Archive - September 2007
 

Pity  we can't confirm the size of this little rascal

The Mighty Clarence at the Gorge

In the first week of September, I went camping with friends to a property on the Clarence River called “The Gorge”.  It is about an hour and a half west of Grafton.  This part of the Clarence River is just below the Mann River junction and is renowned for its spectacular gorge and river flat scenery, but more importantly to me, for its bass fishing.

When we arrived the river was still flowing very fast, but thankfully, not too high, following heavy rains in the catchment area 2 weeks earlier.  Attempts to fish from my canoe on the day after we arrived were less than successful.  We launched at a shallow section of the river but the water was flowing so fast that my electric motor could not make progress against the current, so I was restricted to fishing from the shore.  Though not the best way to fish for bass, there are more than enough access points where you can get down to the river and cast into the most inviting looking back eddies, snags and rock faces.  We were there for 6 nights and after 3 days the current had slowed enough to be able to paddle upstream into the gorge area where the water was deeper and the current slower.  Whilst I did manage to catch a couple of small bass from the canoe, it was not the optimum fishing platform in the strong current that was flowing at the time.

I found the best time to fish for bass was at sunrise and sunset.  When fishing in the middle of the day I caught one or 2 small bass (less than 20cm) but was annoyed by the herring which attacked my leader knots with gusto.  I caught a dozen or so of these herring (15 to 20 cm long) by switching to a #12 Chernobyl ant or a #14 bead head black nymph.

Of the many enjoyable fishing sessions I had on this trip (half of them in the rain), two stand out.  One morning, before sunrise, I got two bass within half an hour, one at 46 cm (my biggest so far) and the other at 42 cm.  Soon after, I landed another bass of less than 30 cm so it was time to go and get some breakfast.  Then on an overcast and threatening evening I found a large back eddy where I pulled out 4 bass of 32, 33, 34 and 36 cm in quick succession over a 30 metre stretch of river.  As well, I was busted off by something huge and had my fly buffeted by 2 other fish.

My most successful fly was a Chernobyl Ant tied on a #4 hook – it’s the one embedded in the 46 cm bass.  Other flies which were successful include Dahlberg Divers and a black foam bass popper with a green and black feather tail.

Overall I highly recommend The Gorge as a great fly fishing destination.  On this trip we camped, but on previous visits Penny and I stayed at the shack which has beds, fridges, microwaves etc, which is great accommodation.  And we enjoyed every minute of it.  For more information about the Gorge visit their website at http://thegorge.tripod.com/

Radge Diakiw

FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW

At the end of January seven members attended the club weekend at Arundel Park. As well as fishing we restocked the dam and Winton Park with advanced Rainbows fingerlings. The intention had been to stock a mix of rainbows and browns on the weekend, but no browns were delivered. The club has ordered browns to be delivered shortly. It looks like we are set for a bumper size crop of legal size trout next season.
 

It was good to see a couple of new members Bill Newbold and Griz Maino enjoying this weekend and doing the hard yards casting in a fairly strong Oberon breeze!. If you are new to the club don't be shy about coming along to these weekends its the best way to get to know other members and there's usually somebody on hand to offer advice on casting, knots, rigging etc and places to fish.

The fishing was slow I managed a very nice 2kg brown and lost another. David Webster and Jamie Chalmers both caught reasonable fish in Oberon Dam. The streams are low, some suffering more than others, the Campbell's particularly has dry stretches, I still managed to spot the odd fish rising in what remains of a large pool.

The Fish River at Tarana is low but flowing while the Duckmaloi looks unchanged as you pass over it on the Sydney Road.

Leslie the owner at Arundel tells me she believes they are in for a huge amount of rain in the next three months, I hope she right!

So if you want to go to a location where there's defiantly fish you can't beat the club dams, there's some educated large fish so approach with caution is my tip. The new fish should if all goes well be up to legal size in about 8 months time. There's good water in both dams, Arundel has got some great weed beds which on first light I saw a couple of big fish patrolling the edges with swirls and boils a plenty. If you tie your own flies I suggest you put on weed guards. The male brown took a Olive Damsel nymph. I hope to see more members up there in the coming months.

