troutboy

Great work Matt, I really admire your dedication. 600gm weight with those thermal properties I think you are onto a winner. will give you a call tonight cheers Jamie

ALL OF THE ABOVE!

Hi Jonathan, a good all round line to suit your rod would be a 6w weight forward floating line such as a scientific anglers gpx or a rio gold. Flylines are expensive but are the most important part of the set up to get right. If you buy a reputable brand and look after it you will get many years from your line.. cheers jAMIE

Hi all, Lake Lyall would be the best venue for a fly gathering as access is good, the lake is easy to find for those who havent been there before, plenty of available shoreline with room for backcasting and the fish should be returning from spawning and be very hungry and looking to put on condition. I would be happy to help any newbies the best I can on the day rather than fish myself. food for thought.. cheers Jamie

Hi Johnathon, firstly good on you for giving the flyfishing a go, its by far the most rewarding way to catch fish. Can you tell us some of the rods details such as line weight and length of rod, once we know what you have it will make it easier for us to suggest appropriate gear. If you can get yourself to the blue mountains some time ( katoomba ) I would be happy to take you out for the day to Thommos or lake Lyall and give you some help with your casting, fly selection etc. cheers troutboy

Definately Matt, I just cant do it next weekend, give me a couple of weeks and if you are heading back in Im a starter for sure. cheers Jamie

Hi all, nothing wrong with tassie devils at all, an excellent all round trout lure. I know Matt has suggested retrieving the lure quite quickly but in my experience a painfully slow retrieve that has the tassie laying on its back and very gently swaying from side to side is a much better retrieve at this time of year when the trout are a bit lethargic. Give it a try you may be pleasantly surprised. cheers troutboy

Hi Eric, also try the smaller tassie devil in the 7g size, the trout at thommos seem to hit the smaller profile lure with gusto.Any of the colours with yellow wings will produce at this time of year.Rig your lure by threading your leader through the lure, through a small red or pink bead and tie your line to a small split ring with a single lure hook attached. That way the fish can not use the weight of the lure as leverage to dislodge the hook.As Stuie said cast out as far as you can and let the lure sink to the bottom.When retrieving you want the lure to gently sway from side to side on its back. Lake Lyall is another dam to try. cheers jamie

If you can afford it try a pair of spotters, well worth the money. If looked after they will last for years. cheers troutboy

Sorry guys forgot to ask is there any gas bbqs at bents basin or is it best to take your own. cheers troutboy

Thanks for the reply Jeff, think I might chuck the spin gear in the car and take some small topwater lures and give it a shot. cheers mate troutboy

Gday all, heading to bents basin for a bbq on saturday to catch up with some mates I havent seen for a good while and just wondering if its worth taking a light spin stick and some bass lures. Have any raiders had any success there at all. Any recommendations on successful lures and tactics would be much appreciated. cheers troutboy

Quantum are regarded as high end reels in the usa, I doubt you will have any problems with the reel mentioned cheers troutboy

G,day all. I will stick my neck out here and say to get yourself some lessons,sure it may cost you a few bucks but seriously teaching yourself to fly fish is doing it the hard way.. Spend a day with a reputable guide and he will have you casting correctly in no time at all, sure practice on your own as much as possible but learn to cast correctly right from the beginning and it will save you some major frustration.Even experienced fisherman take lessons from time to time just to learn new techniques or refine skills they already have. As the others have said a 4wt is more suited to creeks and smaller rivers but you can still use it to catch trout in lakes, it will just take longer to land the fish.If you would like some info on reputable guides just send me a pm will be glad to help. cheers troutboy

Gday Stinger, Try and get hold of some Muzz Wilson ties called a salty bms, great bream fly. Like the others have said bream can be tough on fly but very rewarding when you do get one , even the smaller fish will put a good bend in a 5/6 wt rod. Lots of trout style flies are more than suitable such as weighted and unweighted wooly buggers , bushies horror , worm flies and even bead head nymphs just to name a few. The gear you have will be fine , just make sure to rinse everything down thoroughly at the conclusion of your session and its not a bad idea to run the flyline through a bucket of warm soapy water to remove any salt buildup. Hope you do well cheers troutboy

Lovely fish Erroll. Its on the to do list. What gear and flies were you using? cheers troutboy

I think they would be very handy in tight siuations such as bush bashing through the scrub and not having any guides to catch on anything,also fishing at night no loose loops to catch on anything. Anyone have any clues as to the price of these rods? cheers troutboy

Nice golden Errol, just rewards for thinking outside the square. Beautifully coloured fish cheers troutboy

Fantastic sized river fish there DWAG 90 , itching to get out that way myself. Well done cheers troutboy

Try melting the edge of the hole with a soldering iron. This will fuse any loose fibres together which will prevent the carpet from fraying, the drill the rest of the hole with your holesaw. cheers troutboy

The Farmers creek arm of Lake Lyell has been fishing well for rainbow trout on fly. I have been using a level 4lbs 9ft leader and fishing a weighted nymph under an indicator for plenty of small rainbows up to 2lbs. Dont cast out too far from the bank as most of the fish I have been getting I have caught less than 10m from the shore. Cast out your nymph and let it sink and keep an eagle eye on your indicator for the tiniest movement. If it dips or stalls or moves in any way lift the rod smoothly and gently and you should get onto some nice fish. Good luck. cheers troutboy

Well done Jim Bream , great mixed bag of fish. Shame you had to leave early. cheers troutboy

Well done Nic, great result for your first effort at Lyell. Nice to see some advice from fellow raiders payed off for you and the family. cheers troutboy

Was there yesterday and had success using rainbow powerbait paste. As the others have said use a light main line with a pea size ball sinker connected to a light gauge swivel. Add a 40 cm length of mono around 4lbs breaking strain ( mono will help the bait to float longer) to a small hook. I have been using a small light gauge circle hook with great success which tends to stop the fish being gut hooked( all my fish are catch and release)To the hook add a small amount of powerbait about the size of a marble. Most of Lake lyell has steep sides which indicate deep water close to shore so dont fall into the trap of casting out too far as you will end up fishing under the thermocline which at this time of the year will be virtually fishless. About ten mts from the bank is ideal.I also use 2 y shaped rod holders to let my rod sit as parralel to the water as possible as this lets the fish take the bait with minimal resistance. Set the drag very lightly and dont be in too much of a hurry to lift the rod as 90% of the time the fish will hook themselves.I also use the small clip on rod bells as a bite indicator as I am usually fly fishing or spinning lures nearby. Take the right hand turn at sir Thomas Mitchell drive about 1 klm from the highway turnoff and follow this to the end of the dirt road this will take you to the junction of the Coxs river and Farmers creek arms of the lake. When you get to the locked gate you can fish the water directly in front of you although I have had more succuess fishing to the left of this area. Small tassie devils ( 7gm) work well cast a retrieved here( cast out as far as you can and let the lure settle on the bottom before a very slow rolling retrieve back to your feet. I have also done well using a beadhead nymph fished on a level leader ( 9ft of 4lbs flouro) and an indicator where the leader meets the flyline. Lake Lyell is not the most picturesque place to fish but at this time of year is much more consistant than Lake Wallace or Thompsons creek dam. Good luck . If you need any more info send me a pm. Will be glad to help. cheers troutboy

HI yes dear, good flies for the flatties are weighted clousers , polar fibre minnows and the like, basically any thing that is going to run along the bottom and kick up a bit of sand. Keep leaders around 9ft long and a breaking strain of 10lb or so, 10lb is plenty for the flatties and shouldnt deter the bream and whiting. good luck troutboy