Today we drove up to the Ruakituri River where Frank has his batch (cabin). The Ruakituri is well known for having the largest rainbow trout in New Zealand living in it. It’s quite a rocky and slippery river and wading is difficult but the fish are gigantic! The rainbows love fast water and there is plenty of that on this river. There is also a plethora of aquatic insect life on this river so plenty of food to make this trout get big.
Unfortunately, since the rainbow trout are so light colored, they are not real easy to spot in the river like the brown trout are. Also since they are holding in the fastest water in the river, that also makes them much harder to see. But, when you do see them you can’t believe your eyes how big they are.
My last day, Wednesday on the Motu River, I spotted a brown trout that would have easily gone 12+ pounds. He looked like a salmon sitting in the river...just plain huge! Unfortunately the paradise ducks spooked him.
Well, unfortunately I don’t have any photos of big rainbows to show you since I didn’t land any! I caught three nice big rainbows yesterday, got to see them when they jumped but they are super fast and super strong and managed to spit the hook or just break me off entirely. Today, between the highly difficult wading, my new knee and the size of these fish, I wasn’t as successful as I’d hoped but just hooking them and playing them for a few minutes is a great treat. The rainbows in the Koranga are big also and I had one charge my fly so hard I almost had it pulled out of my hands. These fish are crazy and stronger than any trout I’ve ever seen anywhere else I’ve ever fished. I cast my fly into a fast riffle going into a big deep pool and the fish hit my fly so hard it just busted the dry fly and dropper right off in one easy motion. I never got to see this particular fish but I know it was a monster. I did hook two other fish on the Ruakitori that jumped clear out of the water and showed themselves quite nicely. Again, BIG FISH!!! I am always amazed at the size of these trout.
Tomorrow I’m off to the South Island.
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