[Blue Mountains fly fishing]

Hi Stewy,

Here is a picture of the fly I use. I make them in a size 10 and 12.

It is real easy to tie.

Regards Chris

[Blue Mountains fly fishing]

Hi Stewy,

We were using bead head nymphs with 4lb fluorocarbon leader.

Regards Chris

[Blue Mountains fly fishing]

Hi Raiders,

Today my friend Flycaster and I made a trip up to the Blue Mountains to fish Thompson Creek dam.

I arrived first and tried my luck with the pink Tassie devil (thanks Stewy for the tip and the great report last week). After about an hour and only one decent strike (but no hook up), I was joined by Flycaster. I changed over to a metal spoon and after a few casts I was on.

The first fish of the day was a little rainbow. After a quick photo it was released.

Flycaster and I decided to change locations moving to the western end of the dam. I changed tactics, putting away the spinning outfit and going for the fly gear. After about 5 minutes, I heard a cry in the background “FISH ON”. The result was this lovely rainbow.

It didn’t take long and Flycaster was onto another good fish.

Flycaster was on a roll and the fish seem to be searching out his fly or congregating at his spot. I decided to inch my way closer to him and we were now fishing shoulder to shoulder. Flycaster was getting all the attention today with fish even striking at his indicator. I decided to tie on a dry fly and something monstered it. I felt the weight of the fish for a split second and it was gone, busting the fly off.

As I rigged up, I looked over to Flycaster to see him again hooked up, but this time to something much larger. The fish was unstoppable, taking him around a tree and towards the weeds. Flycaster tried to muscle him out but with a surge, busted him off.

After much persistence, I scored my second fish (only a little guy).

My next cast produced a better fish. This fish put on a great fight, taking off every time it saw the net.

Flycaster with another fish

Another little guy caught by yours truly.

Between us we picked up 8 fish (4 each), although Flycaster was on fire with 3 good fish and 1 that got away.

Caddis

[Blue Mountains fly fishing]

Hi Raiders,

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I always find it difficult to sleep the night before a fishing trip. Well, I was up at 3am and just couldn’t get back to sleep again, so I decided to get my gear together and make my way to the Blue Mountains. Today, I had planned to fish Thompson’s Creek Dam with a friend of mine, who I will call Flycaster. I got to the dam just after 6am and started fishing, hoping to get a fish or two before Flycaster arrived. I’ve never had much luck fly fishing the dam, so I had brought my spinning outfit and started throwing Tassie devils. As the sun showed up on the horizon, fish were rising to a hatch of very small spinners. I geared up my fly rod and searched my fly box to find a fly to match the hatch. Unfortunately I just didn’t have a fly that reassembled the small spinner. After throwing a number of flies at the rises, I gave up and went back to the Tassie devil. At this time, I was joined by my friend Flycaster. It didn’t take long, and shortly after Flycaster arrived my Tassie devil was taken. The little rainbow took to the air and put up an incredible fight.

Out came a healthy rainbow, measuring 30cm.

After a quick photo, it was released to fight another day.

A few minutes later, I was on again. But as I was fumbling to get the camera out, I dropped him right at my feet. It was about the same size as the first fish. There were several follows on the Tassie devil, but they were all small and I really wanted to catch a larger fish which this Dam was renowned for producing. I tied on a custom made nymphs and it was taken by this lovely rainbow.

By this stage, Flycaster was getting rather annoyed at me, but it wasn’t long before his fly was taken by something a lot larger.

After a few intense minutes and my poor attempts at netting the fish, we finally had him.

Here is another fish that fell to the custom made nymph.

We didn’t have long to wait between bites, and just as Flycaster said that a fish will take my fly, I was on again. This time, I was on to something larger. After catching a number of small fish, this fish felt like a monster. Flycaster quickly came to the rescue with his net, and like an expert he had the fish.

After lunch, the action had died down and we decided to make our way home. As we were getting ready to leave, Flycaster announced “one last cast”. And sure enough he was on, and to a good fish. Flycaster didn’t trust my netting ability, after seeing my dismal attempts at netting his first fish, and landed it himself.

Although the fish had not been very large, the action had been hot.

Thanks Flycaster for a great day out and look forward to our next trip.

[Snowy Mountains fly fishing]

Thanks Matt, Thanks luderick -angler,

We were very luckly that the weather held up.

Watching the kids getting into it really makes fishing fun. I think I was more excited to see them bring in a fish then they were.

[Snowy Mountains fly fishing]

Thanks Geoff,

The little one is 3 and she just will not part with the dummy.

Conditions are not the best for the serious fly fisher i.e. rivers running hard and warm waters, but at least there is a lot of little fish to entertain the kids.

Regards Chris

[Snowy Mountains fly fishing]

Thanks Roberta

I have only taken my eldest fishing a couple of times. She really enjoys it but gets bored very easily.

I'm hoping to get them out again soon.

