Demoiselle dragonfly, England
The famous chalkstreams…
Just a week ago I was fortunate to find myself fishing a Hampshire chalkstream, in England. These slow flowing rivers are regarded as the birthplace of modern fly fishing, and as luck would have it, I was there in time for the mayfly. It was truly marvellous, watching the large danica mayfly (size 10!) hatch off the carefully managed river.
I was lucky to be fishing with a friend and customer who owns a membership to a 4 mile stretch of water. Unlike Tasmania, most of the rivers are privately owned, and access is only available to syndicate members. Even if you want to, you cannot buy your way on to many stretches, it is strictly by invitation only.
As mentioned, the fishing was marvellous. We landed a dozen trout, each found rising to the natural mayflies (and there was three species hatching!). The river itself is managed by the owner, who in turn employs a river keeper to tend to the river. The river-keepers current goal? To replace the stocked trout with wild trout, which are now less common than stocked trout in England. It is an uphill battle.
Further highlights of the river included the lush bankside vegetation, carefully managed to suit the native insects and animals, and the surrounding land which was also managed to minimise impact on the river: cattle are kept away from the banks, and cropping is not permitted on the river’s floodplain. The river keeper and the management of the river is all paid for by the monies returned from the syndicate memberships. The result? The most cared-for river I have ever fished, all within an hour of the busting city of London.
In Season Fly Fishing – New online shop, and new book from Daniel Hackett
Last month, Simone and I were excited to put the finishing touches to our new online shop, In Season Fly Fishing www.inseasonflyfishing.com. Created to showcase and sell our feature products, such as our book In Season Tasmania and our hand tied flies, the webshop features secure shopping, and accepts credit card or PayPal. The website has been launched just in time for the release of a new fly tying booklet (Fly Cards, by Daniel Hackett), and limited edition print celebrating the Western Lakes fishery.
New ‘Fly Cards’ by Daniel Hackett, and ‘Western Lakes’ Limited Edition print
Both products arrive back from the printers over the next couple of weeks, each of which we are quite excited about.
Western Lakes is our limited edition print, featuring our most famous wilderness fishery. Click here to find out more about this limited edition print, which is the result of a partnership between In Season Fly Fishing, and local Tasmanian artist Clifford How. Measuring approx. 580x320mm, there are only 100 copies available. We recommend reserving a copy now, rrp $99.00
Fly Cards is our second new production, and is an innovative fly tying booklet written by myself. Featuring 20 of my favourite Australian fly patterns, with full-colour photos and tying instructions, ‘Fly Cards – A Series of Australian Fly Tying Patterns’ suits all levels of fly tyers from beginners to advanced. Visit the Fly Cards page at our webshop for more details and to order rrp $34.95
Would you like custom-tied trout flies from the RiverFly team? You can order these now from In Season Fly Fishing www.inseasonflyfishing.com .
Availabilities for September 2010 – Christmas 2010
We have started taking bookings for the up-coming season. If you would like to book a pre-Christmas trip to fish the mayfly hatches (From late September to Christmas), send us an Email now www.riverfly.com.au/contact
FlyLife Magazine – Free Online Magazine
FlyLife Magazine have just released their E-Magazine Winter Edition. The theme of this edition is ‘Tasmania’, with the magazine featuring a ‘best of’ selection of Tasmanian articles. Click here and select issue 2 to read the new edition http://www.flylife.com.au/emag/default.htm
Winter fisheries report
Winter has been good for the fisheries to date, with most fish across the state spawning a few weeks earlier than usual. This allows them to re-cuperate quicker, and should see fatter fish during the season as a result.
On the South Esk River, heavy rains around the start of June saw a good flush of water pass down the river, cleaning the riverbed of silt and leaving the river clean for next season. With the water tables re-charged from consistent light rain, I expect to see most rivers get a good flush over the next month or two.
That’s all for now, stay tuned for a pre-season opening newsletter next month. Thank you for supporting an Australian small business, and please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends.