Lake Eucumbene Trip

[blayne]

Gday everyone,

I havent been on Fishraider much in a while but Im trying to pull my finger out a bit and get back into it all, ANYWAY,

Im heading down to Lake Eucumbene with the family the day after boxing day for 2 weeks to try and get stuck into some trout.

Were staying at Rainbow Pines caravan park as we always do right on the lake, so if anyone else is going down there let me know and we can go after some together.

My PB trout so far is a 62cm (went 1.6kg) brown that i got trolling a tassie on lead line, but this time im gunna try and concentrate on fly/spinning landbased a bit more aswell as out trolling lead lines from the boat.

Blayne

[Robbielites]

Good luck mate, I won't be down there this Jan for the first time in a looooong time.....

Let us know how you go and how the lake is going if you can find the time.

Cheers.

Robbie.

[blayne]

Yeah ill be sure to come back with a report on how the lake and fishing is going, maybe a few stories aswell

As I said before Im going to try and get a bit more landbased fly/spinning in this time, hopefully ill have my hands on a new team daiwa 2-4kg spinning rod to get those smaller lures where i want em, robbie where do you usually stay down there? i may have seen you before as ive been theres every chance ive gotten over the last 5 years

[arpie]

Hi Blayne

I just had a few days at Jindy & it was great fun! Didn't land any decent fish, but lost 2, one of which would have been a good one. The fishing has been hard - my buddy reckons if you want to get good fish, be up at 4am & fish thru till 7-8am, hit the rivers during the day, then back to the lake again for the last hour or so before dusk, thru to about 10pm. She reckons there are always more fish in Eucumbene - I got a couple there a few years back when staying at Buckenderra. Good luck - look forward to reading your reports! I have been bitten by the fly fishing bug again ........

Roberta

Edited December 19, 2007 by Roberta

[blayne]

Hi Roberta,

Yeah the lake has always fished really well at dusk in summer when all the insects are out, the rainbows cruise around in close to the bank and slurp them off the surface, the dry fly action at this time is awesome if youre very quiet and sneak up on them and start casting without spooking them, unfortunately i tend to make a mess of casting with dry flies

Ive never fished Jindabyne, ive heard some good reports though over the years. Might go for a drive this year and check it out if Eucumbene is quiet.

Cant wait though im chomping at the bit to get down there allready!

[arpie]

Hi Blayne

I had never dry fly fished before (only nymphed) and picked up the casting relatively ok, but was laying the line down a bit hard, spooking the fish. My mending was abysmal & I was taking big steps when wading instead of little dolly steps! All these things spook the fish!

A sinking Mrs Simpson was working for us on the lake at & before dusk, altho all the shops told us it wasn't! Small Adams & caddis on the river.

Well worth a trip down to Jindy, even if just for a look/see .... take your gear with you!

Roberta

[kenmare]

Hi Blayne

I had never dry fly fished before (only nymphed) and picked up the casting relatively ok, but was laying the line down a bit hard, spooking the fish. My mending was abysmal & I was taking big steps when wading instead of little dolly steps! All these things spook the fish!

Roberta

Hi Roberta,

By standing well back (so you don't need to wade), using a long leader with fine tippet, and fishing the close-in water first, you can successfully fish a 7 or even 8 weight outfit with the dry fly; people used to do that all the time until tackle manufacturers and retailers convinced almost everyone they needed to buy additional ultra light outfits in order to be successful. Still, that's commerce.

IMHO the secret to dry fly fishing is really good fly line management, in particular achieving a drag free drift of the fly. Unless you can you can do a reach cast and a good upstream mend you can be wasting your time on most trout streams.

Regards,

Bob

[arpie]

Hi Bob

I hear what you are saying - perhaps when I am a better caster & can miss more bushes than hit them ...... I will be able to cast from the edge!

I have realised the error of my ways in the 'striking of the line' - I was striking with the rod instead of just tightening the line first, to set the hook, then raising the rod to fight it!

Ah well, always a next time ..... I hope!

Cheers

Roberta

Unfortunately our shops up here only carry normal rubber waders, not breathable ones! Will have to hit the bigger shops if I am to find some for my next trip!

[kenmare]

Hi Bob

I hear what you are saying - perhaps when I am a better caster & can miss more bushes than hit them ...... I will be able to cast from the edge!

Cheers

Roberta

Hi Roberta,

While everyone (including me at times) can't resist overhead casting, usually with much false casting and hauling to alert the fish, in many situations a roll cast is a better option.

Overline your rod a line weight or two (say #7 line on a #6 rod) and it's possible to present a fly to promising lies on most streams without the need for a bush-grabbing back cast.

The roll cast is probably more useful when fishing nymph or streamer, but can also be used with a dry.

Much better than wasting time and losing flies in encounters with streamside bushes.

Regards,

Bob

[arpie]

Hi Bob

I tend to use the roll cast to pick the line off the water rather than place the fly! Must try that next time tho - would give a gentler landing.

Even the Steeple cast is a handy one, too, so long as there are not too many trees above you! If you do it right, it shouldn't get the trees behind you!

Cheers

Roberta