covanova

On the weekend, my Brother Craig, his mate Andrew, Andrew’s girlfriend Cara and I went on a hike down in the Blue Mountains, South west of Sydney. We’d heard about some monster trout down there, and as the area is one of the few flowing streams able to be fished during the winter, we packed our fishing rods and spinners. We planned a 3 night trip, leaving on Thursday afternoon, arriving home Sunday night. It certainly wasn’t tweed and waders fishing country! After camping at the top of the mountain, we hiked down from Kanangra walls. Below are some pictures. This is an amazing geological formation, with beautiful walls above a deep (850m/2700ft) canyon. The scary thing was that where we were going was in fact further down than the bottom of this canyon! We walked along the top of the walls, and got even better views: From there the walk went down along a spur about of 900m height to the river over several kilometres. It ended up taking us about 4-5 hours. What a walk! It went down and down and down…not always fun when you’re carrying a full backpack! <Cont in next post due to attachments> Once we were finally down there, it was beautiful! Granite bluffs along the river made for cliffs that were 30-50 metres high. Our campsite was on a bend in the river in a grassy area and the daytime weather was quite nice. We spent all of the next day fishing along the river. This is an ice-cold wild river surrounded by national parks and declared wilderness that eventually drains into our water catchment area. Not many people access it at all and we saw no evidence of human effect, with the exception of a couple of old campfires. And in the chilly nights (below freezing), our campfire was a welcome companion! And for the actual fish (surely the most important part!). We saw many fish before coming across the fish below. These browns were quite vicious, while the rainbows we saw weren’t interested in any flies, jigs or lures we put past them. After waking up the next morning to quite chilly temperatures (my shoelaces were frozen rigid!!) we had some more casts and headed up to the base camp. It was a very long walk… Ascending 3000 feet is easy to say, doing it with 25kg on your back is another thing! It was over about 10 or so kilometres, so it took us all of about 6-7 hours to do. Once the postcard photos were taken, we were ready to head home!

Unfortunately the predators that linger up at deep creek will probably still be there too!

I've seen a good size one in the harbour (much bigger than that) and my brother was towed off his anchor (admittedly in a 6 foot tender) by one that he estimated to be 85cm across. He wasn't using SS hooks, so the best he could do is cut the line. It would be too dangerous to get close to the tiny boat against such a beast.

Thanks! The flow at ophir was pretty good, some locals tell be because of the poo factory outlet not far upstream.... I thought the water was clear! I'll have to get into it in november. In the mean time, I'll learn how to fly cast!

I've been doing some research and I've seen the Wollondilly near wombeyan caves is supposed to be an all-year round spot for trout, and quite a good one given the surge of fish coming up from the dam. Has anyone had any experience there? I went up to Orange a couple of weeks ago, and saw Ophir, with a small, very clear running creek running through it. Not much flow, but it is a general trout water and locals say there's fish in it...anyone heard?

Thanks! It has always fascinated me, it must be interesting to see them in the estuaries when you do!

Are there many sea-runners in Tasmania? Do these exhibit different characteristics to trouts in landlocked inpoundments or rivers? Are the ever caught out to sea?

I'm off to Orange with the . Convinced her to take the other car, so I'll be making a "short" detour at TCD, looking for any of the giants left over by Swordfisherman and Jewhunter last week.... for sure.... but hopefully it will be productive. Any tips?

can't see the pic?

building on the frontal dune...you never really own the land....the sea does.

Isn't there a limit of 20 crabs per day?

A large-ish yakka. For my old man to use as bait.

Went out this morning in a little yacht tender off fairlight. Berleying up with small pilchard peices, I lost one decent fish, then landed an alright watson's bonito. On handline it was great fun, honestly more seat of your pants than a rod as the line goes screaming through your fingers. Afterwards the yakkas were in plague proportions (never there when you need them) but the ones I caught didn't prove too enticing as bait. Dropped on blue swimmer for want of a landing net too.

I think you mean shot.

Albanee? Australia? Ah! Albany! What am I doing here then?