John Coles

Archive - February 2002

A Fishing Lesson

Four club members went fishing at Oberon last weekend. Arriving on the Friday lunchtime, out came the rods. Member one caught a 57 cm. Cock Brown; member two caught a 54 cm. cock Brown. Member one then caught another cock Brown, 53 cm. this time. Member three had busted peg and took it easy fishing, but member four worked hard with no result. Saturday morning member one hooked another 50 cm. Plus Brown but it slipped the hook as it was being brought to the net. All the others went fishless even member four who fished on when all the others put their feet up for smoko.

Saturday evening went pretty much the same way, all were fishless. Sunday morning came. Members one to three fished in a desultory manner, mainly sitting in the shade of a tree having a bit of a natter whilst number four fished with great tenacity. Then "BINGO" number four landed a 51 cm. hen Rainbow! All went home at lunch-time, happy with their weekends fishing. The moral? If at first you don't catch your fish, keep going hard, you'll be rewarded.

Moffat Falls

My wife Penny and I decided to spend some time in New England, around Ebor just after Christmas. After a short search on the web she had us booked into Moffat Falls Cottage for a couple of nights.

This compact and comfortable 2 bedroom cottage has wonderful views over the mountains but more importantly for me, overlooks the Moffat Falls. It's a short but steep walk down from the house to the falls, which I was assured, contained trout. I fished the large pool at the bottom of the waterfall as well as a number of smaller pools as the water from the falls made its way to the Styx River.

In 2 afternoon sessions and a morning session I landed 15 rainbows as well as dropping quite a few. I also had platypuses dodging my flies. Most of the fish were between 20 and 35 cm long and in good condition.

The most productive fly was a red tag but I also got fish on small woolly worms and tiny emerger patterns.

The water level was quite low so I wet waded and if I had a pair of gum boots I would not have got wet at all. In the middle of the day, when it was too hot to fish, Penny went for a swim under the waterfall and in the evenings she waxed lyrical over the accused of being a philistine for not noticing the sunsets, I did however, see many more rises than she did.

In contrast to the congestion and bustle along the coast around Coffs Harbour, the mountains were serene and we had a wonderful relaxing time.

For anyone interested, I suggest you check out the web site for Moffat Falls Cottage at www.moffatfalls.com.au.

Xmas in Sydney (Mike Schatunowski)

Christmas in Sydney was hot, even by the coast where I live. The TV and radio had been off all day and I saw and smelled the smoke before hearing about the bushfires, the sun a red orb in the western sky. After a lovely day with my two grown daughters their mother and their friend from London for whom Christmas in 37 degrees was a novelty, I prepared the camping and fishing gear in the evening before retiring at about 10 pm with the alarm set for 4 am.

I guess the temperature was still about 26 degrees, and I was not really aware of sleeping and was certainly awake when the alarm went off. A mouthful of orange juice, and I loaded the Land Cruiser. It was still hot, and the air smoky and still, the strong wind from Christmas day merely resting. A shower seemed like an impossible waste of time, so I was on the road at 04:25. The trip out of Sydney was great, from the Harbour Tunnel to the Hume Highway with only one set of lights, a 40 minute drive from Manly. An egg and bacon roll, a coffee, 2 Red Bulls and 4.5 hours later, I was at the Alpine Angler in Cooma catching up with Scott, and by 11:30, the tent was up in Jindabyne Campsite, where it was unseasonally cool and pleasant after the Sydney heat.

Off to the pub for a few beers, some lunch and the Hobart start on tele, then back to the tent for a few hours kip.

I decided to start my fishing at Island Bend on the Snowie. It was pretty quiet in the National Park, and by the time I got up to the Parks and Wildlife hut it was snowing. I couldn't believe it, 37 degrees C on Christmas Day and snow on Boxing Day. I parked up above Island Bend at the 'Beach' just below the Spawning Pool. By now it was pouring with rain, so I sat in the car and waited, it was about 5 pm and the water level was normal, I later discovered the river had not been 'run' for 4 days for power. The sky was leaden and the weather looked like it was set for the night, totally uninspiring, but then I spotted rises so I decided to get dressed. I have become a Simms user of late, waders, boots, gaiters, vest and even a fold up wading staff, the quality is excellent and can even be economic if purchased abroad. It was a full set of fleece underneath, and even my wading jacket with the hood up over a SFR baseball cap. I rigged up a Sage 5 weight with Hardy Ultralight and a 6 weight line as it was gusty and walked down to the waters edge with a size 12 Royal Wulff.

