graded river, it has plenty of hazards. It is a swift and twisting river with lots of sweepers that can get you into trouble if you are not careful. There are plenty of stumps and and rocks in places that are not convenient. If you are not a confident paddler, at least go with someone who is.
The worst bits are the steel posts that the regional council put in 20+ years ago. They would thread them together with steel cable in an attempt to train the river. Now you can find them anywhere in the water on the Rangitaiki, Waimana and Whakatane Rivers. They are real hazards and I have seen them split kayaks and open jet boats up like a sardine can. They really should remove all of them before more people get hurt.
