In this newsletter:
¨ RiverFly Wilderness Huts, Western Lakes – now open for bookings
¨ The Season Round-Up: Our Top 5 Fishing Locations for 2011/2012
¨ Our Top Five Fly Fishing Products for 2011/2012
¨ Fly Fishing Tips
¨ Patagonia Fly Fishing Gear, Coming to FlyShop 1864
RiverFly Wilderness Huts – check them out here
After three years of planning, we are exciting to announce that we’ve finished building RiverFly Wilderness Huts! Tasmania’s only hut-based wilderness fly fishing destination, located on the boundary of the famous Western Lakes and Walls of Jerusalem National Park, will be opening in October 2012. We are now taking bookings.
The construction phase was challenging to say the least. The four-tonne of materials required transporting across 2 kilometres of 4wd track, 1 kilometre of quad-bike track, and 300 metres of foot-only-access. Combined with winter temperatures that hit a low of -7 degrees with windchill, no power, and the nearest hardware store being 160 kilometres away, it was an unusual and challenging project for myself and all the volunteers. A massive thanks from Simone and I to Trout, Francis, Mick, Greg, Mal, Lester, Isabelle, Jimmy and Rob, we literally couldn’t have done it without your help!
RiverFly Wilderness Huts are located on Skullbone Plains, the flagship property of the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, and shares a boundary with the Walls of Jerusalem National Park and the greater Western Lakes region. Lake Ina, our nearest water, is just 250 meters away, with another dozen waters within the reach of a day-walk. The Nive River, Little Nive, and Kenneth Creek also run through and adjacent to the property, making it a fly fisher’s paradise. We are stoked to be operating RiverFly Wilderness Huts from Skullbone, and look forward to supporting the Tasmanian Land Conservancy through our business.
Read more about the Huts here https://riverfly.com.au/riverfly-wilderness-huts/
The Season Round-Up: Our Top Fives for 2011/2012
Our Top 5 Fishing Locations for 2011/2012:
South Esk – October
The black spinners were very consistent on the lower South Esk during October, with afternoon falls the norm. Anywhere from Perth to Glen Esk saw good falls, and the only fly required was our Pheasant Tail Black Spinner.
Western Lakes – November
Very early November saw some awesome tailing and frog-feeding action out at Lake Ina and surrounds. The wet spring certainly helped, and most fish were 30% heavier than the previous few years. Towards evening fish would charge an un-weighted wet fly from five or six feet away! The best fly was our un-weighted black Mk2 Woolly Bugger.
Brumbys Creek – January
After three weeks of high-water, Brumbys cleared and the spinners came on in good numbers. Red spinner afternoons were very consistent, with lots of brown trout between 2 and 3lbs to target. The Pheasant Tail Red Spinner was our best performer, and proved very reliable on both the spinner sippers, and the damselfly leapers.
Lower Macquarie – March
The red spinners also came on thick during March, this time on the lower Macquarie. The best stretches were found at the Longford end of the river, during calm afternoons.
Meander – April
The hoppers on the middle and lower Meander during April were probably the best of the season. Lots of trout in the 2-3lb range came to hand, all of them on the Mini-WMD Hopper. Baetid duns also made an appearance before lunch, with small CDC F Flies proving to be a deadly imitation.
Our Top 4 Fly Fishing Products for 2011/2012
Orvis Hydros 3D FlyLine
For a long time now, we’ve used and recommended Rio Flylines. They are great flylines, and the Rio Grande is still a favourite, however the new Hydros 3D series of flylines from Orvis has raised the bar again. We’ve got a full review here http://flyshop1864.com.au/new-orvis-hydros-3d-review/ , but in short, the taper is perfect for hatches and big-winds alike, the subtle textured-finish shoots exceptionally well, and the weight of the line itself is perfect. The Hydros 3D lines are certainly one of our top 5 fly fishing products for the season.
Patagonia Rio Gallegos Waders
I was lucky to get hold of a pair of Patagonia’s top-of-the-range Rio Gallegos waders in January, and have been testing them ever since. The biggest feature of these award winning waders, compared to the Simms I have used over the past ten years, would undoubtedly be the ingenious design additions. For instance, the Rio Gallegos can be converted from full-length to waist-height in under five seconds, the removable knee pads are great for stalking wary trout, and the merino fleece lined booties not only provide warmth in cold weather, but help to promote air flow in warm conditions. I can also say that after sixty or so days of trial, include day’s of gorse and hawthorn bashing, these are the toughest waders I’ve used.
Patagonia Sling Chest Pack
Another first for me was the Patagonia Chest Pack. For nearly eight years I’ve used a canvas Filson chest pack (I’ve worn-out four of them), but as the build quality unfortunately decreased over time (lighter weight materials and sloppy stitching), I decided it was time to move on. Again Patagonia came to the rescue, and I was able to get the first Australian sample of their new Chest Pack. Great features include the fold-down work station, external forceps holder, fleece lined sunglasses/mobile phone pocket, and the overall size (not too big, not too small). This will certainly be my chest pack of choice for the years to come.
Orvis Ice Dub
Anyone that knows my flies will recognise the importance that subtle UV flash can play. Glister was one of the first modern dubbings to become available with UV reflective properties and subtle flash, but it was never the easiest material to dub, and came in a fairly restricted colour range. Enter the Orvis Ice Dub. Orvis Ice Dub has great UV qualities, is similar to Spirit River Diamond Brite in softness and ease of use, but comes in about forty different colours. We’ve chosen the best twenty colours, including peacock, pheasant tail, black, hare’s ear, claret and olive, and have been tying with it for the past six months. Our Ice Nymphs have been killers on the Meander, whilst Ice Dub blends have made it on to some of our popular flies, including the Scruffy creek fly. If you are after a new dubbing to try, for use by itself, or for blending with possum, hare’s ear or seal’s fur, then give Ice Dub a go.
Orvis Helios 5weight, 9 foot fly rod.
This is the rod that led us to Orvis in the first place. I’m not a person that has 100 rods for 100 jobs; instead, I prefer one rod for most of my fly fishing. As such, it needs to be versatile, and have the ability to fish a subtle mayfly hatch, or drive a long and fast cast into the wind, without any undue effort or manipulation. The Orvis Helios 905 does just that, whilst being the lightest fly rod in the world. That’s why it was my favourite rod for season 2011/2012!
Look out for our next newsletter, where we review our Top 5 Flies for 2011/2012…
Fly fishing tips
- When fishing emergers, only apply floatant to the top half of the fly. These styles of flies are designed to be fished half-in, half-out of the water.
- When purchasing forceps for removing hooks, consider one that also features a scissor cutting blade in the design. They can be very useful for trimming leaders and such, and can also be a great backup if you lose your nippers!
Patagonia Fly Fishing Gear – Award winning fly fishing and outdoor gear, coming to FlyShop 1864 in August.
We are excited to be the first Patagonia stockist in Australia! Read more about this award winning range here http://flyshop1864.com.au/patagonia-waders-and-fly-fishing-gear/
The product includes our favourite Rio Gallegos waders mentioned above, which recently won Field and Stream’s Best of the Best Award, Fly Fusion’s Editors’ Choice Award and the EFTTEX Best New Clothing Product Award.
That’s all for now. Thank you for your business and support. If you need any tackle advice, or would like to enquire about guided river and wilderness fly fishing in Tasmania, then please don’t hesitate to contact us through our websites.