Tongariro Wetline vs Nymphing

I'm more of a nymph fisherman than a wetliner and although I have a lot of respect for the guys who wetline I always secretly thought I was fishing the most effective way. That was until I fished with Peter McIntosh who showed me what I was missing. The river was a little high and coloured, perfect conditions for fishing for these winter run rainbows. I had planned to have a late season back country fish and so had with me a #6 nymphing set up. Peter who is part local was prepared with an eight weight wetlining outfit.

I managed to hook a couple of fish over the morning but struggled to hold onto them. Pete on the other hand had no problems at all and landed two fish plus touched a number of others.

I was so impressed I even spent the last hour plugging away with a wetline (although without success). What I thought was effective was Pete was able to focus on sweeping his flies through a couple of lies over and over again. The water was coloured enough to mean the fish weren't scared by the constant casting and once again I learnt a valuable lesson, next time I'll be better prepared.