Graeme Christie | Tuesday, 4 August 2026
A ridge of high pressure sat over the North Island this weekend and gave the Waikato a proper winter's day: a 1°C frost to start, fine, light winds. No excuses in the weather. Snow is hitting coastal cities in the South Island as I finish writing this now. NZ is cold at present. Back to the fishing story and to the lower Waikato for round two, below Huntly this time, working the new spots off the latest map. The list of spots is now three maps long.
The gauge at Rangiriri read 355 cumecs, sitting almost exactly on the long-term mean of 361 and steady. Last week it was 430 and rising. The river had come back to me.
The rig was the same HT 8wt with the medium intermediate and a dark Bruiser on 15 feet of leader down to 2x. And because this river is so big, I also carried my 7wt with a shooting tip sinking line, which throws deeper than the 8wt setup. All that park practice means trout further out are actually more reachable now. Reaching them, it turns out, is not the same as anyone being home. And faster casts at shorter range beat long casts on fishy water. More casts fishing, more chances to find one. That's my experience now, at least.
The new spots looked right. Willow edges, seams, inside bends, the shallow sides I'd marked from the satellite. Normally I would walk up to water like that and say it was fishy. I fished it properly and slowly with both rods. No fish. No follows. Nada. Not even a koi ripple this time. The lower river isn't the prettiest either, agriculture is big in this area, but it is easy to get to from home, hence my perseverance.
One blank day is a reccy. Two is starting to look like a harder proposition. I am beginning to reconsider the approach rather than just the spots. Maybe it's the where: the browns may still be further up the river and I'm fishing the hopeful end of their commute. Or maybe it's the how: swinging a streamer blind from the bank on a river this size is a needle in a very wide haystack. The October competition proves there are fish in here. Somebody catches them. Currently it is not me.
There are always lessons, and this one may take a few more blank days to arrive. The next tests are already drawn: a map of the water above Ngaruawahia to check the "still upriver" theory, and the boat, because covering water is the one thing the bank will never do. We'll see which the weekend allows.
A lot of prospecting is in likely water. But this is in more convenient water to my home, which doesn't make it necessarily the best fishing water. This is part of the deal with fishing and this exploring and also part of the joy of understanding as well. The contrarian needs to be put to bed at times. Not sure if now is the time, but the time may be coming soon!! On the plus side my casting is better and my late haul is improving, including on backhand deliveries.
Tight lines to you all.