It’s been a long time between newsletters, but we’ve had good reason: the arrival of our first baby, a little boy named Sidney, and the opening of our new fly shop in Launceston, FlyShop 1864 (at 45 Cameron Street, Launceston, www.flyshop1864.com.au ).  

Onto the fishing report… 

Tasmania got off to a great start in spring, with the Macquarie River featuring the best red spinner hatches since the 1960’s. What a difference three wet winters make! On top of the red spinners, we had loads of excellent black spinner falls on the South Esk, and some great creek fishing in the north-east. All-in-all the fish size this year is up about 30% on average, due to the extra rain and flood foraging to be had. This includes trout throughout the Western Lakes, where fish numbers have also doubled in some of the more seasonal catchments, for example the Christys Creek area. 

The fishing prior Christmas saw some excellent hatches of mayfly on the famed Little Pine Lagoon, as well as Woods Lake and a couple of the Nineteen Lagoons. Down on the rivers and the South Esk continued to fish exceptionally well, though more new anglers were to be found, practicing in preparation for the recently held Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships. Again the north-east creeks fished very well, and timing our visits to coincide with good water levels and warm water-temperatures was the key. The Meander upstream of Deloraine also proved consistent with caddis and mayfly hatches, with our Scruffy dry flies and Pheasant and Ice Nymphs accounting for many of our trout. Both patterns will be added to our webshop next month, along with more than 30 more of our new custom ties. 

February was a hard month for fly fishing in Tasmania, as the huge weather systems crossing mainland Australia sent consistent easterlies throughout the state. This made the fishing quite difficult, with patchier hatches, and fickle fish, as competitors in the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships found out for themselves.  

The weather pattern has now settled, and we are experiencing some great hopper fishing on the Macquarie, Lake, Brumbys, Meander and South Esk rivers. The 2^nd of March also marked the first day of serious autumn mayfly hatches on the lowland rivers, whilst last weekend saw excellent ant falls on Brumbys Creek. The sight fishing has been great, and we expect an excellent mayfly season through till late April. If you would like to pop down to Tassie for some end-of-season sight-fishing, then send us an Email. We’ll pick you up at the airport, and have you fishing within 30 minutes! www.riverfly.com.au/contact .

  Our new FlyShop – FlyShop 1864, 45 Cameron Street Launceston www.flyshop1864.com.au

This season saw Simone and I open our flyshop in Launceston, which we are very excited about. We’ve named it in honour of the year that trout were first hatched in Tasmania–1864. Our shop is the first and only Orvis accredited dealer in Tasmania, which was a great coup. Orvis are the largest fly fishing company in the world, and have been around since 1856. In addition to Orvis, we stock a number of niche brands including Recycled Waders, whom make great fishing packs and bags from old recycled waders, Rio flylines, Maxima lines, Peter McKean Cane Rods, and a large range of internationally-competitive prices on fly tying materials.

A lot of our stock is already online, and available through our webshop at www.flyshop1864.com.au , with the complete range online by May.

Product Reviews and News –Orvis Hydros flylines, our custom 1864 trout flies & new Ice Dubbing

¨      New Orvis Hydros Flylines

For years now, Rio and Scientific Anglers have been the primary choices for flylines in Australia. We love the Rio lines, and have used them for years, however our line of choice has just changed. Released in January 2012, the new Orvis Hydros flyline range is our new go-to flyline of choice. Their top-of-the range Hydros 3D textured line, which we’ve used for a couple of months now, has proved its worth as the best sightfishing line around. It floats brilliantly, the coating enables the line to shoot as good as, if not better than anything on the market, and the textured coating avoids all of the previous problems of textured lines: excess noise, finger cutting and poor roll casting. At $104.95 it’s also great value, and perfect for medium-fast, to fast action rods such as the Orvis Helios, and the Sage One. If you prefer slower action rods, then the regular Trout Taper is the line to choose. With a traditional coating and taper, and a high-float tip, this is the perfect match for most Orvis Helios mid-flex rods, Winston tapers, cane rods, and creek fishing. Again they are a great value line, at $89.95. http://flyshop1864.com.au/shop/lines-and-backing/

¨      Custom 1864 Trout Flies

One of the points of difference with our flyshop is that we tie all of our own fly patterns for the shop. We don’t purchase from Asia or Africa, where a child could be forced to tie flies for little return, and what’s more, our flies are developed, tried, tied and tested by myself and our RiverFly team, day-in and day-out. The results are the most functional, innovative and effective flies available for Australian conditions. By May we plan to have all our patterns available on our webshop (including a few of our previously ‘secret’ patterns). We also tie to order, so feel free to send us an Email with your request www.riverfly.com.au/contact .