The rises were intermittent and all over the place, so rather than pursue a schizophrenic approach chasing rises I worked the top of the pool and within half a dozen casts got a hit and hooked up a nice solid fish that snapped the leader on the first leap. The word 'bugger' came to mind, as I rigged up a new tippet. I keep telling myself that I should always rig up a fresh leader and accept it takes a few more minutes rather than risk losing the first decent fish. By now it was clear that there were a lot of caddis flies on the water despite the wind and rain, so I rigged up an elk hair caddis and cast out again. You can't explain the magic of a fish hitting a dry fly to a non fisherman, it's always that same buzz whether it is small rainbows on the Gungarlin, or small bass hitting poppers on Manly Dam. The next 3 fish came to the beach, all rainbows and all about 15 inches. The wind and rain came and went, and at times it was peaceful with no wind and calm water, or calm water with rain and no wind. At times the rises would move totally to the shallow water down stream, at other times right under the opposite bank. I missed quite a few hits, hooked up a 5th fish that threw the hook in a wild leap. At about 8:30 pm, I was stood in knee deep water at the foot of the pool and cast to a rise about 20 yards up and to the right. By now it was dry and calm, and I had switched to a ginger coloured CDC caddis on a 16 hook. The hit was almost immediate, I hooked up and this fish tore off up the pool on a good run. I stepped and stumbled out to my left to get to the bank so I could better control this fish, and stop it from getting downstream of me. It charged off on 3 runs with the reel screaming, before I started getting some line back and by then the fight was pretty much over. It turned out to be a brown about 2 lbs, but very long and thin. By now it was pretty much dark, I'd had great fun, 6 hookups, 4 fish landed and safely released, but I was frozen. My hands were so cold, I'd avoided on principle going to the car to get my gloves which happened to be in my bag left from a winter float boating trip on Lake Lyall. But I certainly missed a warm hat.

That night it was minus 4 C at Island Bend I discovered the next day when speaking to some fishermen camping there. It was cool in Jindy, but after a few Schooners and a Roast Pork dinner in the Brumby Bar I slept well in a heavy frost that did a lot of damage to the local vegie gardens. I fished the next 2 evenings at Island Bend, I blanked on the second night but then had a couple of browns, both under a pound on the third night using white deer hair humpies to imitate the numerous snow flake caddis dancing around in the late evening sun.

On the morning of Saturday 29th , I rose early at 5 am and drove to the car park at the Thredbo bridge. I was rigged up with the trusty 5 weight and set off down river on the track on the far side of the river. I ignored the first couple of hundred yards of river, saw a couple of good rises in the first large quiet pool, both in quite inaccessible places with the bank overgrowth. I went in just before the first stand of poplars rigged with a Kaufman Stimulator as there was nothing visible on the water. There was a fall above me with the main current running down the bank to my left and a smaller chute to the right running either side of a small island. I dropped the Stimulator just above and to the left of the island, it drifted down to and alongside the island and then bang, a swirl, a splash, a lift of the rod and he was on. My immediate thought was 'Great, that is just where I'd be sitting if I was a Brown'. It wasn't a big fish, just over a pound, but very satisfying as I freed it and watched it swim away.

