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SEPTEMBER 2016
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Blind fishing the Tongariro hot spots By Ross Baker
Toni Marks
If you ever want lessons in night fishing, Toni Marks from Mt. Victoria in Wellington is the man. He learnt all the night-time tricks from other old masters - firstly John Milner, who used to own “Anglers Paradise” in Turangi back in the good ol’ days. The number of ten pound plus browns JM landed down the lower Tongariro in the middle of the night is legendary. I can already hear you asking “Which Pool?” Dan’s Pool! The first real pool up from the Delta. I can safely tell you as - on last report - the pool has gone now.
The huge browns are still there every night feeding on koura but you need to be able to handle the dark conditions like Toni... But I digress. Toni’s other mentor is Jim Gosman. Jim was the well-known cop at National Park for many years and became a fishing guide - particularly targeting the Wanganui (it didn’t have an “h” back then) and Whakapapa Rivers. Jim now lives in Turangi. But what we want to explain is Toni’s special advantage. He has a distinctly almost unfair technique over all you other night anglers. He does it all by “sound” and “feel”. As you can imagine on a dark
night on the Tongariro there is no other way. Any headlight or torch will immediately spook the trout to ruin any chance of snaring a BIG brown. So Tony has tuned his other senses to perfection to rely more on ‘sound’ and ‘feel’. One of the problems in the dark of night is to know where the other bank is or how far can one cast without snaring willows. Any over-cast results in the loss of all your gear in the willows, blackberry, what-ever. Again Tony has refined his skills to re-tie on a new rig by ‘feel’ alone. He is an expert at tying his flies in the dark - woolly buggers - using his tongue to gauge the progress of the knot. Toni advises that the tongue becomes a magnifying device when tying flies in the dark. Try practicing that with no light... Tony started trout fishing career in his mid-forties when his favourite pool for swinging a wet line was the Swirl Pool (which is another that has now disappeared under the blade of a WRC - Waikato Regional Council - bulldozer when they excavated the canal from the Braids to the Reed Pool). The images clearly illustrate his latest favourite pool where the canal rejoins the main river at the top of Reeds Pool. Another favourite is Major Jones not from the beach but by wading way down where few are prepared to venture almost joining the Island Pool. From there it is a long deep wade back up against the strong current but Tony manages it easily. Toni is known as a particularly strong wader. At the Hydro Pool it was not un-
common for him to cast and swing his fly across to mix it with the lines of nymphers that used to gather at the mouth of the Mangamawhitiwhiti Stream. Toni’s skill for fishing at night was proven beyond doubt on a fishing trip many years ago up into the Whakapapa Gorge. Night time arrived quickly while they were still trapped in the gorge and Toni confidently provided the lead to his guide through and out of the pitch black gorge, quite unconcerned using his unique skills that make him one of the Tongariro’s famous sons. But that just added to the challenge for Tony. Rob reports he is the most companionable fishing mate with such a great sense of humour and endless perseverance. He never minds sharing a room and is the sort of mate who never minds if Bob wants to read late into the night. There is a reason which you might have picked up from the photos. Have a careful squiz at Tony’s “wading pole”. It is a special custom designed model with a curve at the end (fitted with a small sledge that has a memory true) so that he can feel the bottom contours. Tony is completely blind... So next time you start feeling weary or want to complain about the conditions and how hard the fishing is, just think of Tony. He is the complete inspiration. If he can catch trout in such negative conditions, so can you. Photos were taken by his fishing mate Rob Irwin (who is
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desperately trying to remain anonymous) during one of the coldest wettest days this winter. Going fishing on the Tongariro the book at the Tongariro River Motels,
Toni and Jim
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Toni fishing the Swirl Pool
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