NSW Opening Weekend, October 2009

Spending the first Saturday in October on the banks of Eucumbene River has become a tradition for Andrew and me. This year was the fourth in a row, incidentally corresponding to Melbourne Storm's appearances in the NRL grand finals. For most of the 7 hour drive I was accompanied by pelting rain, and as I learned later, Andrew was too. This had me worried about the level and colour of the water, especially given that weekend prior my plans to fish the Ovens near Beechoworth were a non event once I found the river in flood. Having arrived at Kiandra around 1 am, I grabbed my torch and braved the freezing conditions to check the state of the river, waiting till the morning was not an option. Realizing I still had one bar of phone signal I phoned Andrew to break him the good news, it was high but clear. Upon his arrival we opened a bottle of 12 year old Tullamore to toast the new season and to keep us warm. We took our first casts of the new season before dawn, and it wasn't long till we were both playing beautifully conditioned rainbows onto the banks. Great fishing continued into the morning and throughout the day, pity the same could not be said about the weather. At first, fishing in the snow seemed somewhat adventurous, but the novelty quickly wore off. We decided to call it a day once our fingers had lost all the feeling in them and it was near impossible to tie on a replacement fly. By this stage we were nudging 20 fish between the two of us, quite a respectable tally.
In the afternoon we tried the lake. Fishing turned out to be a bit slower on the lake, but seeing water in bays that we haven't fished for some years proved motivation enough to persist with it. On the first night Andrew got a couple out of the lake and I got my first lake rainbow for the trip on the next night.
The river fishing continued to be brilliant. When it finally seemed to slow down, we took advice from a local fishing identity and went deep, really deep. Tying on the heaviest fly I had in my box, the Tongariro bomb, brought instant results. I had one of my best sessions on the last afternoon, catching 8 in 2 hours or so, and loosing or missing at least twice as many.
There was one negative on this trip, and that was the crowds. If you prefer your own space and are not a fan of sharing water, you probably should wait for at least a week or two after the opening weekend before fishing Eucumbene. On a number of occassions we had people drop in on us, some of them fly fishermen, but with the fishing that good we didn't really worry about them. It was definitely one of our best opening weekend trips and what a great way to prepare for a two week fishing adventure in New Zealand. Bring it on!

NSFFC Club Day Trip - Lauriston Reservoir

Before the break of dawn Mark and I were cruising along the Calder Highway towards Lauriston Reservoir. This was the destination for the NSFFC's August day trip. Out of the three lakes within Coliban Water system, it is the one with the highest water level at the moment and the most promising fishing opportunities. We decided we would start fishing on the bank opposite of the public reserve at the dam wall, and then meet up with the guys from the club at the reserve around lunchtime. While I have done very little fly fishing at Lauriston, I have bait fished it many times in years gone by. My past experiences were telling me not to expect much, but first sights of the lake had my hopes rising. Within minutes of stepping out of the car we spotted occasional rises dotted throughout the lake. Most were out of casting range and appeared to be oncers, but any sight of moving fish generally gives a shot of boost to a fisherman's enthusiasm. We rigged up our rods in record time and given that we would not be wearing waders today (wading is not permitted at any of the Coliban lakes), we were making our way to the water within minutes. Mark's first cast was to a rising fish not more than 3 meters from the bank. His cast was good, his fly selection seemed good too, but soon as the line hit the water the fish was gone not to be seen again. Once again Lauriston looked the way I remembered it, a beautiful but tough fishery. We fished on, looking for any signs of fish and covering the likeliest looking spots. I made my way to the right of the dam wall stumbling across such a spot. A very long and narrow point was sticking out into the main channel of the lake. I started at the base of the point with the plan to work my way right to the point itself. Towards the end of my first retrieve I felt my line stop with definite weight at the end of it. I lifted the rod, and the weight started to pull and roll in disagreement. I knew it was a solid fish. Soon I was proven right as the brown took off to the air trying to dislodge the fly stuck in the corner of its mouth. This was followed by long runs into the depths, but soon enough, the fish was landed. I photographed it and quickly released it.
I continued to fish with renewed enthusiasm, but this enthusiasm was short lived. Gale force winds that were forecast for Saturday strengthened and made the fishing extremely tough. In the late afternoon Mark and I met up with the other club members, and we all made a move to a nearby lake which offered more protection from the wind. Unfortunately we could only afford a one hour session on this lake, during which no one caught a fish. Even so, this lake is already on the top of my lakes to fish list for this year and I'll be back soon giving it a fair go.