I worked my way down stream, there was still little activity. I switched from the Stimulator to a Elk Hair Caddis. Just above the second stand of poplars is a wide rapid. I went in at the bottom and worked my way upstream. This is where the wading staff is so useful. The water isn't rough or fast, but the bottom is so uneven with rocks and ledges and undulations that the staff helps with the balance and certainly avoids a few swims. I worked the rough water to the left. For a while the river just reminded me of a stretch of the Tongariro -Taupo in NZ with a flow of water down the far right hand bank that looked various shades of green. It looked a likely spot and I made one cast. Within a couple of yards drift the fly was hit and I hooked up to another fish. I saw him swirl as I hooked him and he looked bigger than he was. A few minutes later I had him at the net, another brown the same size as the first, I was feeling good already and it was only about 7:00. I crossed the river at the poplars and stopped to take off my fleece, the sun was up and it was warming up alarmingly quickly. I was already regretting not bringing a drink. I fished the next few falls downstream without success. I tried nymphing the deeper pools without success and decided to head back for breakfast. I was almost at the National Park entry kiosk when I came across a pool that I hadn't tried on the way down. It had a shallow rocky stretch then deeper water across to the other bank. I stepped in about 8 feet to the middle of the rocky stretch. I had gone back to an Elk Hair Caddis, and after working the left bank above me where most of the flow was, I transferred my attention to the middle of the river. First cast I saw a fish come up for a look at the fly, and then turn away. That's always a good excuse for a change, so I switched to a small ginger CDC caddis. It took another half dozen casts before a fish (same one? who knows?), took the fly, it was further upstream and further out, but who cares. This was yet another brown of the same size as the others. I decided to keep this one for breakfast and head back.

I wish I could say it tasted great, it didn't, I ate half of it, it looked better swimming, even if fighting against the bend of the rod that it did on a plate. I do believe I am hooked on Catch and Release.

In all I had 10 fish, all taken on a dry fly either in the Thredbo or the Snowie. I blanked on the Moonbah, a small river very weedy and willow overgrown, appeals to some, but not me. Sunday morning I fished the Thredbo below the bridge again with absolutely no luck, saw some very small fish rising but couldn't be bothered with the sport. It's funny like that, one day is a belter, the next an absolute fizzer in the same place. Still it beats the hell out of fishing stocked ponds in England where you pay 12 quid for 2 fish on a catch and kill water. God forbid that that practice takes off here.

Archive - January 2002

Oberon (David Webster)

Seven members attended the clubs Oberon weekend of the 23 November 2001. The weather conditions varied from warm and sunny on the Friday to thunderstorms, lighting and heavy showers on Saturday morning, back to sunny and warm again on Sunday. The streams in the Oberon area are generally fairing well water level wise, for this time of year. I fished one of them on the Friday afternoon for a total of five fish, between 20 to 31 cm, all browns, although small, great fun on light gear in tight water. All fish were taken on nymphs, four fish came from the same pool. Friday evening I fished the club dam with two other members. Ken Hunt, landed a very nice fish of 2.2 kg about 53cm a very healthy brown.

Saturday morning most of us opted to fish Oberon dam despite the not to distant thunderstorm and lighting. I fished alongside Gordon McGill and Ken Hunt and it was some time before m y luck changed and I landed a brown of 43cm, released to fight another day. Saturday afternoon after refreshment we went our separate ways. Relative new members Bruce Scott and Mick, went off with an armful of maps to explore streams in the area. I must say I was impressed with Mick's research which included aerial photographs of the area! Later they joined up with Mike Schatnuwski and Bruce reported catching two fish from Brisbane Valley Creek for their efforts. Saturday evening word was out about Ken's success and we all fished the club dam. On arrival we were met by Reg Groves who had just landed a nice brown. As the light faded the fish started to come to the surface, one in particular, a large fish at rods length from the bank gave me a quite a jolt. About an hour later my lucky streak kicked in and I landed a nice brown of 1.5kg 43cm long. Shortly after Mike Schatnuwski landed a nice rainbow of 3 1/2 lbs in the old scale. Then all suddenly went quite and we retired to HQ for the post mortem and drinks.

Sunday morning we all started early. Some decided to give the club dam another try, I opted for Oberon dam along with Gordon and Ken. We covered a fair amount of water between us & only sighted one fish moving all morning. It was about three hours later that I eventually connected with a nice brown of 1.6kg about 3 ½ lbs, 53cm long. Shortly after we had to make the reluctant decision to pack up for the drive home. All things considered it was a very enjoyable weekend and some good fishing was had. We did run into a few snakes on our travels, so watch were you put your feet if you venture out Oberon way in the coming warmer months.