Regards Chris

[Snowy Mountains fly fishing]

Hi Raiders,

I just got back from 4 wonderful days in the Eucumbene with my family. Apparently, the weather in the region had been terrible over the past few weeks, with strong winds and rain. Lucky for us, the weather held up and we got mostly good conditions during our stay. My wife was the photographer during the trip, so all credit to her for the photos.

We arrived at Providence Portal on Saturday afternoon and found the wind was up but at least it was sunny.

I was told by our host Lynn, that there were a number of sightings of a monster brown lurking in the area. I later spoke to another angler confirming the sightings.

The next morning, with the prospect of catching a prehistoric trout, I was up at 6am and the wind had died down. I made my way to the river to find it was running very hard, making it impossible to cross. This was probably the most disappointing part of the trip, as most of the best fishing is found downstream. I had to settle fishing in front of the park and upstream. I fished half the day and caught 1 fish (brown, 30cm) and dropped another about the same size. After lunch, we took the kids to a thermal pool at Yarrangobilly. I’ve been to thermal pools in Canada which were steamy hot, this one was cold. Well, the kids seemed to enjoy it.

Later that day, we stopped into Anglers Reach to have a look around and cast a few lines.

Here is my wife having a go.

I repeated the exercise on day 2, catching 2 fish, both browns (33cm and 28cm) in the river. When I got home I took the kids to Cooma to stock up on snacks.

On the 3rd day, we decided to take the kids lake fishing. I have for a long time wanted to put my eldest daughter onto a trout. We headed up to Seven Gates to try our luck power baiting (I personally have never caught a fishing using the stuff, but have heard people catch plenty using the stuff).

I set up a couple of lines, and had the girls watch the rods while I tried my luck flicking a fly in some of the newly flooded banks. After a while, my eldest wanted me to teach her to cast, so I rigged up a Tassie and we took turns casting. She picked it up quickly and was soon casting 10 feet.

Even my little one got into the action.

We had spotted a trout cruising in front of us and tried casting to him, but he showed no interest. The water temperature was warm (about 22 degrees), which is possibly why the trout were not on the chew. We decided to take the kids on a short hike before packing up and trying our chance at the river.

By the time we got to our spot, it was about 6pm and we only had a couple of hours of fishing. I could see a few fish rising, and after a couple of drifts, something had a go at the dry but missed the hook. Soon after, the dry went under and something had taken the nymph dropper. I passed the rod to my eldest and she pulled up this feisty little rainbow (33cm).

Not sure if I could call this her first trout? But she did a good job bringing it in on my fly rod. The wind had picked up and I could see fish rising on the other side of the bank, just outside the casting distance of my eldest. I took the rod off her and cast it right up into the bank and almost immediately, I was on. My wife took my youngest and had her pull in the fish. She was so excited she forgot how to use the reel. But with my wife’s help she pulled in this lovely little rainbow, measuring 27cm.

After that, we called it a day and made our way home.

The next day, we regrettably packed up and made our way back to Sydney.

[Blue Mountains fly fishing]

I've done 2 trips this year ( 7 days, and 6 days) so far to Kanangra/Cox's. Lots of huge Carp in the Cox's- nothing big in Kanangra. Lot's of Yabbies, and the water is absolutely great for swimming in. The river/stream has good flow, and unbelievable amount of insect life around. found hundreds of bright yellow frogs about 10cm in length every night right by the stream. So many March flies that you literally get imprisoned in your tent. I think I also have permanent hearing damage from the Cicada's, and last trip almost got nailed by a massive brown or tiger right at my campsite ( ended up moving to the rocky shore of Kanangra). I'd be very surprised to find any decent trout up there now- the water is just too warm.

Hi Matt, Thanks for the info. I have never seen a carp in the Cox's. That's interesting. Do you fish anywhere else besides Kanangra? I typically fish the Cox's near Rydal and Farmers creek, and have caught fish all year round even up to 4 pounds. Unfortunately, it's unfishable at the moment.

[Blue Mountains fly fishing]

Hi Raiders,

This is my first post, and hopefully not my last.

I left home at 4am and arrived at Lithgow at 6:10am. My first stop was McDonalds, for a quick bite before heading out. I later found out that the sandwiches my lovely wife made the night before, I had left at home.

I usually fish Cox’s river at the Rydal access point. However, with Lake Lyell at 100%, the part of river I use to fish is now a lake.

After a short drive, I arrived at my first access point at Hartley around 7am and proceeded to walk downstream. There were no signs of fish, so I decided to rig up a nymph and fish the bubble line. After about an hour, I came across a deep pool and saw at the corner of my eye, the first signs of fish.

It was a fish rising further downstream. I repositioned myself and tied on a homemade Royal Wolf. After 2/3 drifts, my fly was engulfed and I was on. After several short runs, out came a fat, healthy little rainbow. She measured 34cm and went back into the drink to fight another day.

I continued to walk down stream, but failed to see any further signs of fish. It was just after noon when I got back to the car, and decided to try one more spot.

I had just enough time to fish Sandy Hook for a couple of hours as I promised to be home before 5pm. After hiking 2km downstream, the weather changed for the worst and the rain started moving in. There were no signs of fish so I packed up and called it a day.