Wild Tasmanian hopper feeder

Gone Fishing…

 It’s been three months since our last fishing report, but with good reason: we’ve spent more than 50 days on the rivers since our last note, guiding through pre-Christmas red and black spinner falls, summer hopper hatches and the beginning of the autumn mayflies, and spent another 30 days out in the World Heritage Listed Western Lakes region, experiencing not only the sightfishing, but nature itself. We’ve found remnants of late 19^th century grazing operations, old forgotten horse and cart tracks, not to mention a world of detailed minutiae: cushion plants and orchids, blue and red mountain hoppers, and ancient remnant pencil pine stands. 

 There have been many surprises this season, some owed in part to the end of the drought, some to new river venues, and some to our expanding Western Lakes Campouts. One common theme throughout them all has been constant: wild Tasmanian trout. Whether it’s been the super-conditioned trout of the Meander or lower Macquarie River, the flats cruising trout of the Western Lakes, or the hidden monsters of the fast-water river gorges, the aim of our days has revolved around core values of inspiring places, visual fishing opportunities and wild trout. If we can find these three goals, we know that the enjoyment of the day will take care of itself.  

 Current fishing report

 Autumn fishing has started in northern Tasmania, with large baetid mayfly falls on the lower Macquarie and Esk rivers, and ants appearing on humid days. This has created some classic match the hatch fishing, both from the raft and wading. Grasshoppers are still around and on the menu, and are proving effective at times–again, this has particularly been the case on the lower Macquarie River and a few of our other favourite haunts. The strong baetid hatches are expected to continue through March and April, to the close of the brown trout season at the start of May. 

 Summer highlights

 Summer highlights at RiverFly have been many and varied: young Rory sightfishing and landing a 4lb trout on the Meander, Frank and his six days of sight-fishing nirvana, high flows and great rafting on the post-drought Macquarie river, and the sight-fishing experience of the Western Lakes campouts with the three amigo’s Jappy, Mark and Curtis, the team of four Septuagenarians’, and many others. January was probably the best month of the season to date, with loads of blue-sky days, and early season hopper fishing. March could be a close contender to take the title though, especially if the ants and baetids keep on coming! 

Fishing Tips

1. When casting, always plan to present the fly ahead of the trout, rather than directly at it.

2. When practicing casting, focus on efficiency: learn to (1) cast line out quickly, (2) re-adjust casting length effectively, and (3) change casting directions smoothly.

 That’s all for now. If you have any questions about fishing in Tassie, don’t hesitate to Email us. Thanks from the RiverFly team–Daniel, Simone and Patrick. 

 Stay tuned to the RiverFly Blog for weekly updates and fishing reports.

Western Lakes Fly Fishing

       

Meander river mayfly feeder

The autumn mayfly have started on the Meander, South and North Esk, and Macquarie rivers. Highlights have been the morning beatids on the Macquarie, and daytime spinners on the Esk and Meander rivers.  Grasshoppers are still on the menu during warmer periods, and our WMD Hopper is doing the trick, whilst daytime ant falls are providing exciting ‘match the hatch’ fishing to studious sippers. Our go-to pattern for these situations has been our CDC F Fly, and proved the undoing of the pictured 2 1/2lb wild brown trout. Send us an Email now if you would like to experience some match the hatch fishing during March or April.

Rory and his wild Tasmanian trout

The river fish are well and truly on the hoppers, with the our WMD Hopper proving deadly. It’s been a freaky fortnight on the rivers, with more than 13 three-pound trout coming to hand, all polaroided, and all on the WMD hopper.

We’ve also been busy with Western Lakes Campouts, with the usual mix of blue sky days, and cracked up cloudy days providing both polaroiding days and mayfly days. January was an extremely dry month on the Central Plateau (19mm of rain compared to the average 120mm), so the best waters to head to have been deepwater lakes and their drop-off edges. These cruising trout have been averaging 2 1/2  to  3 1/2 pounds.

Finally, with a break from routine, here is a second pic of the day created by Mother Nature and fires on the West Coast: picture location, Western Lakes three nights ago.

Bushfire sunset, Western Lakes Tasmania

Flats style fishing for trout - Western Lakes Tasmania

The Western Lakes trout are on fire, with flats-cruising brown trout averaging between one and two pounds heavier than normal, due to the great winter and spring flooding. Main food items are early morning caddis, late evening midges, and daytime galaxia, with the average trout size ranging from 2 1/2 pounds to 6 pounds.

 Back down on the lowlands, and juvenile hoppers are starting to interest river trout on the South Esk, St Patricks and Meander rivers, and most of the creeks in between – the tiny granite-spring creeks of the north-east are fishing exceptionally.

If you would like to join Patrick and I for a Western Lakes wilderness campout, Email us now. We have a couple of spaces left on trips booked for January and April. RiverFly Tasmania is Tasmania’s only guiding operation licenced to work in the Western Lakes World Heritage Area.

