If we are to speak plainly, for me the season is over. I have put away my gear and my pen, in anticipation of having a good break through the winter. Nevertheless the list of jobs grows regardless of my immediate and deserved hiatus.
I have been quite slack this past fortnight in not updating the fishing report. This is no doubt partially due to ‘seasonal changes’ that suddenly impact those that tend to spend a lot of time outdoors. The blues some may call it. I am just glad that I don't live in Montana or somewhere further north where the intense winters bring out more severe forms of this 'illness'. Ted Kaczynski is not a patch on what I would be like if I was trapped indoors for months on end!
Anyway, moving right along..... the weather has been great for weeks now. Typical autumn days that although short in duration, really lift the soul. Breathless and blue, the sun hardly makes it above the surrounding hills, meaning that the day only really warms up for a few hours at best. Frosty or foggy mornings and then a cool draw in the valley from about 4pm. Its pitch black by 5.30pm every day now.
This period is perhaps the most pleasant of the entire year. It’s never too hot or humid. There are no thunderstorms to speak of. The only thing that is has going against it is that deep in your heart you cannot escape a sense of sadness; an overwhelming sense that things are coming to an end. The days get shorter and colder. Less and less insects appear each day. The trout have switched their focus to spawning and not eating and even those not ready to spawn yet, have their metabolisms slowed by the dropping water temps.
June is here though now and things are rapidly coming to an end for yet another season. We had quite a bit of rain overnight and there is more of it forecast. Right now we have cloud with strong sunlight breaking through and no wind. Just very pleasant to be outdoors at the moment. But this may not last long given the clouds surrounding us 360 degrees.
We have seen more spawning activity for this time of year than in previous seasons which although early, is great to witness. David counted twenty reds from Gilmore’s Bridge to our place the other day and a few more yesterday afternoon upstream from us. If you do come up for a fish this weekend we recommend that you wear you polaroids and avoid any areas where the gravel is clean/turned over. These areas stand out from the dark river stones like a beacon and should be avoided at all costs. We have just suffered through the worst summer ever with record high water temperatures, so the fish need all the help that they can get.
The fishing is reasonable but not great at the moment. We are managing 3-4 fish an outing, mostly taken on nymphs. Recent reports from one former guide based in the suburbs of Melbourne of superlative fishing need to be taken with a grain of salt. We are on the river every single day and we are not seeing brilliant fishing and strong hatches as reported elsewhere.
This is not to say there are not hatches. We have some olives and caenids appearing in spinner flights in the warmest part of the afternoon with the odd fish finding it worth their while to rise. But this is the exception rather than the rule and is confined mostly to the fine days, of which we don’t seem to have any forecast for the remaining days of the season! On the dirty days there will be weak hatches of blue wing olive duns that may spark a reaction from the fish but I would suggest fishing it with small non-beadhead pheasant tail nymphs.
Midges will be about most of the time when it stills off and especially if you get a shaft of light breaking through the clouds. I am not an entomologist so cannot join the dots as to exactly why this occurs, but I have experienced it too many times in the field to not make the association. Small Griffiths Gnat type patterns are best if this occurs.
Nymphs can be kept small for the most part. I know that some like to fish #8-12 nymphs at this time of year, swinging them down into the deeper pools, but I would be fishing 14s-18s. Pheasant tails flashbacks and copper johns will work best. No need for big droppers either as the water is very low and shallow. While finer tippets are always better than larger diameter ones, 5x will be fine for most nymph work.
Our guests of late have been timing their fishing on the rivers to coincide with the peak activity in our lakes. Sitting back with a book and taking in the view, not stirring until the fish are well and truly feeding well. This has worked well in the past few weeks and is something to consider if you are in the shop. If the fish are active in our lakes, hit the river ASAP.
Speaking of which, our lakes have settled and started to fish very well. It’s usually mid-April before they fully get back to normal from the overwhelming heat of summer, but this year it took nearly a fortnight longer than usual. Now we have fishing cruising, hunting and rising throughout the day. While it does peak and trough, there is a lot of visual activity that is making for some exciting stalking opportunities.
Before I list some details on the rivers I want to mention that we have a lone spot for NZ in Week 1 Jan 9-16, 2010 remaining. Please phone for more details. We are also running some courses and events in August. A beginner’s workshop, a flytying workshop and a One Fly Competition. Please phone for more details or check the website calendar of events.
I won’t keep you any longer. This is the last report for the 08-09 season and I will be heading away for some time off the moment the season closes. The report will updated infrequently throughout the winter depending on what is happening. For the most part though we will be resting and recuperating in an attempt to be ready to do it all again next year.
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