Centrepin

Closer to the mouth than Wisemans way. Drop a PM and we can chat if you are interested. Thanks for the replies, Geoff

At this end of the season the Blackfish are starting to get scarce and finicky. With the lower tides they were even more difficult. We struggled to get a few fish and then decided it was just not worth any more effort. The few fish we did get were good fish 38-40 cms. We started to target bream in the same locations where we catch blackfish. They are usually consistent with blades but not this time. We moved to 2.5inch Zman grub in motor oil on a 2 gm jighead. This resulted in a few bream, albeit smaller than normally, and landed several bream in the 20 to 32 size. When I was minding my own business, content on spending the rest of the day chasing a few small to moderate bream, along came some ep’s. These were bigger than I had experienced in this part of the river. Here they were 35 -42 cm and interspersed with the bream. The 42cm was a pleasant surprise to the day and certainly a PB. We moved further upriver and encountered more bream and the more usual size 25 -30cm EP’s. While EP’s can be hard to locate when you do find them there can be lots of them. So we were disappointed the blackfish have shut up shop but pleasantly surprised a new candidate has replaced them for a while.

DerekD, I do have video but can't bring myself to put it on youtube. I thought these pictures were ordinary. The better ones involve other people and I have not sought their permission to publish. If we are allowed back in next season I will do some video and perhaps publish. You never know what the season or the future will bring. All, Your comments are appreciated. Geoff

I have some time on my hands at the moment and decided to send a post of activities in Feb. We normally travel to areas of the North Island that are not well known as Fly Fishing destinations but they have lots of rivers, some with lots of fish, and very few fishermen. The country is mostly mixed farming with dairy predominating. Tourists are a novelty and it is rare to see another fisherman and unheard of to see a tourist fisherman. The people are just so welcoming and lovely. Public access to the 100’s of K. M’s of streams is a delight. Each major river system has a pamphlet which details the type of water and the access points. On one river I would drive 20k’s to my destination and pass say 8 access points. Outside weekends I never saw another car in probably 10 visits. That is no other fisherman for about 20K’s of river and the river had lots of fish. You have the choice of lowland rivers or backcountry. There are generally more fish in the lowland waters but the backcountry fish are bigger. This year was very dry. Rivers were much lower than I have ever seen before. Consequently, the fish were not widespread, as they were in the past. Many rivers had large sections with no fish as the water was so low and warm, they were not supported. The good news was when you found the best water sometimes the fish were stacked up. It was quite common to encounter 5 or 6 fish from the same run. As long as the fish ran down into the pool below and not back into the run you could continue to catch fish. The other good news was fish size in the Lowland rivers was up. I am used to Lowland fish averaging about 2.5 lbs but this year it was about 4.0 lbs. I never saw a fish less than 3 lbs and some were close to 6lbs. The back-country fish are bigger and you can expect fish to 8lbs, but you have to work harder for them. I will put this into the different areas of fishing. Lowland river Pools Mornings were the best time for sight fishing in the pools. Once you found where they were it was common to encounter 10 fish in a larger pool evenly spread out and exhibiting social distancing from each other. These fish were in shallow water about shin deep. This made them shy but not impossible. I found them very line shy and you could not use a traditional approach from behind. You had to approach from the side at 90 degrees from these guys and this did not spook them. I found a good tactic was not to approach an individual but just to wade a few meters and they would come back to you. These fish were spooky and 16-foot leaders were required. Refusals were the norm and many fly changes often required to get a response. Normally started with size 16 pheasant tails and the worked down in size and through the box going through caddis and back swimmers. No patterns emerged. Each fish had