TRM Cicada Barometer - Close to Tongariro River Motel is our unofficial cicada counter for the last nine years, to indicate when and what sort of hatch Tongariro River anglers might be in for. Hopefully the image is self explanatory - the husk left behind on a boundary fence. Even SWMBO - She Who Knows Everything - cannot explain why they choose this particular south facing fence but it is the most accurate barometer we have found to indicate the level of the hatch. Perhaps they like to get high by sniffing the paint fumes? So more GOOD NEWS is that by Thursday midday we counted a grand total 13 husks. But the BAD NEWS is that the fence has to reach at least 40 husks to qualify before we can decide it looks like a decent hatch. In a good year they will number three times that. So we will keep counting and let you know...
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 18:50:39 +0000