New season, post drought and cormorants. What have we learnt?
October to November - fishing report The season is off and racing, with our first month of guiding under our belt. October was much more difficult than normal due to prolonged stormy and cold weather, which in turn delayed the hatches until the last week of the month (six weeks later than the previous season!). Mixed weather has still dominated, but the fishing is getting more consistent on stable weather days, and we are starting to have consistent and large...
Upstream presentation or across stream presentation? Lessons from Pennsylvania
So I'm currently in Pennsylvania, USA (on a Fulbright Scholarship), surrounded by a heap of famous streams. Most of them start as limestone springs, and flow over shingle beds along the tight forested valleys of the Apalachian Mountains. Local streams include Spring Creek (next to our house, and the location of America's first catch and release section of river), and Penns Creek in the next valley across. Most of the streams are super-rich in mayfly hatches, including the giant green...
Fly fishing Tasmania tactics – using sound and movement to increase catch rates
Do you ever think about sound and movement, and how sound and movement can be used to increase your catch rate? Using sound and movement is a part of fly fishing that I experiemented with a lot this past season, particularly while sightfishing. By sound and movement, I’m talking about the sound vibrations that your fly makes, particularly upon landing on the water, or by physically moving the fly on the water. My best fish of the season was around...
Fly fishing through cormorants and drought – fly fishing Tasmania
As the 23/24 Tasmanian fly fishing season wraps up, there’s no doubt that cormorants combined with drought conditions were the talk of the town. After twenty-odd seasons guiding, including my fourth cormorant / drought combo, here are some observations from my experience, and a bit of science from overseas. Schooling fish are the giveaway. It’s not hard to pick a cormorant year; the birds start to appear in late spring, and without much warning there are flocks of dozens, and...
Fly Fishing Tasmania – Brumbys Creek
One of the highlights of fly fishing in Tasmania this season was the springtime mayfly hatches at Brumbys Creek. We were stoked to be able to share it with Jo and Steve Starling, whom captured it on Go-Pro during the day, and have released the short film on their Youtube channel. For anyone who grew up watching 'Starlo' on Rex Hunt Fishing Adventures, you'll remember what a great narrator and all round nice guy he is. Enjoy the view!
Summer fly fishing Tasmania report
Summer has been great on the rivers, with excellent flows and warm temperatures. We've experienced our first hopper falls of the season, more than a month earlier than normal, and currently have damsels, hoppers and mayflies on the menu. Best flies have been the 1864 Blue Damsel, and size 14 Scruffies. Brumbys Creek damsel feeder on the dry Cormorants have been hitting the rivers and lakes quite hard, but there has been no shortage of fish and sightfishing to be...
Season opening, August rundown and what to expect from El Nino…
Season opening and August rundown The fly fishing season is off and racing in Tasmania, and what a change it has been from the past three seasons of wet and cold springs. Instead, this August has seen very mild weather, and ideal water conditions. The Western Lakes are running just above medium levels, and nice and clear without too much in-flows. Fish have been up against the edges searching out scud and snails, but still willing to charge down a...
Thinking about chasing a Tasmanian fly fishing trophy this season? Here’s five tips to help make it happen:
Fly fishing Tasmania – March 2023
The ants are here! Autumn fly fishing in Tasmania always features the most diverse hatches, from mayflies through to hoppers, willow aphids and grubs, through to damsels. Ants are perhaps the most elusive, but the warm autumn has brought on clouds of flying ants during the past fortnight throughout the northern midlands. Look out for repetative sippers in the afternoon, or clouds of flying ants above hawthorn trees or tall grasses. The ants themselves can be tiny, often size 22,...
Fly fishing Tasmania – Autumn report
Autumn is here in Tasmania, and cooler water temperatures and higher flows have arrived a couple weeks early. This will likely mean the end of this year's short hopper season, but judging by the dry fly fishing this week, the seasonal change marks the start of the most steady match-the-hatch fishing of the season. Autumn river hatches on the Tasmanian fly fishing rivers include small black spinners (#14-16), beatid mayfly (#16), and terrestrial aphids (#20), with all providing great match...
Fly fishing Tasmania report – February 2023
February is off to a great start, with plenty of settled and mild weather, and excellent river and lake heights. The lowland rivers are featuring good periods of mayfly spinner action during most days (particularily the smaller species), and excellent damsel fly hatches, including the South Esk, Brumbys Creek, Meander and Mersey rivers. The north-east streams are featuring masses of snowflake caddis, particularily the esk and St Patricks rivers. Hoppers have started in the drier catchments; look for areas where...
Marsupial Gear Chest Pack review
I'm a big fan of chest packs, having used one for the past 15 years or so. Unfortunately my old favourite Patagonia chest pack has worn out (multiple failed zips), so it's time for a new one. I'd been struggling to find one that i liked though: most are too large, and have way too much hanging and dangling off of them, ready to get in the way. Recently a customer showed me his new one (thanks Nathan!), a chest...
Entry level waders – Orvis Clearwater 2023 review
Orvis Clearwater waders This season i replaces a handful of guest waders, as i do each season. After going through the usual considerations of Simms, Patagonia and Orvis, I went for the latter in the Orvis Clearwater. We've had great value out of previous Orvis waders, surviving wear and tear better than any of the other brands (all of which i own). The 4-layer construction is handling Tasmania's famed prickly bushed very well, along with abrasion from clambering over fallen...
Fly fishing Tasmania – summer report
The Tasmanian fly fishing season has moved into more regular predictability since December, and the high levels of spring. Day's featuring influences from low pressure troughs and occassional easterly gusts are dynamic, featuring on and off hatches through the day, while steady highs are combining with perfect water levels and fish fattened by two seasons of great flows for excellent fishing. We've fished dries only since late December, and beetles of different forms are having a great season on the...
Fly fishing Tasmania report – Nov 26, 2022
After weeks of major flooding, washed out roads and bridges, great fishing is back with a vengeance! Just this week we had a mix of super productive nymph (under dry) fishing, followed by three days of solid sight fishing with the dry fly. Our best pattern by far was the 1864 Para Scruffy. The South Esk catchment across north-east Tasmania has been fishing particularily well, though the Meander is the exception with continued high flows. With the road repaired and...