to be considered as a new challenge. It was exhilarating and demanding fishing satisfying when you got it right. The numbers of fish in some rivers was just obscene. It was possible to see pods of 10 to 20 fish in many places. This does not make them easy, just the opposite. They are just, if not more, spooky and 1 spooked fish can spell the end for a run of section of a pool. You would often approach a fish and be about to cast then realize another fish is even closer. Too many fish can be a bad thing. Lowland river Runs Deeper runs in lowland rivers were much easier. This year you had to work to find the runs that held fish but once you found them, they were stacked up. The standard strike indicator and 2 nymph rig was all that was required. Most success was with sparsely tied pheasant tails in various styles. Even though the water was low the fish where is superb condition. The pools just teem with back swimmers and it seems like they live in nymph soup. They pull really hard and if any structure was around leader make and diameter as well as hook brand are critical. Leader diameter was .21mm, which usually means 6-8 lbs breaking strain, and with size 18 and 20’s straightened hooks are not uncommon. I only had 2 break-offs but others had many break-offs. You could catch fish any time of the day. Runs that were deep and emptied into bigger deep pools were ideal. Having said that some of what you would think was the best water had no fish. Sometimes you would walk KM’s between good spots. The evening Rise This was the first year I have stayed late enough on the river to encounter the evening rise. Every evening was different. Some evenings the wind would blow like mad and the fish would rise well and then on lovely still evenings there was very little rise. You had to see each evening as a challenge and adjust accordingly. I can’t say I even came close to cracking the code. I did have moderate success but only after it got quite dark and could disguise my inept flies. The fish would rise consistently in the same spot. I never could see what they were taking only that is was so tiny. I did bring some fish undone with possum fur tied shaving brush in 16 and 18. Next trip I will be equipped with smaller flies for the evening. Reading American literature sizes 22 to 26 are common on some rivers. Hooking a 5.5 lb Rainbow on dry fly and having him run 30M into the backing and start jumping in the dark is exhilarating. You just hope he stays in your pool and does not run down the next run. There is still more work to do here, but that is the mystery of fly fishing. Back-country I had not fished back country for many years. We had planned a Heli trip and I was taken back when the answer from the Heli operator was “we have just taken 2 groups out of there and they didn’t do much good”. Certainly, the world had changed in the last 6 years. I was fortunate enough to have some locals who could give me some knowledge of what rivers were holding fish. We embarked upon a 3-day trip with walking up river with packs and fishing to a hut. Back-country huts in NZ are superb. The info and the location on the huts are first rate. Most huts are only $6/ night. You bring your own stove and can meet some lovely like-minded people. The river we fished had more and smaller fish than you would normally expect back-country. This made for entertaining fishing and we probably landed 20-30 fish each on the way up (2-5 lbs). The next day was similar with a few fish in the 6lb size. Weather was a bit overcast which made the fish not so keen on dries. Lots of looks but not a lot of hook ups, other than the smaller fish. This time of the year you are looking for cicada days. Unfortunately, we did not have one this year. When they are on cicada the fishing can be exhilarating. Seeing an 8 lb rainbow flying up from the 3 M down to nail your offering is heart stopping. Well there is always another trip. Conclusion: While this year was demanding, due to the low water, the fishing was still very good. Back-country streams are popular with tourists and this is showing now. Others we spoke to told similar stories of more people being in back-country. Still there is the thrill and mystic of fishing this water, and the chance of a trophy. The lowland rivers were challenging in parts and easy in parts. While we caught lots of fish the fishing is not easy and local knowledge is important. It is just great to know there are still places where the fishing is “like it used to be”.