¨      Orvis Ice Dubbing

One of the great new materials we are stocking is Orvis Ice Dub. Anyone that knows our fly patterns would realise that UV-reflective materials play a large role in effective patterns. Up until now we have used and recommended Glister as the synthetic dubbing of choice, but we’ve come across a better substitute. Orvis Ice Dub has all the light-reflective properties of Glister, and in fact looks exactly the same, however you’ll find it softer and easier to use. The colour range is great, and we have 18 colours in stock. http://www.flyshop1864.com.au/shop/dubbing/

Fly fishing tips – don’t hold the fly, powdered floatants and leader lengths

1. Many times I see anglers holding their dry fly whilst waiting to spot a rise. This typically crushes the fly, and hinders its performance. My suggestion is to instead hold the tippet, just above the fly, leaving everything ready to go and easily at hand.
2. After landing a fish, powdered silicone floatants are ideal for drying out a slimed-up fly. Our favourite is Loon Top Ride http://flyshop1864.com.au/shop/floatants-sinkants-and-caddies/loon-top-ride-floatant/ , however Frogs Fanny has a lot of devotees, as does the identical (and well priced) Orvis Float Dust.
3. Changing leader lengths to suit the fishing can help to catch more fish. When fishing heavy flies such as grasshoppers, or fishing in the wind, I recommend a leader of around 9 feet. When more subtle hatches are on, such as small mayfly and ants, I like to move up to a 12 foot leader. They cast with a similar effort, however the added length gives a greater margin for error should the cast go astray.

Wilderness Huts – Opening in October 2012

Lastly but importantly, stay tuned for our next newsletter, where we will be announcing the completion of our new wilderness huts! This has been the most exciting project to be involved in, and is the fruition of more than 3 years of hard work. Spaces are limited for the 2012/2013 season, so if you are keen to try Australia’s best wilderness fly fishing, then be sure to let us know www.riverfly.com.au/contact

 Thank you from Daniel & Simone Hackett.

RiverFly Tasmania www.riverfly.com.au

FlyShop 1864 www.flyshop1864.com.au

45 Cameron Street, Launceston, Tasmania.

Many apologies for the delay between reports…we’ve been busy with our young son, and our new fly shop www.flyshop1864.com.au . Now, onto the fishing:

February saw the arrival of the hoppers to the rivers of the Northern Midlands, in particular the South Esk, Lake, lower Macquarie and Meander rivers. The large yellow hoppers were a little low on numbers on all the rivers, other than the lower Macquarie, however the small brown and orange hoppers were great trout fodder on the remainder. Our imitation of these, the Mini WMD http://flyshop1864.com.au/shop/dry-flies/mini-wmd-hopper/ proved to be the best pattern. Other highlights have included black spinner falls later in the day, between 2pm and 4pm on the slower rivers.

The autumn mayfly also started last week, with dun hatches (black spinner duns, baetids and caenids) occuring on lower Brumbys Creek, Macquarie, North Esk and Meander. Our Possum Shaving Brush and Black Spinner have been the best patterns. http://flyshop1864.com.au/shop/trout-flies-tied-in-our-shop-in-tasmania/

Fish in general have been in excellent condition this year, with Brumbys Creek having the largest average size for years (2 1/2lbs). The Lower Macquarie has lots of fat and young fish presently, whilst the Lake and Meander rivers have some longer and older fish. Cormorant plagues have cleaned out a few runs of the South Esk and Meander, along with the odd lagoon in the Western Lakes, however these are only isolated occurances.

Up on the plateau and late season mayfly have been showing among the Nineteen Lagoons in the Western Lakes, as well as Woods Lake where they’ve been joined by tailing trout. A break from the heat last week also saw water temperatures drop and midge hatches start again. It shouldn’t be too long until the gum beetles and jassids make an appearance.

Looking towards the next three weeks and we’ll be stocking up on black and red spinner mayfly patterns, small mayfly emergers, and the odd ant pattern in readiness for the autumn mayflies and ants. In the meantime we’ll be focussing on the consistent and exciting hopper fishing to be found on most days; the only conditions to be wary of are those with south-easterly winds, which somewhat slow the hatches. Finding sheltered nooks and crannies on the streams are the keys to success during these periods.

Thanks, Daniel Hackett.

