Rivers – fly positioning on droppers
Proceeding through an orderly process as described in this post is a good way of making your fly selection for any trout river.
Trout
Fly suggestions – Snowy Mountains (Tantangara, Eucumbene & Jindabyne)
This is a list of flies that I know all work well for Lakes Tantangara, Eucumbene and Jindabyne.
Fly suggestions – Central Tasmania (Arthurs, Penstock, Little Pine & Bronte)
This is a list of flies that I know all work well for the lakes around Miena and Bronte in Central Tasmania. I hope this will help you get more out of your next fly fishing trip to the Central Highlands of Tasmania.
Chatto’s bloodworm alpine buzzer
This is the first in the series of three versions of the same fly and is representative of the original bloodworm colour of the pupa as it emerges from the slime on the lake bottom. The second fly in the series is black with flashes of red representing the pupa as changes to a dark colour with varying amounts of red present as the transformation occurs. The third fly in the series is representative of the colour of the pupa as it reaches the surface the dark colour mellows and the pupa assumes a grey or olive colour similar to its terrestrial colour.
Lakes – loch style … fast sink lines for ‘deep sulking or feeding trout
As long as it’s not too windy the ‘fast sink lines for deep sulking or feeding trout’ system described here provides a way that you can present moving flies that may induce a strike to fish that may or may not be actively feeding but are holding in deeper water.
Squirmy worm
Over time they have endured and their reputation of, on the day, being an exceptional fish taking fly has grown and grown. They have also become very well accepted in competition circles and consequently I have fallen into line and have added them to my fly box.
Foam cicada – Chatto’s ‘black prince’
This fly sits well into the surface film like the natural and has a very realistic profile when viewed from below. I have made it smaller than the natural on purpose as flies tied as big as the natural are frustratingly cumbersome to cast on #8 weight outfits that are my preference of the target species mentioned above. The fly lands with a good audible fish attracting ‘plop’ and with its outstretched wings that are only about half as long as the natural still wiggle with the slightest movement in a very enticing way.
Leaders – set ups for trout
When it all boils down leaders don’t have to be as complicated as they are made out to be. I have set out below how I set up my trout leader and I hope that will provide as a minimum a reasonable starting point. Keep in mind however that I fish 10 foot #6 weight fly rods when fishing for trout in lakes and consequently if your using a shorter or longer rod you may need to adjust some of the measurements that I have used.
Fly lines that I use – #10 Central Queensland
The fly rods that I use when fishing in the tropics for the likes of barramundi, mangrove jack, GT’s, queenfish and tarpon are #10 weight Redington Predator fly rods. At only 8 foot 3 inches long they are relatively short rods that have turned out ideal for tropical fly fishing amongst the snags in rivers and also around the inshore reefs and headlands.
St. Peter’s Winery and Distillery
Before I was able to indulge my passion for fishing I was lucky to have my own winery and distillery in the Riverina region of NSW. This thumb-nail picture shows the only French Charentais-Alambic still in the Southern hemisphere.