22/02/2026
Monday 23rd February 2026
Weather: 10.7° Fine with light winds.
Tongariro River Flow: 26 Cumecs (m³/s)
A fresh start to the day, with a crisp morning giving way to some welcome warmth in the sunshine, a sign of a beautiful day ahead.
The weekend passed quickly, though Friday’s pesky wind made conditions challenging for many anglers. River traffic has been relatively light, allowing anglers plenty of space to spread out and properly hunt for fish.
It’s been a tough week overall, with fewer fish in the river than many had hoped for, especially as we’ve all been looking forward to more consistent summer conditions and better opportunities to target fish on the dries.
Encouragingly, over the past few days there have been more reports of surface eats compared to nymph takes in the local rivers, particularly when the sun is out. Let’s hope this trend continues for a while yet!
I finally managed to get out on the river during my days off. The weather improved, and although I was battling the wind on Friday, I hooked into a nice fresh brown on the Tongariro. Unfortunately, my line management wasn’t quite on point and, after a short battle, I lost the fish. One that got away!
I also took my partner out for his first freshwater fishing mission. Although he didn’t connect with anything on the first day, his casting improved so much that I decided to head to a smaller local river on Saturday for a bit of stalking.
Conditions were far more favourable. Barely any wind and much warmer overall. The cicadas were finally out and chirping, a sure sign that summer isn’t far away. There was plenty of surface activity from smaller fish, along with a few better ones that we managed to sneak up on. We spooked a couple as we worked our way upstream, but I managed to get a few young fish to take dries, which is always good fun.
Not long after, we came across a nice jack and hen sitting in the shallows. I tried a number of smaller dries, but they showed little interest. I then had Cassiano try a cicada pattern with a small nymph dropper. On his second cast, the jack rose confidently and took the cicada.
His first trout, and on a dry!
What a special moment. We landed the fish and snapped a quick photo before releasing it.
Looking ahead to this week, we’re expecting settled conditions through to Thursday, with daytime highs around 24°C. Winds should remain light initially before gradually increasing as the week progresses. A few showers are forecast for Thursday and potentially into the weekend.
Out on the lake, jigging continues to produce results. However, as has been the trend lately, many of the fish coming to hand have been on the leaner side. With favourable weather continuing and river numbers still lower than usual, it’s likely a good proportion of fish are holding in the lake for now.
Night fishing at the river mouths is also continuing to fish well. We’re well stocked with jigging flies, smelt patterns, and lumo flies for those heading out after dark.
Hamish made the most of the sunshine, guiding clients on the Tongariro and putting them onto some nice fish. Conditions clearly played their part, with reports of solid browns coming to hand. Including an impressive double hook-up on brown trout!
Enjoy the good weather everyone and tightlines!
~Niamh (Bluey)
