Graeme Christie | Tuesday, 27 October 2026
Labour Weekend, as threatened. Hawke's Bay. I was there for my daughter's football tournament but I managed to sneak a couple of quick fish sessions with success. Last week I wrote about a blank afternoon on this river a year ago and the smelt flies I planned to bring back for it. The river looked different and it had more of a dry fly or dry dropper vibe, so the smelts only experienced about 10 minutes of action and then got consigned to the bottom of the bag.
Weather first, because the river is only the weather with a delay. A warm high parked itself over the North Island for the whole weekend. Saturday got to 27°C in the valley, Sunday 23°, not a drop of rain, and a northwesterly that never got past a breeze. Late October and the North Island is warming up. The river gauge said the same thing. 11 cumecs on Saturday morning, 10 by Sunday, dropping gently all weekend. Last year, on the same weekend, it was 25 and 18. So lower, clearer, and warm enough that I wet waded both days. Mid twenties air, no waders, in October. I'll take that, nice!
Saturday. The lower river, down where the long weekend brings the throngs in. Dog walkers, swimmers, whitebaiters, and plenty casting soft baits and metal lures. Fair enough on a hot Saturday and I was one of them. HT 6wt, the Amplitude Infinity line, a cicada dry with a size 14 weighted Pheasant Tail hanging under it. One rainbow around 10am on that rig. Small, and in lovely condition. Deep and silver, thick across the back. More on that below.
Sunday I went further up. The crowd thins out the moment you leave the car parks behind, and the river up there has a lovely gradient to it. Long glides, easy riffles, pleasant walking water. I got to the river and a very good rise was on. Fish up all over a slow glide. Which was when I found I had brought one dry fly box. The other one was in the car.
The rise took me straight back to the Southland rivers I learned on, so I fished it like that. Size 14 dry, nice drift, nothing. Then I went through the box. What I had was mostly Taupo stuff, but some smaller dries, emergers and about 2 spent spinners and a few bigger dries, which turned out to be lucky in regards to the spent spinners. First fish took a spent spinner on a 16. Lost the fish and the fly. Then it was the fly search, they didn't like various little dries or the emergers I had. Then a lighter coloured small fly. Refused. I couldn't easily see the fish, but when I did there was usually a look. Back through the box and right in the corner, a size 18 spinner with a dark brown body. Tied that on.
The leader needed a look too. I had built it long for the glide, it turned out a little absent mindedly long, 9 ft tapered to 4x with a few feet of 4x and then 5.5x on the end, and with a size 18 spinner out front it was more leader than the fly could carry. Took a couple of feet off the 5.5x and it started to behave. The other half of the fix was checking the line just before it landed rather than mid air, which kicked the tippet over straight. Moved onto a slightly quicker piece of the glide with a few fish showing and got the take. Landed!! About 2 lb, another fat rainbow, like it had been eating all winter.
A few things to take away. The rainbows in these rivers feed like brown trout. Particular about the pattern on the surface, and about the colour of it. Quite happy to let a size 14 go past. Dark brown spent spinners in 16 and 18 are something I'll carry more of next time. I also wonder whether a dry with an unweighted nymph trailing would have done it, since I never offered them anything under the film. Something for another time down there.
On the leader, long and fine is right for that water. The trick is keeping enough taper to turn a tiny fly over at the end of it. For the return I'll go 9 ft to 3x, a couple of feet of 4x, then 2 ft of 5.5x, and add 6 inches at a time if the fish ask for it. About 12 to 13 ft all up. Unrolls hard, falls soft. We'll see. Something for testing with a bit more time on this river.
And the condition of the fish. Every rainbow I touched, whatever the size, was plump with muscle all the way to the tail. No spawning wear anywhere. Chrome bullets. Last year the lower river was moving with bait and I suspect these fish have been eating well for twelve months. The mullet and small bait fish moved around as I waded the river again, similar to last year.
The drive home goes through the middle of the North Island, past a string of rivers I would happily give a week to. Well known water, good water, and some of it a fair walk to get at. I can see why people settle in Hawke's Bay. It is a warm, dry, nice place to be, and the river runs easily through it. Fishing is very accessible. This area was ravaged by a cyclone in 2023 which devastated much of where people lived and worked. You get the feel it's still recovering. The hoteliers said bookings were quiet. It's definitely worth a fish for the rainbows that behave like brown trout.
Hawke's Bay in late spring. Low, clear, 27 degrees, and maybe a tying list. Tight lines to you all.