Autumn Update, July 2009

Ok, so it has been a while since my last post, 4 months to be precise, and the silence was likely to continue for a little while longer had I not been inspired by a book I am currently reading. On Saturday I bought Philip Weigall's newest book, Fishing Season. It has been such an entertaining read that I am already half way through, and two other books that I am currently reading have been put on hold. Reading Philip's short stories about some of my favourite Victorian fly fishing locations has triggered many memories of events I experienced myself in these places. Here are just a few of the recent ones.

During May yet another season was approaching to a close and I tried to squeeze as many day trips to the Goulburn as I could. On the rare days when I found some water to myself, I also found success. Small rainbows and some better browns over a pound were common.

In late May I enjoyed another trip with FlyLife forumites. Dubbed the NEVERS, these trips are organised by Scottie, a guide from the North-Eastern Victoria. Scottie's culinary skills are exceptional, and his meals at the end of a long day's fishing are a real highlight.





08/09 season came to a close on Queen's birthday long weekend in June. I marked this occasion by spending the weekend fishing lakes, quite odd I know, but I believe it was the right thing to do as most Victorian rivers were slowing down by that stage. Covo and I had a great weekend at Millbrook Lakes and we both hooked into some really good sized fish, although the magic double figure trout eluded us. More reason to go back I guess.

Recently I have joined Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, officially confirming my obsession with fly fishing, if anybody ever doubted it. This should help my improve my skills, both on the water and in front of a tying vise.
Next Saturday I'll be working, so any fishing excursions are unlikely, but with two NZ trips booked, a float tube from Sierra on its way, and the next fishing season less than a month away, there will be no shortage of fishing.

Yeppoon, March 2009

Although this was never going to be a fly fishing trip, it was so much fun that something had to be said about it. Julia and I arrived at Yeppoon on Thursday, two things we first noticed... how much greener everything is than in Victoria, and how much it rains. Fortunately the weather improved on Friday and Saturday, and we had two full days of laying about poolside, canoeing through rainforests, and making friends at Cooberrie Wildlife Sanctuary. Due to a forming cyclone offshore, the wind was relentless and my fly rod stayed packed away. One of many highlights of our trip was our taxi driver, who turned out to be quite a keen fisherman himself. He was very friendly and offered to take us fishing on his boat on Sunday. Unfortunately we were leaving on Saturday, but a fishing contact was made for our future trips to the region. One negative from the trip was the mob at Tiger Airways, who came close to losing my 8wt Strudwick. To my relief it was found after they went back and looked through the plane's cargo area properly. Turns out it is quite easy to miss a one metre long tube with a high-vis orange label on it... not good enough!

Lake Eucembene, Australia Day 2009

Australia Day weekend saw me make another trip to my favourite place in mainland Australia, the Snowies. Finally there were some good reports coming from the region, I had no other choice but to check it out for myself. The fishing was not on fire, but consitent takes were had each day which is a lot more than what could be said for our other recent trips to the lakes. That's all for now, watch this space as another long weekend is just around the corner.

Murrundindi River

After nursing a hangover for most of the morning, I decided to do something useful with my afternoon... fishing. I packed my fly gear and decided to give Murrundindi River a go. I fished this river on the second last day of 2008 with Covo and his dad. Due to the weather conditions on that day we didn't do as well as we had hoped, but 10 fish between the three of us kept us happy (Covo's dad got 20 on his last solo outing to the spot). I started fishing around 2pm, the temperature was a pleasant 28ºC, but felt more like 35ºC with all the gear I had on. It was not long before I landed my first trout, a small rainbow. Initial success was followed by a take in each likely looking run. If it wasn't for my sloppiness and delayed strikes I would have ended up with 20+ fish. I blamed my slow reaction to the still lingering hangover, but even so I landed 7 fish, best being a brown of about a pound and a quarter. I missed and lost easily that many fish, the most memorable being a solid rainbow which took my Parachute Adams while it was underwater experiencing life as a nymph. I called it quits just after 4pm giving me enough time to get home before dark, unpack and wash the car, and write this report. I am finding it hard to finish this entry as my mind is wandering, wandering to next weekend and my first trip of 2009 to the Snowys. Bring it on!

Eildon, First Aviva Fishing Trip

Day 1, Friday

This weekend I came good on my word and delivered a fishing trip I've been promising to my work mates for the last year. We left work at 5:00pm on Friday, but few errands had to be run before we would make our way up the Hume Highway. A detour to Northern Angler was needed to stock up on bait and purchase fishing licenses for the sport's newcomers. After all six newbies were ordained with a license to fish, we made our way to Coles. Unfamiliar with "if you are comfortable, it's not camping" theory, my friends decided to stock up on all the finest food Coles had to offer. I didn't mind, as I was promised I wouldn't have to do any cooking and the esky was already stocked with Tasmania and Mexico's finest (Boag's and Corona). One more stop at Charcoal Chicken and by 8 o'clock we were on our way. Heavy rain all along our two hour trip had me worried about the fishing, but either way I knew it was going to be a memorable trip. We arrived at our destination around 10pm. After full week's work everyone was keen to unwind with a game of poker and few drinks. I had my most successful game so far having made the final only to lose to Layboy. Seeing that our drinking pace was lagging we swapped poker with drinking games. This went on well into the night wiping out any possibility of a morning fishing session.

Day 2, Saturday

Morning started with a bacon and sausages breakfast prepared by the resident chef Allan Lay. Even though he failed to hook a fish for the entire trip, he earned his spot for all future trips due to his culinary skills. Around 11am we headed out for our first fishing session. Lower Pondage around the wall was our destination. On arrival, I could see few fish moving just within casting distance, the signs looked promising... but as it's often the case, looks can be deceptive. After 3 hours with seven rods in the water and not a single nibble it was obvious that it wasn't our day. We decided to take a break and explore the town of Eildon. It was a wise move as we stumbled across an award winning bakery with pies that had us going for seconds, and some of us for thirds. After refueling it was time to catch a fish. We drove to Gilmoure's bridge on the Goulburn River, the very spot I landed my first trout on a fly. Once again the Goulburn did not disappoint and it wasn't long before someone broke the drought. Yuri hooked and landed his first fish ever, a beautiful rainbow trout of about 2 pounds. Well done mate. Unfortunately the action went off soon after and it was time for a well cooked meal. Allan's skills were called upon once more as he cooked up a feast with trout for desert. Once again the night was made complete with a game of poker and emptying the fridge of any alcoholic drink left.

Day 3, Sunday

As they say, all good things must come to an end. It seemed that no one wanted this trip to finish, so after checking out at 10am we had just enough time for one more visit to the pie shop and one more fishing session. We drove to Eildon National Park, scene of many previous camping and fishing trips, for our final session.
The sun found its way through the clouds and it was a beautiful day to end our trip on. One more fishing novice caught his first fish to top it all off. Well done Chris, with the effort and ambition you put in for the whole trip you really deserved it mate. After few more happy snaps it was time to pack it in and head back towards Melbourne.
Monday, discussions about next possible destination have already started. To be continued with Aviva Fishing Trip v2.0

Allan's Photo Album