Fishing Report
I have fished the Tongariro river for the last 35 years and have never seen the river so quiet in July. The car parks are virtually empty. We should be heading into the best time for fishing. Why are the anglers not here? There are some fish in the river. The weather is cold there are frequent freshes to cause runs of fish. The fish seem to be few and difficult to catch.
I talked with a couple of anglers yesterday. George Browne and his son Harrison. They have been fishing for a few days but haven’t caught a fish,  Between them they have had only one touch, Theyhaven’t seen many fish, nor any one catching one.
I then went to the Hydro Pool where Max from Hanover was fishing. His casting made it seem that as a young man he had done quite a lot of fishing but it turned out that this was his 4th day of fly fishing. He told me he had caught a couple of trout.
This morning I took a photo of an angler leaving the right bank of the Bridge Pool with 2 trout. I thought things were looking up.
But in most pools were empty of anglers.
River Works
Not a lot to report on this front this week. There was no work happening. The river in this channel is fast, filled with willow stumps but developing a gravel bottom. Even if it became fish holding water it would be very difficult fishing because of the snags.
 Tongariro River Trail
The Tongariro River Trail bush walk section is progressing at a good rate. My Critical Path Analysis chart changes daily but the progress is pleasing. The digger work is almost completed. The track builders are making commendable progress in spreading and compacting the pumice and then the gravel. The boardwalks will be finished by Tuesday of next week. I was pleased to show the developing trail (TRT) to Dave Lumley (DoC manager of the Turangi Taupo), Elly Watson (Genesis Energy), Rob Lester , Peter Baldwin, Vice President and Kevin Farrington the National Trout Centre, John Ridd (Taupo District Council). I must acknowledge the support of all these people in developing this trail.
There will be a delay while DoC completes their section of the trail but we are already having to consider signage, operation of, and the opening of this section of track.
Eric Wilson
Secretary/Treasurer