Tasmanian fly fishing - mayfly hookup
Ronald from Belgium, setting the hook on another Tasmanian mayfly feeder. Spring has sprung, the mayfly are on, and the fisheries are firing. My picks for spring are the South Esk, St Patricks and Upper Macquarie rivers, but the Meander is also producing some great fishing, along with the Mersey and Brumbys Creek.
Greg French and Simone Hackett, 'beyond Maydena'
If you’ve just picked up your copy of the latest FlyLife Magazine (Winter 2009), you’ll find a great article by Greg French on fishing the rivers past Maydena, in the state’s south. Greg’s been exploring them flat out during the past season, experiencing Tasmania’s most consistent fishing for larger river trout (in the 2-6lb class). Most of these fish are sighted, either polaroided, or seen rising among areas of deep water and high density structure. The scenery from these rivers is beautiful – typically rainforest full of ancient myrtles and sassafras, while the rivers themselves are medium sized fastwaters (similar to the Mersey) with a tannin-tinge.
To promote these unknown river fisheries, which are situated among some of Tasmania’s most beautiful forests, RiverFly is offering two chances to join us, and author/explorer Greg French as our guest, on these magic rivers. We are planning for one 2-3 day trip in late February, and one in early March, to coincide with the driest part of the season, and the best chance of hitting the rivers at the best time, to target the best fish. The exact dates are flexible to suit our guests, and our standard guiding rates apply. Trips will be based from New Norfolk or Maydena, depending on your preference.
If you are interested in joining RiverFly Tasmania on our fly fishing trips beyond Maydena, with our guest author and fishing explorer Greg French, drop me an Email now.
Greg French and Simone Hackett, Styx River, Southern Tasmania
Patrick Horan, preparing for an R&D day
Some great news for RiverFly guests is the recruitment of Patrick Horan to the RiverFly Tasmania team. Patrick was head-hunted by RiverFly in 2008, and since then has been serving a guiding apprenticeship of sorts with RiverFly founder Daniel Hackett; as expected, Pat has taken to guiding like a duck to water. This is no surprise-Patrick has been teaching fly fishing Adult Education classes for more than four years with the Fly Fishers Club of Tasmania, and was a junior Tasmanian fly casting champion when Daniel met him almost a decade ago. Patrick is an excellent photographer, and an even better fly tier; you’ll find Daniel pilfering his innovative parachute hackles and hopper patterns most days their guiding together.
One thing to point out is Patricks local knowledge: it wasn’t too many seasons ago that Daniel was talking to Pat about a new, favourite secret spot; Pat replied with ‘yeah, I know the spot, I’ve been fishing it for a few seasons now’. You can find more about Patrick on the RiverFly Guides page.
The Vanishing River
Compared to five years ago, May is an interesting time for Tasmanian fly fishers. Great Lake, Brushy Lagoon, Lake Barrington and even Lake Rowallan are among lake-based choices for those still wanting to target trout, and avoid the winter blues. This season has seen further waters opened for fishing in May (for the first time), with designated ‘rainbow waters’ now including the upper Mersey River, the two Weld rivers and parts of the Leven River. Finally, some late season destinations for river-fishers.
Most anglers I’ve met recently have packed their gear away, not wishing to blind-flog Woolly Buggers through the death-nell of another season…but the message I have is that there’ s still room for sight-fishing in the newly opened rivers. I’ve heard two excellent reports from the Weld River (northern Tas), and just yesterday I got to visit one of the other rainbow rivers in a section I like to call Vanishing River. At this time of year as the downstream lake drops in height, an extra 2 kilometres of original river comes back to life, flowing with crystal clear snowmelt over a clean, gravel bottom, complemented by under-cut banks, pools and riffles. It is here, at the end of a 45 minute walk for humans, that brown trout (‘visitors’ to the rainbow section of the stream) begin to lay in wait for heavy rains and winter spawning. Over fifty of these trout were polaroided in Vanishing River, ranging from 1 lb to 4lbs. Three of these trout were sitting in foam-lines sipping dries and nymphing. So the next time you think the season is over, think about this: May holds some pretty cool sight-fishing opportunities, and some of them, such as Vanishing River, only exist for a fleeting moment late in the season.
A brace of Black and Peacock spiders
Our fun and modern fly tying courses are beginning to take shape for Launceston, Hobart and the North-West. Launceston classes start on the 21 May, and there are still a couple of spaces left. The venue is at The Essential Fly Fisher, at 105 York Street. Email me to reserve a place www.riverfly.com.au/contact
Dates for the Hobart and the North-West classes will be set soon, as class numbers are beginning to fill. Please email me if you are interested in attending courses in either of these areas www.riverfly.com.au/contact
The courses have been structured to enable all skill levels to participate, and to teach take-away skills for tying better flies, and tying them easier. Some of the topics covered will include:
- Technique for tying durable bodies with peacock herl
- Tricks for tying deer-hair and Possum Shaving Brush ‘wings’ for better flotation and fish-catching
- Technique for tying in durable, non-slip parachute hackles
- Techniques for tying easy ‘porcupine’ hackles – the easy high-viz alternative to parachute hackles.
- Tying with deer-hair – bullet-heads and the WMD
- Correct techniques for tying with foam – glue, legs and the Chernobyl Ant
- The rules for using colour and UV reflective materials in flies
The course will cover many more topics along the way, and the day-to-day techniques that may be troubling you (such as dubbing!) will be covered through the course of tying the featured flies.
There’s no better thrill than catching a fish on a fly of your own design. Come and join us to learn more about how to do it.