Raced down to fairlight last night after work and put out a little yacht tender we keep down there. The sun was almost down by the time I got there. Bereleyed up a bit and got a 31cm bream and a 35cm snapper on pillies. Nice fish. As I was leaving there was a school of yakkas under the boat which I would have loved to put on a float, but it was too dark. I guess we'll have to share the fish so we don't accumulate dioxins!

my brother caught one on a handline in the harbour last week. Didn't know what it was till it surfaced, reckoned it was a metre across and towed his little boat (a 6ft yacht tender) several hundred metres. Needless to say he cut the line as soon as he saw what it was. It was a rusty old hook too, so hopefully it rusted off very quickly. Not a nice feeling though!

we quite often get them at lake maquarie that big and bigger. You cast, put your rod down and next thing you know it's screaming and the bugger of a thing is busy on the surface running all around your other lines causing no end of trouble!

For your sake I hope you let them all go!

There was a level area that had been camped on in the past at the base of the track. We set up our tents there and went up and downstream. The Colo is a tributary of the haweksbury, it comes in at Portland. We were fishing about 30km north of Windsor. Great fun, but you need to be quite fit and nimble to get in and out.

What a trip! I went with Andrew and Craig. We picked a spot a fair way up the river, and drove in on Andrew’s 4wd. We knew the descent was roughly 450m and that we had about 4km or so to walk. It turns out that just about all of this descent is in the last 500m, and in places it was very steep and involved climbing. This was particularly tough with 30kg of supplies on our back. When we were almost at the bottom, we had a great view of the sandy river and canyon above and below. This is a real gorge, with massive steep walls on both sides. They were 500m high in places (the height of 125 storey building) which we had just come down. We explored the area that afternoon, and didn’t go far as it was raining and quite misty. The river is a sequence of pretty sandy pools broken by boulders and rapids. The water was shallow at most places, but was running quite fast. We spent the next day looking for Bass. We went upstream and collected a fair number. They were not trophy fish by any stretch of the imagination (few over 30cm) but they fought well and were a real challenge as they darted between boulders, using the current and local knowledge to their advantage. This was almost virgin territory and it is certain that they had never seen a lure before. Andrew and his Rebel Crickhopper lure was the champion, accounting for some 7 fish. Walking across the boulders and rapids was a challenge – there were no paths and we had to make our own way upstream. As with the trip down, any slip could have been harmful, and there is no easy way out. Downstream from our camp had a number of deeper pools with steep edges, and we found ourselves swimming through the water, rods in our mouth, to progress. The scenery was amazing, nothing like I had ever seen. Try as I might, the camera could not adequately capture the scale of the cliff walls that surrounded us. They were truly massive. It was also great not to see evidence of human rubbish along the river, truly pristine. That night Craig caught a couple of eels at the bank which we brought home (he’s heard it is good shark bait). The walk (or should I say climb) was very tough, and carrying our provisions made it even tougher. The good part is that we did get the steep section out of the way first. Craig and Andrew’s fitness showed as they were ahead of me all of the way. It was physically very demanding, we were using our hands and legs to propel up a slope that almost seemed vertical at times, and seemed to go on forever. Eventually we were out, and ready for a new adventure! It is great to know that a place like this exists, very wild, without dams or tourism to ruin it. Hope you like the pictures. More pics.... Not sure what I did wrong or if it comes out too wide on everyone elses...

Thanks fellas, we're off in the morning. Come monday you'll see some pics, hopefully not just of the scenery!

Tomorrow I am going with my Brother and one of his mates for a 3 day trip into the colo. Weather looks a little dicey, but hopefully it will pick up as we will be camping down there. Anyone been there and have any tips to offer? We're going to go down the Canoe Creek track. Any advice greatly appreciated! Hopefully it will go well and I'll have heaps of pics to send back!!! Adrian

Accommodation was nice, but the water near where I was staying was pretty disgusting. I had heard that before, but it wasn't nice. Closer to the wall would have been better, but I didn't get a chance. Having your line come out of the water green is a bit gross...

I will. That's what happens when somebody gives the "101 top weekends away" book. I didn't get to it in time to rip out all of the pages that aren't near fishing spots.