Got My First Snowy Trout On Fly!

[arpie]

Hi all

I drove down to Canberra last Sunday & met up with my fly fishing guru buddy, Kim ....... who then drove me down to the Eucumbene to fish the lake! I had heard about all the snakes around the lakes & rivers there, so was a bit concerned I may be cornered by one ..... but luckily, it didn't happen.

We had heard that the fishing was 'going off' as the recent rains had filled the lakes higher than they had been in years! With lots of the bays rising over previously grassed areas, there were high hopes of some good fishing! I had entered the Snowy Trout Festival (I figured if I even caught a fish, my only chance would be on the daily 'mystery weight' for Rainbow & Brown) so had taken down my spinning gear (both plastics & lures) as well as fly gear. Then I had to decide which comp to enter, as they had fly, spin, plastics, trolling & bait sections. I chose fly! (never having landed a legal trout on fly down there yet! )

We planned on fishing the evening rise every night & couldn't understand why we weren't getting fish, as there were termites & moths & bugs flying everywhere & landing in the water. Maybe there was just too much action & they couldn't decide what to take?? Even Kim couldn't get a hit!

Monday, we fished the river in the afternoon where I got nothing & Kim got a couple of small trout on dry and one legal one, then came home for some dinner before going out again for an evening fish. As I left the river & started to take my jacket off, I felt really chilled, so left it on. When Kim came back & suggested I take off the breathable waders she had loaned me, my trousers underneath were absolutely saturated & not from a leak in the waders! I think I was really dehydrated & had sweated heaps, feeling quite woozy too! She had seen this before & we hightailed it to a servo to get some Gatorade into me, which I drank gratefully! Feeling better after a bit of a rest, we hit the lake again!

Kim at Euc

Back at Euc for the evening rise, once again, there were bugs everywhere, but no hits! This was amazing! Kim is used to catching fish every evening she fishes Euc, so was very disappointed! We had a quick snack at 9.30pm & went to bed, dreaming of big trout for the next day!

We stayed in a caravan/annex setup at Buckenderra that belongs to Kim's friends, so that was great. The weather was terrific - averaging 30+degrees on the Sun & Mon, then cooler on Tues, before a big storm blew thru. The rest of the week was really pleasant, with warm, sunny days, but unfortunately, continual wind in the afternoons! I had, of course, only brought up Cold Weather gear (including down jackets & polar fleece tops) so was wildly over gunned in the clothes department!!

My back was playing up a bit from all the casting (my technique is shocking!) & it was very overcast on the Tues, so we ambled over to Adaminaby to do the tourist bit. We checked out the Murrumbidgee as well, but it was blowing a gale & couldn't be fished. On the way back to Euc, we could see that it was being hammered by a big storm. Luckily, we missed the hail, and arriving between squals, we decided to pack up & head to Jindy & the Ski Lodge that Kim is a member of & hopefully, better fishing!!

A buddy who had been staying at Euc for the comp was out in his boat when the storm struck & he had a really hairy time getting back to shore. He really feared for his life as he ploughed thru the huge waves & felt lucky to arrive at shore without mishap.

We fished the Thredbo River on the Wed morning & once again, Kim got some nice fish, but I was up river & wasn't handy to get a pic! That evening we fished one of the many bays into the night without success, arriving home at about 10pm, falling into bed after a quick vino!

We even saw a platypus in the river on two days, which was really special!! Also saw a bigger one in the Murrumbidgee!!

Thurs, we went for a tourist trip all round the Snowy area, going to 3 Mile Dam. Geehi huts & other spots along the way but it was too windy to fish. We also stopped off at the Thredbo River at one of the camp sites where I saw 3 nice trout holding near the bank. I suggested that Kim gave it a go (I would have just spooked them!) and very shortly, she was onto a very nice brown trout of about 1kg+! She wasn't in her waders & didn't have a net so had no real chance of landing it, so 'held it in the current' as I clambered towards her with my camera to get a pic! Just as I got to her, the fish spat the hook! So no pic of the fish!

This was taken moments after the fish got off! She was very philosophical about it - as she always returns river fish anyway (and only ever keeps the odd lake fish.)

Kim continued fishing & landed another 3 or 4 fish, but mainly small colourful ones, like this one

I continued spooking them!

