KEY POINTS:
This week's big-fish story: a brown trout estimated at 6.5kg (15lb), hooked on the Waiteti Stream near Ngongotaha in a pool where it is almost impossible to land such a monster, broke the line in willow roots after half an hour.
This week's hard-luck story: a New Zealand Herald journalist, David Lawrence, at his first flyfishing attempt, fought a rainbow of about 4kg (8lb) at the Waiteti mouth before the line snagged on a twig long enough for the fish to gain slack line and spit out the hook.
This week's poaching story: someone who would leave his brains in his handkerchief if he blew his nose rigged a large koura (freshwater crayfish) on two size 3/0 hooks with 18kg (40lb) nylon and hurled it into the Hydro Pool on the Tongariro River - a bit like trying to catch a whitebait with a surfcaster.
The rig was dragged in by a flyfisher who snagged it.
This week's good news: the cicada is on the wing all over the central North Island fishery and the dry-fly fishing is taking off everywhere, especially when El Nino offers respite from its winds and chills.
Dry-fly angling is the top of the mountain in troutfishing and a catch with a cicada imitation represents the highest peak. In 54 years of trout fishing I have never experienced anything to match the cicada strike.
They wheel crazily through the air, especially with a bit of breeze about, and hit the water with a splat. A large trout will scythe 2m through the water to grab it, often leaping a metre above the surface on the take.
At a place such as Lake Otomangakau, southwest of Turangi, trophy fish have been known to break an unwary angler's 5kg (12lb) trace on the strike while they race about in a feeding frenzy, though this week the action at this exposed lake has been patchy in the inclement weather.
Cicada and other dry-fly action has been good from the rivers of the Karangahape Gorge, an hour south of Auckland, down through the streams of South Waikato, across the Taupo and Bay of Plenty fisheries (the Rangitaiki and Whirinaki Rivers have been spectacular) and on down to Hawkes Bay.
Anglers are having plenty of excitement on the Tongariro River, cicada patterns dominating during the heat of the day, emerger and caddis patterns taking over as evening comes on.
Cicada patterns are readily available at tackle shops and they are big sellers. Many seasoned anglers say the commercial patterns are overdressed, and prefer to rough them up a bit with tweezers, a needle, even a bit of fine sandpaper. Shape rather than exact replication is all-important.
My best fish-catching cicada is simply a ball of high-floating deer hair with two honey grizzle feathers tied in for sloping wings. It certainly looks like a gargoyle compared to the exact imitations, but I prefer it to any other.
Cicadas will eventually sink if they are not gobbled off the surface, and a roughed-up pattern can be used very effectively as a wet fly.
The foam varieties can be dragged under the surface by attaching a weighted nymph underneath.
The dry-fly fishing will get better as El Nino wearies, and with the late summer we are experiencing, insect hatches could continue until May.