Catch Magazine is an American based E-Zine (electronic magazine) showcasing some of the best fly fishing photography and film getting around. January’s edition (which is free to read) features a chapter from FlyLife Magazine www.flylife.com.au photographer and In Season Tasmania www.inseasonflyfishing.com.au co-author Brad Harris. Check out Tassie and the rest of the chapters here www.catchmagazine.net

Fly fishing for wild trout, wild places

Tasmania’s wild fisheries are on fire – caddis dominate the wilderness streams, the giant stoneflies of January are about to appear, and Western Lakes trout swim around like fat -lambs, benefitting from the huge spring rains.

Have a great Christmas, and thanks to all the anglers who’ve visited Tasmania in 2009!

Mersey River, Tasmania

River Soldiers

One of my favourite fishing authors is David James Duncan. His best seller The River Why is in process of being turned into a Hollywood film, but it is his pseudo-biography My Story as Told By Water that strikes a familiar chord closer to home, in particular the chapter River Soldiers, describing his involvement in river conservation projects. Hailing from a deforested Oregon (USA), and later moving to the mining industry-driven Montana, there has been no shortage of conservation efforts calling for his help. This is the conservation efforts he lightly terms ‘river soldiering’- fighting to protect rivers and wilderness.

Over the past three months, I have also inadvertently found myself drafted into a bit of ‘river-soldiering’. The call-to-arms has been the release of the South Esk River Draft Management Plan, which plans to steal environmental flows, and irrigate them across paddocks of poppies and peas as part of the State Premier’s election-driven ‘Tasmania Food Bowl’ proposal. In order to facilitate the Northern Midlands component of this vision, a component that the State Treasury has labelled as un-sustainable, the government’s own water managers are looking to manage the river at summer levels 60% lower than their own scientific advice demands! All in the name of an un-sustainable, politically driven ideal; instead we need to promote the sustainable storage and use of winter flows, rather than cheap and nasty direct-takes of environmental flows.

If this management plan disturbs you, then I ask that you enlist as a ‘river soldier’. For your first act of soldiering, visit our ‘save the South Esk River’ blog entry, read the details, and write a letter of objection to the listed government contact. This will be a battle won by individual acts, so I thank you in advance for your efforts. Submissions close December 11, 2009.

Fishing report Oct-mid November

The fishing during mid and late October was a typical mixed fare of red-hot and ice-cold fishing days! Highlights were black spinner and ant falls on the Macquarie , Meander and South Esk rivers , a red-spinner day on the upper Macquarie, and steady fishing on the St Patricks River. Somewhat predictably, the best days were those with steady weather patterns, with winds from the north. South-westerly days were difficult.

Into November and the fishing became more consistent, with the Meander, South Esk, Brumbys Creek and Lake Huntsman all fishing very well. A highlight was an early morning that RiverFly guide Patrick Horan and I spent on the Meander, landing a half dozen rising trout. The largest trout weighed 4lbs , with three others nudging the 3lb mark – exceptional fishing on one of our secluded stretches. If this morning wasn’t exciting enough, the big fish theme continued on the upper South Esk, with a half-dozen trout polaroided, all weighing between 3 and 5 lbs. The winter floods have certainly led to some fat trout in the rivers!

This week sees Patrick and I heading out to the Western Lakes with Greg French, on an exploratory mission looking for big fish–keep an eye for a trip report on our blog next week . If you would like to join us on a Western Lakes Campout, contact us now for one of the three available dates in January, February and March – RiverFly Tasmania is the only fly fishing business licenced by National Parks Tasmania to operate in this World Heritage Area.

Availabilities

Pre-Christmas dates are now fully booked!

Post-Christmas we have availabilities during January, March and April, but February is almost fully booked. If you’re planning a trip to fish a drought-free Tasmania, please contact us now for availabilities.

Fishing and fly tying tips.

Tip1. Dry soggy or fish-slimed flies with ‘Loon Dust’ prior to re-applying Gink. This is available form the Essential Fly Fisher (03) 6331 8944, as well as a new stock of economical Indian Saddles that look perfect for scruffy dries.

Tip 2. When presenting to an inconsistent riser, try twitching the fly moments before it reaches the trout: this ‘death-rattle’ can often catch the trout’s attention and seal the deal.

Tip3. Wading staffs are useful to anglers of all ages. When wading a river, make sure the staff is positioned downstream from your body, for maximum support. The Lamson wading pole is the best I have used, and again is available from the Essential Fly Fisher in Launceston, who also do mail order.

Product Review

Which Polaroid glasses to buy? This is a common question that leads to heated debates! In my experience, Spotters offer the best polarizing lense and most appropriate tint colours (rose or yellow) in Australia. Their only drawback is that the high-quality glass lenses are heavy on your nose. Maui Jim offer good quality, ultra-light frames and lenses more suitable for everyday use, however the polarizing ability of the lenses doesn’t reach the standards of the Spotters. The Maui Jim green lense is a ripper for low-light. Finally, Otis is a surf-orientated glasses brand available in Australia, and features the best polarizing lenses I have found-the only drawback has been that I can only find brown lenses (instead of my preferred rose) – stay-tuned on this subject.