We had our dinner at about 4.30pm (we had a good routine worked out by now!) and returned to the lake for another fish just before dusk. I had tried numerous flies & then chucked on a good old 'Rex Hunt' Woolly Bugger! I chucked it out & before I could even get hold of the fly line to strip it back ......... the line took off!! OMG!! I am onto a fish!! This was my 3rd trip to the mountains with Kim & my first legal fish on (not counting one that busted me off last year!) I just stripped the line rather than getting it onto the reel & felt the leader go thru the top of the rod! It was after 9pm, pitch black & I didn't have my headlamp on! Aaaaagh!!! I'm going to lose it!! By this time, the fish had jumped a few times & Kim yelled "Are you on?" My reply "YES, but I wasn't going to tell you till I landed it!" I started walking backwards, out of the water, virtually skull dragging the poor fish onto the shore! Finally, I felt I could celebrate, with a lovely 44cm Rainbow trout on the shore!

My First legal Snowy Mountains Rainbow Trout

To say that I was on a high would be an understatement!! You just couldn't wipe the smile from the dial! Also, it was the first trout that we had caught at this stage from either of the lakes!! I didn't get much sleep that night!!

The next morning we weighed it in at a local tackle shop & it weighed in at 607g (gilled & gutted) so I was pretty happy with that!! Now I was only hopeful of getting the 'mystery weight' that would win $750 for each rainbow & brown trout that was closest to the specified weight each day. They were revealed at the end of each day or on the final day at the presentation.

Then we went to the river & Kim tried for more trout on dry (she just loves dry!!) As my back was a bit crook again, I chose to spin with plastics this time & was really annoyed when I found a pool loaded with big fish that were actively feeding on the surface! I put on an sp buggy thing out with a paddle tail & one of the bigger trout broke ranks & followed the sp back towards the bank, but didn't take it! Previously, they'd looked at a shrimp & ignored it. I reckon that if I'd had my fly rod with a dry on, I would have had a really good chance of hooking one!

Friday afternoon, we drove over to Berridale to attend the prize giving (a boat was being randomly drawn to comp members) and heard of some terrific fish being caught. One young lad took out the Junior award with a huge brown trout of over 2kg!

Check out the brown trout that was caught on Day one!!

http://www.troutfestival.com/index.cfm?pageName=day1

Saturday & we both hit the river again, with Kim catching about 4-5 fish, some to 1kg - whilst I got my usual ZIPPO!! There weren't as many in 'my pond' but as I approached it quietly, I could see that it had already been fished!

This fish was 'cooling off' in the the stream! The owner returned later to claim it!

I continued trying to get them interested in my meagre offerings, which they duly ignored! I was getting used to it by now!

That evening, we headed out to the lake's edge, AGAIN ......... with the same result! We met up with an older angler whom we had met earlier at the lodge .... only to discover that he knew Dennis, the guy who had taken me out fishing 4 times up on the Gold Coast!!! How amazing is that??? He was also having a hard time catching fish & we figured that the comp may have had a big effect on the shore fishos. It is mainly boat fishos that caught - with bait, trolling & luring. Not many fly fishos enter, apparantly!

Our last evening on the lake was gorgeous. Kim had some hits in some very shallow water but no hookups & once again there were heaps of bugs on the water. We headed back to the lodge, knowing we were going home the next day.

I had a terrific week, fishing with Kim - I had lots of casting practise over the week & hope some of Kim's tips rub off on our next journey down to the Snowy, probably the same time next year ..... but perhaps a week or two after the comp has been run & won!!

Maybe I will be able to catch another fish, too!!!

Cheerio

Roberta

hehe no pics of me in my waders ...... that is a sight you would NOT want to see, believe me!!

Edited November 10, 2009 by Roberta

[Hodgey]

Good onya Roberta! Some beautiful markings on the fish in the photos. Congrats on the 44cm trout, Roberta ... you deserve to be chuffed!

Cheers

Ian

[jenno64]

Great post Roberta and some nice pics too...well done on the Rainbow!

[slinkymalinky]

Love the report Roberta. I'm really pleased you got a beaut Rainbow. Sorry to hear about the sore back though.

See if you can convince Keith to enter a race in Tassie... its an experience anyone who's ever fly fished for trout, has to have.