Great documentary thanks for posting it Donna. Much appreciated, Geoff

Thanks so much for the post. You could get me inspired to give Royal National Park a crack

Love your reports. Keep it up. If I get to fish in my home water on Central Coast, and fish are around, I will send you a PM. It is a big walk and tight water, Probably won't be till after XMAS. Geoff

Daniel, I will send a PM Geoff

great report and video. It makes it so interesting when you explain about the situation and what goes on in your thought process when fishing. Appreciated

I have not fished Berowa but I do know of people that do. Yes Cabbage works very well. The bite is usually more definite with cabbage and they love it. When using cabbage I make sure there is a good amount chopped finely in the berly

Al, Send me a PM and I can get you onto the weed. It has been so hard to get but right now I have a spot where there is heaps of great weed and quite easy to access.

Looks like a great outing. Sorry for the broken rod. Great to find a good rock spot.

Al, Send me a PM and I can get you onto the weed. It has been so hard to get but right now I have a spot where there is heaps of great weed and quite easy to access.

My usual haunts in The Hawkesbury were not producing. The areas I fish in the Hawkesbury are predominately a summer time fishery however you can get a few larger fish in the Winter, but not this year. Brisbane Water was my next closest option. I started out with no intelligence on the fishery and started looking for an Oyster farmer. In the past I have found them to be very knowledgeable and helpful. I found an Oyster farmer and he told me of some boat moorings where he has seen people fishing for blackfish. The tide was still quite high and the water clear. I ticked along with the electric and I could see a number of good size fish spread out thinly. I picked the area that seemed to have the most, left them for 10 minutes, and started fishing. Picked up a few fish 33 -35 cms and then they went quiet. By now we were getting to the end of the tide and I decided to head for a spot I had not fished since I was 10 years old. In those days (back in 1967) it was a hot spot and you were lucky to get a rock on Saturdays. Shore access was restricted 20 years ago and, as I have driven past the spot many times, I have not seen anyone there since the shore access was closed. To my delight I got a down first run, but the fish were very finicky. So down to smaller float, longer and lighter trace with smaller baits. Eventually I started catching fish and landed about 4 or 5 all about 30 cm. I was resigned to the fact that there were only small fish when right on the last gasp of the run-out I landed a 42 cm model.. Next chance to fish was a few days later and the last of the run-out was early morning. Not a sign of fish at the second spot so back to the boat moorings. The tide was running in well and I started catching fish using the lighter rig I had set up. With tide running fast the fish pulled the float straight down and were hooked every down. I landed 3 or 4 when the wind came up opposite to the tide run. This made things a bit difficult with the light float so I went back to the bigger float thinking “they are biting well and with this run it won’t matter” After 5 downs for no fish I eventually hooked a good fish and lost it. I went back to the lighter rig and got another couple immediately. Then I realized size does matter. How many times do I have to learn the same lesson “fish the lightest float you can and you catch more fish”. These were quality fish 34-40 cm and in fast water they take ages to subdue. Finished a good day with 7 very nice fish and 2 new spots and one spot fishes on the run in which is a real bonus. Geoff

I fish the area for Bass. Drop me a PM and we can chat from there. Geoff

Well done Lads. That is impressive

Dear Psycho Sardine, Yes the areas are very conducive to fishing from kayak. Berley could be the only problem. We usually use 15 litres of sand and weed mix. I would just use less sand to the same volume of weed and mix it well. Good luck Geoff

Seasponge Here is the post of How to by Roberta.

I will send you a PM.

We hadn’t fished our haunts on the Hawkesbury for some years and had real doubts about the likelihood of fish. Luderick have been very scarce on the South coast this summer and likewise on the North Coast last winter. I was even more sceptical when I saw how few posts there are on Fishraider. About 2 weeks ago we had a short session in a southerly and produced a few fish. A good start and I was keen to see what would happen in good conditions. Last Friday we fished in glorious conditions and the fishing was good. We landed about 20 fish up to 39cm’s, kept a few and had a lovely day. The average size was very good Fished again the next day with similar results with fish up to 42cm’s. We had quite a few bust offs on bigger fish as they run you around the rocks in some spots. 42 is about as big as we seem get them out. You can go up to 10lb trace with the coloured water and still get busted. In 2 days we saw only one other boat. We saw wonderful sea eagles and lovely scenery. Just the best time. Geoff and Evi

Wow. You have me inspired. Obviously tough country. Thanks for sharing. I will share my cod travels this year.

I had been advised Shoalhaven Flathead were difficult and it was not productive. First trip out was looking that way till we stubbled upon some fish in shallow water at a very high tide. Landed about 4 fish to 63cm on Black and Gold squidgies. The 63cm fish was returned. We came back later in similar tide position for very little. In fact the next 2 trips were just about blanks. Started to search a little further out and found fish again at high tide. Looked for deeper drop-offs in the same area to locate fish at other parts of the tide. Found more fish working the edges of fast flowing water by tossing lager jig-heads amongst the patches of weed. Eventually started to build up a pattern. I am now using " Charted Waters" ( app that gives water depth ) to locate similar water to the area that has been successful. Some days they are tricky on soft plastics so a change to hard bodies or blades may be required. I am looking forward now to getting some on Fly Hope you get some, Geoff and Evi

Steve, Good to see you are getting some local. Geoff

Rick, Great to see you are back at it. Very interesting your comments about the Yaks vs Walking the banks. The little bit I have done has been walking the banks. I am planning a trip to upper Namoi and you are convincing me if you can access from the banks you are better off. Thanks for the post. Regards, Geoff

Well done. Blackfisherman will always ( nearly always) help. Take note of the tide when they came on. Most probably last 2 hours of run out ( then the locals all turned up). Also note the difference between high and low. Look for similar conditions to fish again. Geoff