Archive - December 2001

Glenbawn Report (Robin Woodroof)

About a dozen club members fished Glenbawn Dam together with the a good crowd from the Newcastle Flyrodders Club on October 20-21. Only 3 - 4 hours drive from Sydney to the dam saw most members arrive on Friday afternoon/evening to set up camp. The wind had been howling across the dam all Friday but dropped off later in the evening to dead calm which had everyone anticipating a great weekend's fishing.

Although the wind had dropped and conditions were for the most part good for fishing, somebody must have forgotten to tell the fish. Only 10 or 12 fish were caught all weekend, a very different scenario from that described Peter Hayes at the last club meeting. There was very little sign of the prolific weed beds we were all expecting, and those that did catch fish worked very hard for them around the timber and fished deep. Not all the fish caught fell to flies with some taken by deep divers and spinnerbaits. Fish caught were Bass, Golden Perch and one unfortunate Carp (read unfortunate angler).

Jamie Chalmers did the most damage, as usual, with 3 or 4 fish chalked up for the weekend. The dam was at 103% capacity, down from 107% a day or two before, which the locals said accounted, in part, to the lack of action. The dam is full at 127% capacity - explain that???

There was quite a lot of constructive talk (early in the evening) and fly box discussion with the guys from Newcastle at the camp BBQ and around the fire. For a small club with approximately 40 members they usually manage at least 20 blokes on any given club event - an envious statistic. In short, although most went home fishless we all had a very enjoyable weekend and more attention should be paid by club members to this fishery (and according to reports, to Lake St. Clair).

Our thanks go to Newcastle Fly Rodders' for their invitation to join them at this event - we must owe the one by now, perhaps an invite up to Oberon.

Flyfishers Estate (Radge Diakiw)

In mid November Barry Whitehead and I had the opportunity to fish the soon to be opened Flyfishers Estate which is near the Frying Pan Arm of Lake Eucumbene on the Deeban Peninsular. At this stage the Flyfishers Estate comprises of about 10 to 12 interconnected pools with the water coming from a spring in the property. The pools have been designed to provide excellent habitats and food sources for the trout as well as providing anglers with an extremely wide range of fishing environments.

In the 2 hours we were there I managed to land 6 fish (rainbows and browns) up to 1.5 kg each. I also lost a monster and saw many fish including some in the 2 kg range. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to fish the lake proper so we just drooled at what was the prettiest and fishiest bit of the Lake Eucumbene shore I've seen.

As a "getting to know you" offer the Flyfishers Estate have provided a weekend (2 nights) for 2 staying at the Lodge on the property. We plan to raffle this prize in January or February so don't miss the opportunity to win. For anyone who wants more information there will be an information sheet at the next club meeting.

Archive - November 2001

Fishing New Mexico (Frank Lucero)

Well, the summer is over in the northern hemisphere! And with all of the recent events, a friend and I decided that it was time to get away from things for a while. So we went fishing to one of our favourite spots. It's about a two hour drive from Albuquerque followed by a two hour hike into the San Pedro Parks wilderness.

We fish a very small stream, less than a meter across and not more than a meter deep. It's filled with lots of little cut throats that aren't too picky about our fly or presentation. It was really nice to get out.

Now the weather is turning cold and that's about the end of the high country fishing. The San Juan, which is a tail water river is good until Thanksgiving. And the Chama river is best for big browns in late January and early February but it takes such a big effort to get there that they rarely get fished to.

Beyond Downriggers

Friday night was very windy and very cold for mid October. Had a quick (and pointless) fish in Lake Lyell and then retreated for dinner and the comfort (!) of my car. Actually, the car was pretty good. Could stretch out full length. had the windows down a bit and the sleeping bag was more than adequate protection against the cold. Mind you, I spent the next night at the Rydal pub.

Next morning I slept in - and found myself on the water and fishing at 5 am. I really do need to get curtains if I am to continue sleeping in the car. At 5:05 am I had lost all sense of feeling in my hands and with that went my enthusiasm for blind fishing. Yep, there wasn't a whole lot of visible activity. I changed location and persisted (without even the remotest piece of luck) until Geoff arrived at about 7am.

