It’s been a busy month at RiverFly 1864 HQ, after the Tasmania season opening in early August. We’ve all been tying trout flies ready for the new season, with the Gold Humungous, Earthworm, Woolly Caddis and Black and Peacock Spiders all being very popular and effective. Chartreuse has also been a really good colour to use on river nymphs, as caddis grubs dominate the food types during early season – we hooked a dozen during our last river trip, all on chartreuse or peacock colours.

Simone has been busily completing two custom Epic Fly Rod builds, ready to target finicky river fish. The nude-wraps (see-thru thread wraps) are brilliant; at a club talk last night, one gentleman couldn’t even see the wraps, instead believing the runners were glued on. Well done Simone!

Each September also sees us head back to the Western Lakes, for pre-season supply and maintenance trips to our wilderness huts. After the coldest winter in 35 years, and some of the biggest snowfalls in recent history, we didn’t know what to expect. It was a really proud moment to see our huts standing proud after all the snow, and four-weeks since the last major snowfall, we couldn’t believe to find more than 18 inches still on the ground. All of the snow has filled the backlakes, which are now primed for a brilliant frog season come late October. Black Fur Flies and Mk II Woolly Buggers are favourite imitations.

Ripper weather is on its way with our first warm weekend of spring, so we hope to go chasing sea-runners in the Derwent, and early mayfly feeders in the esk river. Have fun wherever you go, and feel free to drop us a line at the fly shop if you have any questions.

RiverFly 1864 team

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