Here’s a mini-report for the last week of the season:

Lots of flooding in northern Tasmania has meant the best fishing has been on the small rivers and streams. The St Patricks and Meander have proved the pick, with 25% of trout to dry flies (Fastwater Duns) , and the rest to nymphs (Pheasant and Peacock, Black and Peacock, and Ostrich Herl nymphs). Late afternoon, from 2-4pm has seen the best fishing, and the chance of small-scale baetid mayfly hatches. The South Esk should be at a great level for fishing by this weekend, whilst the lower Macquarie and Brumbys Creek are best left till next season.

Fly Fishing during May: The best of the rainbow fishing will be on the rivers, including the Weld (southern Tasmania), Leven (rainbow sections) and upper Mersey.

Out in the Western Lakes the tailers are well and truly back in action, along with dry fly fishing on the still days. Gum Beetles and Jassids are out on the lower altitude lakes.

The key for this time of year, whether on the rivers or lakes, is to fish the calm weather patterns: frontal systems affect the fishing quite severely.

Mini-report:

Lower Macquarie and Brumbys Creek are fishing well, with high and clear water during the weekdays in particular. The fish are in superb condition, averaging a shade over 2lbs, all on dry flies (raft fishing these waters should be on every angler’s ‘bucket list’). The two Esks are also fishing well, with high flows from recent rains. The St Pats and smaller creeks have colder than normal water-temps, however dries and nymphs are effective. The Meander is still dirty from a land-slip caused by clearfelling in the headwaters (State Forest), and it is not known when it will clear. Hoppers have begun, with our WMD Hopper claiming some good catches during the past week. Mayfly will also increase in numbers again, as the month progresses.We are expecting excellent hatches during March and April. Sight-fishing the Western Lakes has been below average in general, caused by the unusual weather patterns this year. The bonus is average sizes measuring 30% above average years, so bright polaroiding weather (when it comes) has yielded trout to 6lbs on the dry this season.

A Sunburnt Country

With the large-scale floods across Australia at the moment, it’s an appropriate time to remember Dorothea Mackellar’s iconic Australian poem, My Country. Here’s an excerpt that fits in well with the last decade of drought and floods in Australia:

 ‘I Love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.’

 Like most of Australia, Tasmania has received record rainfall. The floods of last week took out bridges over the Liffey, Brumbys and Meander, and made roads over the Mersey, Georges, Brumbys and Meander all impassable. Poatina road along with the East Coast and Bass Highways were all closed in sections. Six hundred cubic metres of water per second is currently flowing down the South Esk and into Launceston. It’s plain to see the damage and heartache that floods across Australia have caused, but what is not immediately clear is the beneficial gasp of fresh air that the aquatic environment will receive, once the mud is gone and scouring has repaired.

After two years of above average rainfalls, it has been amazing to see the way aquatic eco-systems bounce back. When I first started guiding, late in 2002, I’d guide and fish on the Lower Macquarie and Brumbys Creek for one hundred days per season. The water was always high, and always clear. This all changed as the drought took hold, and these famed tailrace fisheries began to lack the medium to high flows that had been norm since the late 1960’s. All of a sudden there were months at a time when either fisheries were not worth fishing. Trout from Brumbys Creek and the Lower Macquarie River dropped to an average size of a pound or so, and long gone was the polaroiding and dry fly fishing that elevated these fisheries to icon status. But then the rains came over the winter of 2009, Great Lake began to fill, and in January 2010 the waters began to flow high and clear again, down Brumbys Creek and into the Lower Macquarie.

Move forwards to the current day, and these fisheries have made a remarkable return to old. The average size of trout in Brumbys Creek for the season has been 2lbs, and the Lower Macquarie has featured an amazing average size of 2 1/4lbs. The flies of choice have all been dry flies. Over on the Meander River, which has benefitted from legislated environmental flows for the first time in history, the average sizes have doubled in size from the drought years, and rare and endangered green and gold bell frogs now happily dot the green riverside banks. The rains have certainly had their benefits, and our rivers have shown that given the chance, they will rejuvenate from the worst of droughts, and no doubt, the worst of floods.

 Fishing report Dec-Jan 2011

Terrestrial beetles have been a major food source on the rivers over the past two months, with mayfly (including red spinner) also present. Black spinners have been the most dominant mayfly during spring and early summer, with baetids and caenid hard to find. The damsels and dragonflies have been out and about, tempting trout at the usual haunts of Brumbys Creek and the South Esk. The South Esk fished well through December, when flows decreased enough to wade. The Lower Mac has been flowing high and clear, and featured excellent dry fly fishing to sippers. Lots of fish in the 3-4lb class for those with a keen eye. Brumbys has also featured excellent dry fly fishing, in particular from 1pm-3pm, prior to the afternoon sea breeze. The upper Meander has fished consistently, though the middle and lower Meander has been too high to fish for most of the season. We are expecting exceptional conditioned fish as the levels drop by late January, and the hopper fishing begins. The upper St Pats and North Esk have fished extremely well as trout have been less flighty in higher than average summer flows. The Western Lakes have fished sporadically (reflecting the weather patterns), but stable days have seen some excellent sight-fishing on the big fish waters, particularly to gum beetle feeders and black spinner sippers. Frontal systems have effected the fishing more than usual however, and prolonged high waters have left the flooded edges less fertile than would be found during spring floods. Woods lake and Great Lake have been the pick of the hydro-lakes.

February –April forecast

As January progresses and dries out, we will be targeting sporadic hatches of juvenile grasshoppers and mayfly. Damsel and dragonfly leapers on Brumbys will also be a reliable target, as will sippers on the Lower Macquarie. Into mid February and the hoppers will start in proper, and be joint by the beginnings of the late summer / autumn mayfly hatches on the South Esk, North Esk, Lower Macquarie and Meander. As late March arrives the hoppers will disappear for the season, leaving us with six weeks or so of excellent ant and mayfly hatches to the end of April.

Tasmanian Land Conservancy New Leaf Project – $23 million conservation project

Many of you would have heard that Gunns timber company sold the majority of their freehold land assets(28,000 hectares) to conservation group, the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. Make no mistake, this is a turning point in the history of Tasmania, and a monumental move away from extractive industries such as wood-chipping, and towards sustainable industries such as eco-tourism supported by conservation. The Tasmanian Land Conservancy now manages more than 1% of Tasmania’s land mass for conservation, but this comes at a cost: more than $23 million dollars. The initial land purchases were funded by a number of philanthropic Australian business people, including the founders of Kathmandu and Wotif.com, but to ensure that the properties remain in the hands of the TLC, significant additional funds need to be raised. The project has be coined the ‘New Leaf Project’, and if you want to see Tasmania turn over a new leaf and change direction from industrial clearfell logging to eco-tourism and conservation, then I urge you to visit this site, and make a donation. http://www.tasland.org.au/newleaf/

Fly Cards fly tying booklet

Just a quick reminder that our new Fly Cards fly tying booklet is available from www.inseasonflyfishing.com . Fly Cards has recently received great reviews in FlyLife magazine.

That’s all for now, have a great 2011! Thank you from the RiverFly Team – Daniel, Simone & Patrick.

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Book your Jan-April guided dry fly fishing by sending us an email

I just wanted to confirm that the 2012 Commonwealths will be hosted by Fly Fish Australia in Tasmania in 2012. Planning is well under way and all the details are available on the web site http://www.flyfishaustralia.com.au or through our mirrored site http://www.2012commonwealths.com.au. We are also hosting the 2011 Oceanias in NSW in the previous year. Its mirrored site access details are 2011oceanisa.com.au

Both competitions will be great for tourism, fly fishing generally and of course will showcase our wonderful fisheries and sponsors.

Regards,
Stephen Chatterton
President – Fly Fish Australia Inc.

Flies of the moment: Fastwater Dun and Ostrich Herl nymph, available from http://www.inseasonflyfishing.com

Changeable spring days have been stiffling the hatches, but the red spinners are showing, along with beatids, during warmer muggy days. Flying ants have also been on the menu, along with lots of mayfly and stonefly nymphs. Thirty percent of fish are now coming to dry flies.

In the highlands, Arthurs Lake is fishing well for tailing trout as water floods into new tree and sag-covered grounds, and the Nineteen Lagoons region of the Western Lakes is at perfect levels for tailing trout. Snow is predicted on the mountains for Friday and Saturday, but Sunday could be perfect for finding fish covering new ground.

Flood fishing…

Tasmania hasn’t escaped the big wet of the past month, with many lakes and rivers overflowing at present. The rain has been welcomed as we enter our second wet spring in a row, and the Tasmanian fishery hasn’t looked this healthy in more than a decade.

Little Pine Lagoon was one of the first lakes to overflow late in August, offering two days of unbelievable flood-fishing. Spiders were one of the main food items, an event that was mirrored on the middle Macquarie River during the same period, with the addition of earthworms and beetles to the menu. Following on from these early floods, the South Esk has risen and dropped three times, as has the Meander and North Esk rivers. The increased availability of food during the early season is great for the trout, which have recovered quickly from winter spawning, and started to put on weight.

