Hi Folks, back again with a quick newsletter updat Guided fishing tours in Tasmania We've had quite a mild winter, with just a few frosts Newsletter & fishing report as usual and some very nice weather, light winds, October 2005 and some brightness. In fact, it went on for so long, it looked as though we may be in a dire situation. Boat ramps around Great Lake, for example, had been declared closed, as the water did not even reach the end of them! The brown trout spawned many weeks later than normal because the rain held off and the spawning creeks didn't flow. Eventually the rains came and Great Lake has risen a couple of meters in the last month, September. And the rains kept coming! We had quite dramatic and widespread flooding on the lowlands and many river systems. And right up until now, our local rivers are still running quite dirty. The very first flood came up very quickly bringing with it a mass of corby and cockchafer grubs, worms and the lik The trout homed in on these very quickly and were bloated within a few hours. We are looking forward to another great season and keeping you updated with fishing reports. Happy hookups! Gary & Fiona Fishing Report Update There has been some good fishing on the Macquarie, though sporadic around the margins of the flooded depressions in the paddocks. Brumbys Creek also has been affected by the discolouration caused by the rainfall and a change in flow patterns relating to the construction of a new mitigating pond which in the near future should benefit the consistency of the flow in Brumbys Creek. Exploring a flooded backwater on the Macquarie River There have been a few clearer pockets of water where fish can see scud, snails and caddis, and have been quite happy to accept a well presented fly. And as usual, at this time of year, the 10mm black cockchafer beetle has shown in some quantity on calm-ish evenings after a warm day, and this has led to some dry fly activity on evening. gary@troutterritory.coau
Still on the lowlands, the water at Four Springs has been clearer, and being a still water, is slightly warmer and so the insect activity is advanced. There are good numbers of fish being taken, browns and rainbows, and up to 10 lbs in weight. Four Springs is also home to some even bigger trout which have been relocated from Lake Crescent thanks to the Inland Fisheries Servic At this time of year we are also getting the odd emergence of stonefly in all of these waters. The first few solitary mayfly have been sighted, which suggests that it won't be too many weeks until some major mayfly sport begins to occur. This will depend upon water levels being just back within the banks at least, on the Macquarie, so I'd say, late October, providing we don't get any other heavy rains and probably sooner for the lowland still waters, such as Tooms Lake, Four Springs and a little later, Lake Leake, then late November, early December, the highland lakes, such as Arthur's Lak Section of the Macquarie River From the opening, Arthurs has been fishing well. Mainly with a wet fly down deep, but on some occasions fish have been quite happy to come in closer. Many anglers have had success, and very good bags too, on both fly and soft plastics. A very high percentage of fish that have been caught so far, have been in very good to excellent condition. A couple of nice trout from Arthur s Lake The following info is from Alan Shepherd of Launceston, maker of an excellent product, Spun Leaders. If you would like to order the leaders or for more information, please email Alan directly on trouting@intas.net.au TROUTING SPUN LEADERS Experience the ultimate in fly presentation Caring for your 'Spun Leader'. Your leader is extremely durable and with proper care it should last you many seasons. It is made with 'Art Silk'. The breaking strain of the tippet is over 8 lb. gary@troutterritory.coau
For dry fly fishing, apply your favourite commercial line floatation product over the whole leader ('Red Mucilin' is best). Floor wax is almost as good as the commercial products. If you want the tip to sink and depending on how deep you want to fish, only apply floatation product to the top part of leader. If you want the whole leader to sink do not apply any floatation product. To make the leader sink, coat it with washing up detergent or a commercial line-sinking product. This leader is made from one continuous piece of thread, therefore, never cut the leader. If for some reason you must cut the leader, never cut the spun section without first tying a knot or applying superglue; otherwise the leader will unravel. If you don't mind, after fishing with the leader, I would appreciate an email telling me what you think of the product trouting@intas.net.au Happy fly-fishing and please, try to avoid the trees. Cheers Alan The following information is basic the setting up procedure, which most experienced anglers should already know. There are several methods that can be used to connect the spun leader to the fly line using a loop-to-loop connection. The common method is to connect a piece of 12 lb. mono fishing line to the fly line with a nail knot, then a perfection loop is tied in the mono lin Another method is to make a loop after stripping the coating off the fly lin Also commercial braided loops, which connect to the fly line, can also be purchased from most fishing shops. At the tapered tippet end of the spun leader a piece of fine mono tippet is connected using a perfection loo The loop system has the advantage of being very flexibl You can easily join two sections of the fly rig, when you have loops on each section. If you want to change leaders, the loops will make the process very easy. Putting Two Loops Together. Nail Knot Step 1: Take a 1" to 2" long hollow plastic or metal tube of small diameter (a piece of empty ballpoint pen ink tube is often used) and lay it next to the end of fly lin Lay butt end of leader on top of tube in the opposite direction with about 6" to 8" of leader butt extending beyond end of tub gary@troutterritory.coau
Step 2: Hold fly line, tube, and tag end of leader together in left hand. Grasp tag end of leader and wrap over itself, tube, and end of fly line in five or six closely spaced turns. Move from left to right toward end of fly line and hold wraps in place with thumb and forefinger of left hand. We've eliminated hand from picture to show wraps clearly. Step 3: Pass the leader butt through the tube so the end passes back under the turns you've just mad Pull the ends of the monofilament in opposite directions, tightening them on top of the tub Step 4: Carefully slip the tube out, holding the wraps securely in plac Step 5: Pull tag end of leader until the turns under your hand begin to tighten. Lubricate knot and pull tight pull on both ends of leader. Pliers can be used to hold the tag end of leader. Step 6: Trim tag ends of fly line and monofilament close to knot Perfection Loop Step 1: Form a single loop by bringing the tag end behind the standing part. The tag should be on the right-hand sid Step 2: Form a second, smaller loop in front of the first by bringing the tag end in front of and then behind the first loo End with the tag on the right again. Keep the loops in place with thumb and forefinger. Step 3: Pass the tag end between the loops and hold in plac Step 4: Pull the second loop through the first loop with right hand. Make sure tag end does not slip out of position. Lubricate and tighten by pulling on second loop and standing part of leader. The knot works best when loop is kept small. Step 5: Trim tag end as close to knot as possibl gary@troutterritory.coau
Putting a Loop on a Fly Line This is a way of making a loop on a fly line that will give you a very neat and tiny loop and a smooth transition between the different parts of a rig. The loop is very strong and actually quite easy to mak You will need a threader of the type that is normally used for getting tying thread through the tube of the bobbin holder. It has to be the type made from metal thread (piano wire) - the ones made from thick monofilament will not do. Not all lines have the hollow, braided core needed for this and on those you will have to use a mono tippet connection with a nail knot and perfection knot. With braided core line, start doing this on an old piece of fly line or on the reel end of a new on You might fumble the first tim Spare the front taper of your favourite line till you have some practis Dip the end of the fly line in acetone (nail polish remover is the same, but more expensive) for 10-30 seconds. Remove the softened coating from 5-8 cm (2-2 3/4") of the fly line, revealing the braided cor Stick the tip of the threader into the core as close to the coating as possible Pass the threader through 2 cm (3/4") of the core and push it out through the line again Thread the tag end of the core into the threader. Pull approx. 2 cm (3/4") of line into itself and form a sufficiently large loop (secure the loop with a thin pencil in necessary) and remove threader. If the tag sticks out of the side, cut it as close as possible, and pull the rest into the centre of the core and apply flexible cement (Dave's Fleximent, SoftDip; Softex or Aquaseal) - use super glue as a last resort. gary@troutterritory.coau