Cheers, Slinky

[tentonner]

Great read Roberta

Fly fishing the Lake is too much for me seems as soon as i pick up a fly rod the entire lake shuts down

But always loved trolling and spinning Eucumbene its my fav place to fish

Always keen to hear about other people's experiences down there

Good stuff

[arpie]

Thanks guys - it really was fun & I look forward to doing it again. I really should do some back exercises tho (YUCK!) or just go walking every day (even YUCKIER .... unless I have a fishing rod in my hand!)

I may even try some SW fly fishing this weekend! Could be fun!

.....See if you can convince Keith to enter a race in Tassie......

hehe Terrific idea, Slinky!! Hadn't thought of that!!! I usually engineer our trips to stay at suitable fishy waters ....... and I haven't been to Tassie since the 70's!! I bet it has changed a bit!! Will add it to the 'must do' places list!

Hi Tentonner - I probably should have just stuck to spinning, but was determined to catch a decent trout on fly! Some terrific browns came from Braemar this year (not by us tho!) THe last legal trout I caught were up at the Cox's River (Lake Lyell) in 1999 ...... 10 years ago!!!

Cheerio

Roberta

[mako1]

Great report and pics Roberta.

Congrats on the fly caught trout from the Snowy

[Bream Mad]

congratulations Roberta

your first fly trout is always one you will remember

nice size too at 44cm

trout realy are funny fish, they have an almost mistical ability to vanish.

one second they are feasting on a hatch next minute the 1foot pool is barren or all life

sometimes it realy is amazing to catch one because you start believing there are no fish

well done again

kael

[Matt]

Great report Roberta and a big congrats on that first legal Trout on fly Pity you didn't get to fish 3 Mile, Geehi, Tooma or Tumut, all though the Trout aren't big in those lakes they are sure the prettiest. Did you have a look at Dry Dam or Rainbow Lake?

I went up to fish the first weekend of the comp accidentally, I forgot the festival was on! Ended up down at the 'bidgee below Cooma to get away from the crowds and boy that river has changed from when I used to live in Cooma. Doesn't even look Trouty anymore, saw some carp and my Dad lost a Macquarie Perch at his feet which would have been a first for us around there.

That big fella in the photo actually got beaten on the last day of the festival by a 3.4kg fish.

Cheers

Windy

[jewgaffer]

Nice read Roberta:thumbup: further than the Leyland brothers could travel despite a bad back...

Well done catching your first trout on a fly....Saltwater insect fishing now awaits you, I'll bet it won't be long before you catch your first bream on an artificial cockroach ....

Cheers

jewgaffer

[Squizy]

Top red Roberta; it sounds as though you had a great time and rightly so. As skip said you deserved to be chuffed over that one.

Stephen

[duck168]

Great report and nice pictures too. It was such an adventure. Did you make fishing with fly look easy or what? Good work with the trout. Good to see the snakes were not about too. Carry on and let us have more of your adventures.

[arpie]

Thanks again guys for your kind comments. It was hard work, but fun at the same time!

.. ..Did you have a look at Dry Dam or Rainbow Lake?.....

Hi Windy - I hadn't heard of those two! Will make a note of it for next year!

Yes - the lakes were crowded with trollers & spinners & I think it must have affected the land based fly fishos .... everyone was complaining of 'no fish' & the conditions with the water over the grass in the bays should have really fired it up! Bad luck on your Dad losing the Perch! The 'Bidgee is soooo small, you'd think there were no fish there, but we saw one nice one holding near the bridge that we stopped at - also saw a really big platypus there!! The ones in the Thredbo were much more petite!

I think we will be avoiding comp week next time we go down!

...Did you make fishing with fly look easy or what? ....

Hi Duck168 - I think I made it look very uncoordinated! Given the number of hours both Kim & I put in over the week and only the one from both the lakes, (at least 6-8hrs each day,) there was a lot of water between fish! A number of people watched Kim fishing the rivers with dry fly & complimented her on her style & ability to catch nice fish when others weren't (me in particuluar!) She is off to NZ next week to fish the South Island ..... I have a feeling that once tried, the South Island will become a regular fishing spot for her from now on!!

Cheerio

Roberta

[Matt]

Dry Dam is almost a stones throw from Three Mile, a delightful small dam that supplies water for Cabramurra. Has a good supply of small Browns, Rainbows and Brookies (and plenty of Red Bellied Blacks too), it's a magical little waterway and a great place to practise dry fly fishing.

