Went down to the Tengawai bridge as bad weather was approaching and I knew getting out on the 22nd would be unlikely, late or unpleasant and as I write this the next morning it is raining and it has snowed. I had noticed an adult mayfly entrapped in one of the net curtains around the house so I had also wondered if there was a hatch on.
There was. I got down there just before 8pm. I had chosen to walk (I had drunk a couple of wines) and so decided to set myself a challenge of taking just three flies. I took a Kakahi Queen, a nymph and something like a Greenwell's Glory (as a wee wet). The July-August floods had left a new relatively broad and deep glide downstream of the bridge and I tackled up with the nymph. However when I got to the water I could see tail swirls and hear 'galomps' as trout took stuff at or below the surface. There were many adult mayflies winging around and dimples where others arrived or alighted. I changed to the wee wet and fished it across and down, I was using barely a metre of 3X tippet on a clear 'hover' 3m leader. This was the first time I had fished a wee wet and I has delighted to get two hook ups. Landed neither but all the same I had wondered whether a fish would ever take my flies along the Tengawai (they are allegedly very spooky there).
The fish were small as I had seen from the first one that leapt when hooked. I was facing downstream, they were facing upstream and I failed to moderate my strike, pulling the fly out of their mouths. I have since read about leaving a 'shock loop' on one's line hand to enable the fish to turn downstream before striking. There was remains of a fish's mouth on the fly with the first strike, a bit upsetting.
Fish were feeding all around me. I was trying to get my fly to a swirl 10m downstream whilst there was a swirl 2m to my left (I was knee deep in the glide). The whole glide was active but they were probably all small although some of the 'galomps' sounded 'meaty'. The activity died away, I changed to the Kakahi Queen but it was all over, no mayflies flying. I left at 9pm.
That's three hookups in one weekend in the Opihi-and-its-tributaries river system. Some progress; landing one must only be a wee time away. A very interesting and enjoyable experience. The day was rated poor by solunar calendar and I think I arrived towards the end of a 'major' time.
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