25 April 2023: It was our first frost of the year so Jack and I slept in. Something was telling me to go back to Aniwhenua. I think I was there once last year with Larry. We had some awesome sight fishing action in a spring creek channel that went through the huge weed beds. The beds are not there this year due to the higher water and persistent rain. The delta has always been a favourite of mine. The very shallow water leading into the lake has always had rising trout. Today was no different except that conditions were perfect. Any wind makes it difficult to spot but today was perfectly calm with sunny periods. The forecast was for strong wind later in the day. We started around mid day and it was like a mill pond.
We both started using buggers. Jack had on an egg sucking leech and I had a bead head krystal white bugger, both patterns we have not ticked off the list yet. We started where river meets lake. That is a spot where the shallow pumice beds have a slight drop into the lake that has a muddy bottom. Normally, it is a hot spot for action. But today, nothing was happening. Being ANZAC Day, a public holiday, there were lots of boats around. They were motoring around and collecting willow branches for their maimais (duck blinds). They say prepare well before the opener starts so as not to warn the ducks, but I suppose they had a free day to prepare and it was still 10 days before the big blast. I prefer jump shooting from the canoe once the crowds go away. But hey, if you want to invite me for opening weekend, there is a spot in the front of my canoe reserved for you.
So I think all of the motor boat activity had the trout a little spooked. There was a guy in a little rubber ducky that had a motor on it. He got into the shallow flats then used oars. I reckoned he was in the perfect place, where we wanted to be. I cannot remember ever having to share water.
Then we moved into the shallows once our friend moved away. There were fish rising in the very shallow water where no power boat could get to. I knew I had to change to something smaller. Normally, I would use a small dry fly but I had some wee wet flies to tick off the list. Jack decided that a very long cast and long leader was not going to suit his style, so he reckoned he would guide me. The Red Tipped Governor was the first to try. Almost immediately, I missed one then missed another, seconds later in a different spot. Then it came back again and I landed a very nice rainbow.
So we put on a Soft Hackle wee wet next. Jack moved us closer to the next risers. It is the greatest of challenges trying to anticipate where to place the cast when all you can see are gentle rises. It took me a while but eventually got a nice brown. As we landed it, we floated down the slight current. As we did, rubber ducky guy moved back into our spot. So we moved to where he was.
The next fly was a Dad's Favourite wee wet. At this point I was spotting fish cruising, not just the rises. I spotted a big brown with a large hunk of white flesh in his mouth. It was a dead fish and the brown was acting like a shark, tearing hunks of flesh off it. It was a very strange sight. Again, it was very challenging fishing. It took a while but hooked up and landed a good rainbow. Of course we always get a bit excited about catching fish and wind up making some noise in the process. I think rubber duck guy was not very happy with us.
This time I put on a Caddis Emerger Tan. I hooked up almost immediately on another brown. I lost him just before he went in the net so I could not count as a catch and retire the fly. Then we found another riser and ticked of the fly with a rainbow. That was the last of the Wee Wets and Emergers to tick off the list. Rubber ducky guy was moving further away now and probably did not want to see or hear any more of us.. To be fair, remember, Jack opted not to even try once he saw how challenging it was. Our friend was casting what looked to be a soft bait with a spinning rod. In my opinion, that was like the proverbial bull in a china shop scenario.
The last one was a Water Boatman just as the forecasted winds were just starting to tickle the water. That did not take long at all and landed the best fish of the day. It was another good rainbow destined for the smoker.
Just like that the southerlies kicked in and it was a hard slog back up to Rabbit Bridge. Sorry about the video footage. I had the Go Pro on my head and this time the camera was pointing mostly to the sky. I will try to throw something together. What a spectacular few hours on perfectly calm water. Jack and I are heading back again tomorrow and I reckon you should get in there and give it a try.
