It has been a tremendous summer for fishing. Warm temperatures and light winds have been great for anglers and fish alike. The cicadas have come on a treat in the past few weeks, providing some exciting dry fly action. The fish are in great shape with specimens as large as 10lbs adding some excitement to discussions around the dinner table at the Lodge.

For a while, it looked as though February was going to be a tough month – the hot dry weather was causing flows to shrink dramatically – in the Hawke’s Bay region some rivers were coming close to drying up altogether! A good dumping of rain in the past two days has changed all that, and although it has put the rivers out of action for two days there is no doubt the remainder of the season will benefit from it. The influx of cooler water will certainly get the fish out of any heat-induced slumber and feeding actively on the smorgasbord of food washed in by the run off.