The remote Ruakituri Valley in the Ureweras was formed by the wild Ruakituri River. This is an isolated river that rises in the remote Ureweras and drains the Huiarau Range. It flows for many kilometres through rugged bush before it tumbles 100 metres over the Waitangi Falls.
Above the falls, access is limited to those well-equipped trampers who have not only local knowledge but also sufficient experience to cope with rapid changes in weather conditions. Below the falls, the river tumbles down terraces of bedrock, between steep, bushflanked valley walls until fingers of farmland meet it at the top end of Papuni Station.
From the falls down, the river is strewn with colossal boulders; brought down by the regular ‘flash floods’ the Ruakituri trout have to endure.
There is a huge variety of water, ranging from strenuous rapids, to deep slow pools flanked by sentinel boulders, to riffly runs that just have to hold fish.
Brown and rainbow are found in equal proportion, depending only on the type of water fished. The size of fish can be daunting. They average 2 kg (4.4 lb) and there are plenty of 5 kg (11 lb) fish in residence.
The gorge behind Papuni Station sees the main tributary, the Waipaoa Stream enter the river. This stream does not look substantial at the point of entry but is rather deceiving as it runs underground thanks to a rockfall a kilometre up the stream. It is well-worth the slog up to the fishable water.
Below here, the river slows its headlong charge and there is more of the classic rapid/pool/rapid common to most rivers. There are more fish but they are smaller with a lot of rainbows around 1.5 kg (3.3 lb). The whole stretch is easily accessed by getting permission from the farmhouses along Ruakituri Road. You can get into Erepiti Gorge itself via a track that starts in the clearing on the right just over the Erepiti Bridge. This section of the river is characterised by huge deep pools set among boulders the size of a house. The river has cut a deep channel through the papa rock and the huge deep pools cannot be plumbed by a flyfisher. There are some big fish in this section but it requires some real heavy tackle to get anywhere near them, unless they are feeding on the surface.
Emerging from the long gorge, the river takes on a different character as it meanders through farmlands to meet the Hangaroa at Te Reinga. Access is easy through the farms bordering the river. In this section, you have a better chance of spotting your fish but you will need to be very stealthy, as there is not much cover.
The river has lost its impetus and flows wider and slower. There is more weed growth in summer, which can to be annoying. Long leaders are essential and the increased angling pressure in the more-accessible lower reaches make the trout rather wary. From there the two rivers that have adjoining headwater catchments, crash down the Te Reinga Falls and meet the Wairoa River at Frasertown.
One year we decided to make the big effort to tramp to the Waitangi Falls and briefly fish above the falls – water that was known for big fish. We knew our fishing time would be limited, as it was supposedly a three hour tramp from the road end to the falls. And not easy-going either. The first hour was spent basically following the river, passing water we had fished in the previous days. Then the well-formed track left the river and headed straight up a steep heavily-bushed ridge.
We laboured away for another hour and reached a point where there was a boundary marker noting that we were now in a National Park. Well, whoever administered the park in those days, must have been short of cash as from that point on, the track disappeared. Even the usual orange metal track markers nailed to the trees were nowhere to be seen. We did see some strips of orange plastic tape stuck to branches and decided to follow those. This was fine until we came to a large clearing that looked like it had been dug up with a rotary cultivator. Rory informed me that it was the work of wild pigs. It was hard to believe how they could root up so much earth with just their snouts.
On the far side of the clearing, we could see the magnificent Waitangi Falls framed by the dense bush, but they were at least an hour away. We scouted around the edges of the clearing but there was no sign of any more plastic strips and no track was evident. We reached the conclusion that what we had been following were markers left by hunters to guide them or their mates to pig shooting heaven. There was no sense in carrying on with no sign of a track; getting lost in this wild country was asking for trouble.
As we retraced our path through the dense bush, I remember thinking how the British soldiers a hundred years before must have had similar problems. A Company of fully equipped infantry had chased the wily Maori Chief, Te Kooti, all the way from Gisborne and through this only-just-penetrable jungle. Te Kooti had lead them up the river but whenever the army came to a gorge, they had to make their way out of the river, over the steep ridge and back down to the river – all while towing artillery pieces and carrying all their equipment. Needless to say Te Kooti made short work of the weary remnants in a well-planned ambush further up the river.
A wonderful unique part of New Zealand and well-worth getting off the beaten track.