RiverFly shop – Christmas ideas

The Source Tasmania DVD (featuring Brumbys Creek, the Western Lakes, and West Coast sea-run trout), In Season Tasmania – A Year of Fly Fishing Highlights coffee-table book, and an assortment of RiverFly Tasmania hand-tied flies (tied in Tasmania by the RiverFly team) are available from our online shop.

That’s all for now, stayed tuned for a pre-Christmas fishing report in a fortnight. Thanks for reading our newsletter, and please feel free to forward this Email on to your friends – word of mouth business is the key to our continuing success!

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

A summary of the major issues are as follows:

• The Draft Plan ignores the advice of the Government’s own scientific advisors and recommends a continuation of the current minimum cease to take flows of 40ML/Day — this is more than 60% less than the recommended 100-160ML/Day environmental flows required to maintain and enhance the environmental conditions, and required to facilitate angling throughout the summer. The only reasoning that DPIPWE staff have given is that 40ML/Day is the status quo, and that irrigators would have to build their own dams for the collection and storage of high flows if their summer takes were reduced. This is a shocking justification, owing to the fact that trout population dynamics and invertebrate populations are being harmed 3 out of 5 years under the status quo, and Lake Trevallyn at the end of the South Esk in Launceston, has been closed for all water sports over the past two to three summers because of toxic algal blooms. The public needs to demand that the environmental flows recommended by the experts are adopted and enforced by the Plan, so that the environment of the river may recover, be maintained and/or enhanced. There are huge amounts of water available for irrigation, but it needs to be captured outside of summer and stored off-stream.
• Irrigators were the only stakeholders consulted in the formulation of the Draft Plan—Northern Tasmania’s Natural Resource Management body (NRM North) were relegated to observer status without input, anglers were left out in the cold (even though up to 3000 anglers fish the river per year), and other recreational users of the river and Lake Trevallyn weren’t even considered.
• The prescribed environmental flows are to be gauged at Llewellyn, along the Fingal Highway. This means that there is no environmental flow being guaranteed or monitored for the lower third of the river system, from Llewellyn through Glen Esk, Nile, Evandale, Longford, Hadspen or Launceston (into Lake Trevallyn). This is unacceptable, and environmental flows need to be guaranteed for the end of the river system.
• During Summer low flow periods, the South Esk flows emanate from one large aquifer – this aquifer is now being used to grow in excess of 15,000 hectares of new tree plantations in the headwaters, using more water than traditional standing forest or agricultural land. Under the Water Management Act 1999, evapotranspiration (water use) by trees or plantations is not considered a water use, therefore the authors of the Draft Plan have not accounted for the increased consumption of these baseflows. What the water managers can do however, is plan to manage for reduced baseflow availability, which we need to ensure is accounted for. Without this allowance for decreased baseflows, the Draft Plan is incomplete.

In a nutshell, one of Tasmania’s most popular rivers will be destroyed by the Plan in its current draft state. The Draft Plan fails to meet its own listed Environmental Objectives (2.2.1 (a), (b), (d)) and Social Objectives (2.2.3 (a), (b), (c)) (from page 9). The Draft Management Plan also fails to meet its requirement to ‘ensure that environmental water receives a greater level of security than consumptive water’ (from page 34).  I ask that any concerned anglers, recreational users or clubs view the Draft Management Plan here and have your say by making a submission to:

Contact: Water Management Planning Officer

Henry Maxwell
Water Management Planning Officer
1 Franklin Wharf HOBART TAS 7000
Phone: 03 6233 4807
Fax: 03 6224 4977
Email: Henry.Maxwell@dpipwe.tas.gov.au

For those of you worried about losing access through private (irrigated) property by speaking out against ludicrous aspects of this plan, have a think about this: if the plan goes through, the river will die a death of a thousand cuts, and there will be no river fishery left to access. The future of the river is in our hands – will you speak out, or let it die through a lack of action?  The deadline for written representations is 11 December 2009, feel free to cut and paste from my comments.

Tasmanian fly fishing - mayfly hookup

Meander River mayfly feeder

 RiverFly guide Patrick Horan with 4lbs of wild mayfly-feeding trout: today’s location scouting was certainly a success, with three other trout around 3lbs landed during an early morning caenid mayfly hatch!

 In May 09, the Treasury Department were the focus of a media leak, detailing the department’s own hesitations about these ‘economically unsustainable’ projects: this opinion piece from the Mercury Newpaper has all the details. And now, on the ABC’s Stateline program, the chief architect of the Food Bowl Master Plan, Jonathan West, has expressed his own major concerns with the viability of the proposed Midlands Irrigation Scheme: the full transcript of the interview is available here. 

Who is left in support of the projects? The last men standing are the Premier and the Minister, looking for a golden egg six months out from an election; i’d suggest that egg is more rotten than gold.