Rainbow Lake is up near Sponars Chalet on the way to Perisher, its about a 1-2k walk and like Dry has loads of small beautifully marked Trout with the odd 600-700g fish thrown in.

You can do a wonderful tour of the high lakes, its like a circuit. Dad and I do it once a year (Nov 29 - Dec 6 this year is anyone is in the region), we start at Eucumbene (usually at Yens) then move on Tantangara before heading across to Three Mile and Dry Dam. Once past there its on to Tumut Pondage, Tooma Reservoir and Khancoban. Heading back to Jindabyne Geehi gets a look before hitting Jindabyne itself and on up the mountains again with Rainbow Lake, Diggers Creek Dam, Island Bend and finally Guthega.

Of course there are rivers too, Eucumbene, Tumut, Swampy Plains, Murray and Murrumbidgee, Snowy and Thredbo.

Sorry to hijack your great report a bit Roberta

[arpie]

....Sorry to hijack your great report a bit Roberta .....

hehe No complaints from Me, Windy! That is some terrific information for me to work with next time I am in the Mountains! Many thanks! I think I can actually recall your trip writeup last year (a bit earlier, wasn't it - closer to the end of Oct/early Nov ......)

Gee! You will have a blast with your Dad! Keep safe & away from those darned snakes! I didn't see any this (or any other trip) but have heard of horror stories where there have been like 3 snakes with every step!

Fishing the lakes just now, the tip seems to be to fish deep & during the day!! The night fishing just wasn't working last week!! Most fish on the rivers were taken by nymphs, but Kim did really well with dry, under the bushes etc along the edge of the rivers.

Do you camp in a tent or a campervan/trailer? I was most impressed with the 'free campsites' along the thredbo & some lakes - OK you have to have a Snowy permit, but hey! Cheap accomodation once you are there!!!

Cheerio & thanks again

Roberta

[Jewhunter]

Well done Roberta!

At 44cm that is a terrific river Rainbow & one to be very proud of!

Like any fishing challenge you partake in it will only be a matter of time before you have it worked out & are catching plenty.

I still want to see you in waders for a laugh though. I bet you look better than I do!

Great report mate.

Cheers,

Grant.

[tide'n'knots]

great report roberta, and top reading as usual!

good to see you eventually claimed a legal rainbow. I have had several goes at trout over the years for very minimal success so dont feel bad about your efforts at least you got 1leagal thats probably better than I would have done.

pete.

[Ray R]

Congrats Roberta and Kim, that's another tick on your fish list, great read , you really had a good time..

[Matt]

I am happy that any info I have can help in the future Roberta Especially when it comes to the Mountains. You know, I grew up in Cooma and have spent most of my life wandering around the mountains and its lakes and streams but have never encountered a 'horrer' story when it comes to our serpent friends. Sure, have encountered plenty but never in the numbers you read about?

We used to camp, but Dad is getting on now being 68 and it's easier to stay in pubs and caravan parks. Being based in Cooma, the closer lakes like Eucumbene and Tantangara are easy but we stay at Khancoban or Jindabyne now days. There are some awesome camp sites though, Geehi Flats and Three Mile come to mind as easy ones but if you are willing to get off the beaten track there are some amazing places.

Will put the info about the speckled fella's staying deep to good use in a couple of weeks. I have a goal to finally get my first Brookie, it will get reported here first if I do

Cheers

Windy

[JaniFIN]

Souds nice trip Roberta, was it your firs fly fishing fish also? Congratulations

[arpie]

Good luck with the Brookies, Windy - look forward to your trip report!!

Hi Jani!! Long time no hear!!! It wasn't my first time fly fishing (I started fly fishing in NZ about 15 years ago & got into some nice fish there) also tried in Zimbabwe, where I caught a couple , South Africa, where I caught some 'Golden Trout' (a mutant variation of the Rainbow) & now Australia Snowy trout (previously only caught from Coxs River near the Blue Mountains!!) I hope you have kept up with your fishing - don't forget to post your reports!

Hey !! I've been given some deer meat!! How do you recommend I cook it??

Gee, was that only this year that you were over in Aussie, or was it last year!!??

Say Hi to Saija from Keith & I

Cheerio

Roberta

Edited November 16, 2009 by Roberta

[JaniFIN]

Ok, you have been flyfishing warm places only, welcome here too

I send you private message for deer cooking