North Esk and Meander rivers are currently in flood, but should be back to normal by the end of the week. Sunday saw the new Lake Huntsman, on the headwaters of the Meander River, rise an enormous thirty centimetres overnight; the result was some phenomenal fishing to more than thirty tailing and foraging trout. The average size was fairly consistent, between one and two pounds, with a handful of fish to three pounds. Earthworm’s were the target at Lake Huntsman, but our un-weighted Mk2 Woolly Buggers proved to be the best pattern. Tied on heavy hooks, but lacking any lead or beads, these flies almost hover in the water column, making it easier to keep them weed free. These fly patterns are one of many that I tie-to-order for customers, and are available through our online shop, In Season Fly Fishing http://www.inseasonflyfishing.com

Western Lakes Campouts

As many of you would know, each summer we run campouts in the Western Lakes region, which is part of the Tasmanian World Heritage Area. Our business is pioneering sustainable guiding in the Western Lakes, and in 2009 became the first guided fly fishing business to be licenced by National Parks Tasmania to operate in the area.

The feature of the Western Lakes fishery is the sight fishing, which ranges from mayfly hatches, to wade-polaroiding silty-flats (similar to bonefishing), and of course the tailing trout. From our basecamp we range across thirty or more lakes, lagoons and creeks, each offering a different setting than the last.

If you would like to join us on one of our campouts this season, send us an Email as we are filling places now.

The Tasmanian mayfly season

Mayfly are famous in fly fishing around the world: they are the iconic insect of fly fishing. In less than twenty day’s time the mayfly will begin to hatch on the lowland rivers of Tasmania, an event eagerly anticipated each season. These early hatches are my favourite, particularly on famed streams such as the Macquarie and South Esk rivers, and offer the first consistent dry fly fishing of the year. The river levels are perfect for the lead-up to the hatches, and we are expecting excellent fishing on the Meander, Macquarie, North and South Esk rivers, on any of the spring days featuring calm and stable weather.

For those of you interested in tying your own flies for the start of the mayfly season, we recommend the deer hair Shaving Brush, Possum Shaving Brush and Ostrich Herl Nymph. The tying instructions for these patterns are included in my new fly tying book, Fly Cards, which is available from our online shop http://inseasonflyfishing.com/shop/fly-cards/ .

Fly Fishing Tip

Most early season trout, found foraging flooded edges in search of worms and frogs, take an inert (stationary) fly. Fish in this situation will chase a moving fly, but only a minority will actually eat it. Use movement to attract the trout’s attention, but then keep the fly still, and look for the white flash of the mouth as it opens and shuts, or a swirl as the trout turns on the fly. Detecting the take on an inert presentation can be difficult, so watch the leader carefully, and strike with confidence.

In Season Fly Fishing

Many of you would know that we have launched our own online shop, In Season Fly Fishing http://www.inseasonflyfishing.com . For anyone wanting to purchase our tied-to-order trout flies, Fly Cards and In Season Tasmania books, The Source Tasmania dvd or our limited edition Western Lakes artwork, this is the place to order them. Thank you for supporting our family business, and the products that we create.

That’s all for now. Our October newsletter will include fishing reports from the start of the mayfly season, as well as reports from our first Western Lakes fishing of the season.

Thank you from the RiverFly Team – Daniel, Simone & Patrick.

Lake Huntsman flood feeder

After another wet week in Tassie, the flood fishing is beginning to peak. The past couple of days were spent guiding on flooding lakes and rivers, where trout foraged in newly flooded margins, predominantly in search of drowned earthworms. Mid-mornings were the best time for catches, but as the water temperatures rise, the early morning action should also increase.  Waters to watch over the next three weeks will include the middle and upper Macquarie (if the nearly-filled Tooms Lake spills, the Macquarie River should feature some great flooded-margin fishing), Lake Huntsman and Lake Echo (as it approaches the 4.0m – 5.0m from full level). Of course, the famed Nineteen Lagoons will be on everybodys list to target, once the road gate at Lake Augusta opens.

We’ve used a number of patterns over the past few days, included The Earthworm and Fuzzle Bugger, however, our unweighted Mk2 Woolly Buggers proved to be the best patterns on slightly hesitant trout. These can be found at our webshop, and tying instructions are included in our new fly tying booklet, Fly Cards.

Fly Cards by Daniel Hackett