Quick breakfast near the boat ramp at Lake Lyell where I saw what I now aspire to. Two men (no, not the men) preparing a V-nose punt for a days fishing. 50 hp Yamaha 4 stroke - electric trolling motor. 2 downriggers - electric of course. One had a temperature gauge fitted just above the bomb. The other had a camera!!! Yep, you can watch the fish come up to your lure and then decide they don't like it. Added to that they had another device (picked up in Canada) that emits an electric signal that is supposed to attract fish. They just weren't sure what signal attracts Australian fish. Funny guys to talk to.

The next 9 hours were spent at The Fish River. Water was running pretty fast and was coloured - but not too much. As we moved further upstream, however, it started to get muddy. Not a lot of fish activity. I caught a small rainbow on a red tag. It was rising over the other side of the river and after a couple of dodgy, but thankfully short, casts down went the red tag and up came the rod.

Soon after I saw a brown in a shallow backwater sitting in the eddie and feeding selectively. I froze and Geoff moved around behind it where he could get a good cast. This was to be the start of a very testing day for Geoff. He put some good casts in, red tags I think, and the fish just wasn't interested. As good as it was, the cast was still a challenge. The fish was backed up against a pile of sticks that made it almost impossible to land the fly on his nose. And he wasn't prepared to move the 20-30 cm to take a very suspicious looking beetle thingy. Eventually he moved off, or was spooked, not sure which. Just wish I had thrown a rock at him. Around lunch time we arrived at a pool where a boisterous little fish was rising in the main current. I got a couple of half decent casts in (under, over and around trees) before he stopped rising. So we had some lunch and by the time we had finished he was back on the job. The attached photo is what he looked like after he tried to eat my Royal Wulff. This was a very memorable fish. The first fish I have caught on a dry fly that I have watched rise up out of the gloom, take a good look at the fly, move his head slowly to the side as though he was going to refuse it, and then quickly suck it down. I hope he is still in the same spot and bigger next year.

More walking along the river, not much happening. On the way back we saw another fish in the same pool as the last one feeding in the main current just a little bit further forward. Geoff had a few hapless casts at it but it had stopped rising and we weren't quite sure how far forward it was. Another fish started rising further back so Geoff moved to it. I decided to stick with the fish at the front and bingo it rose again. It was further forward than we thought and by this stage I could do no wrong with my casting. Fish number 3 and Geoff's day went from bad to worse. Who was it that said fishing was a confidence game?

We arrived back at the ramp at Lake Lyell to pick up Geoff's car. The guys with the world's best fishing toys were just packing their boat after a full day on the Lake. One fish. We spent the night at the Alexander Hotel at Rydal (which has changed hands, and that is a whole story in itself). Next morning we made a quick trip to Thompson's Creek Dam. Saw quite a few fish as we were walking along the wall. Buggered if I know how you could catch them, because you are so high up they see you a long time before you see them. Many of them still had their spawning colours. In fact on the way back I had a go at a dopey male rainbow who was so interested in spawning he didn't even want to think about feeding.

At a super secret spot we saw a couple of thumping big fish working regular beats. The water, however, was crystal clear and the fish were being very, very selective. Just ask Geoff, who sat for 30 minutes on his haunches until his legs had gone numb watching a three and a half pound hen rainbow not take the slightest interest in his fly. Eventually she moved off. And then there was the 4+ pound rainbow that I managed to spook ........ One day we will get one of these fish. Unfortunately we had to leave the water and in fact probably rushed things a bit at the end. Good fun though.

Angling World Agog - New Species on Fly (Barry Whitehead)

Whilst on a field trip on behalf of members, our diligent events co-ordinator successfully landed a 22 mm Couta Mudeye. Casting out his size 18 Sawyers Nymph on a 7X tippet he was able to play the creature and bring it back to shore with it's jaws firmly clamped on the fly.

As this is possibly the first specimen of this species taken on fly should our co-ordinator be preparing a claim to IGFA for a world record? Perhaps the fact he left the creature on the hook as bait was not in the best traditions of Halford and Skues - and could lead to a please explain from the club's ethics committee?