Mighty Thommo's

[foolforjesus]

It all started some months ago, after meeting Lee, aka "Hooked up" on the banks of Thompsons Creek Dam.
I was fly fishing, whilst Lee was just up the bank from me spinning. I had just gotten onto a feisty trout, which after a few minutes shook the hook.
We got chatting, and realised that we had actually bumped into each other on Fishraider previously, so it was a spin out.

Lee shared with me that he had bought some fly gear and was keen to get into it.
After the afternoon sharing stories and showing Lee a few tricks of the fly trade, I could see that Lee was picking it all up quick smart.
I know now that Lee is as keen as mustard when it comes to fishing, and gives it 110%, applying himself whole heartedly to the challenge.

We met up the following week, fly rods in hand, and the rest is history.
The legend was born, "The Mighty Brown Trout Hunters".

What follows is as close as I can get, to a chronological look back at what preceded that mythical meeting on the mighty shores of TCD.

After several sessions, three to four weeks I believe it was, the mighty Rainbow & the Elusive Brown Trout had eluded Lee.
I myself had hit a bit of a rough patch, turning up donuts every trip. I was beginning to get a bit disheartened, I badly wanted to get Lee hooked up to the fish that I held such high esteem for.
Lee was still as keen as ever, he had a fishing spirit which reminded me of myself.

One fateful day, which changed everything I believe for Lee & I; we experienced something which I myself in some 25 years plus of Trout/Fly fishing had never experienced in such a magical way.

It will always be known, as the legend, of "Mighty Brown Bay".
If you look back at one of my previous posts "Brown Trout Heaven at TCD" you can read exactly what happened.
After that day, Lee knew there were some awesome Trout to be tamed up at Thommo"s, and his vigour was renewed tenfold!

What follows is something that I have never heard of or seen before. Lee went on to catch his first three trout ever on the fly rod, all mighty Brown Trout, weighing in at 5.5lb or over!!!

The first session when the tables turned in our favour, it was evening, we were fishing dries up round the south Eastern side.
We started to get into some rises, when just like that it happened, I was on!
After a cracking battle, I landed a beauty of a male Brownie, weighing in at over 5lbs.


I then hooked into a fine 4lb rainbow, which gave me a battle to remember.
Then, as if the culmination of months of searching, honing his skills in the art of fly fishing, it all came together.
After a fairly swift battle, Lee held in his hands, the prize which few get to experience, a mighty male Brown, weighing in at 5.5lbs.


Lee was chuffed to bits, what a beautiful fish he had the pleasure to be holding.
The evening drew to a close, but the fun didn't stop there. After some rest, we made our way back to Thommo's, to try again for the mighty Trout.
I was knackered, taking a well-earned rest on the bank, when Lee made his way down to the shore, cast in and was on, again!
This fish however was far from a swift fighter, and gave Lee a thrilling battle; jumping, going on long deep runs, taking Lee to the max on the fly rod. This is what I wanted to see Lee experience, the might of the Brown Trout.
With the fish in the net, we beheld the awesome beauty on a fine 5.75lb male Brownie.




Lee was thrilled, exhausted but thrilled. His first two ever fish on the fly rod, a brace of big Brown Trout! From then on things just got better and better.
The next session saw Lee's third ever trout on the fly rod, yet another big 5.5lb Brown Trout! Then in another session, he produced a fine Brownie which went over 5lbs!!!





What was happening was the stuff of legend, I could barely believe it myself, I knew Thommo's could turn on the heat, she had the goods, but this was rare.

To those reading this, who knows TCD well, will know that she can be a moody temptress. The weather can go from bad to worse; the fishing can be frustrating beyond belief.
I have had runs of no fish for weeks on end, yet…yet; she can be one of the finest waters you'll ever fish.
To be honest, it is all a bit of a blur looking back now; I can just see big fish after big fish. To this day actually, Lee has not seen a small fish come out of Thommo's!

During those "special sessions" at TCD, Lee hooked into his first ever Rainbow on the fly rod, taking him onto the backing on its first run!!! She weighed in at around 3.5-4lbs.


During that same session actually, I landed my best two Brown Trout. An absolute pearler of a male, weighing in at 5.9lbs.


And my personal best, a female weighing in at 7.15lbs, which I believe would be a new Brown Trout Fishraider record on the fly rod.



In and amongst these mighty Thommo's sessions, there were some fine rainbows to be had, and Lee got another big Brown, weighing in at 5.7lbs, which in my opinion, is the prettiest Brown Trout I've ever seen. What an amazing colouration, what an amazingly powerful looking predator!




It's hard to put it all into words; it would take a long long time to detail everything that occurred, yet the memories are what counts in fishing I believe, and I know we have some pearlers to relive day in day out!

During some of our most recent TCD sessions, we've seen some cracking big Rainbows.
I hooked and landed my first Rainbow on the spin rod, a beauty of an egg laden female, weighing in at 5lbs.



We fished on, trying spin & fly rods, yet not another touch all day. As I said earlier, Thommo's can be tough.
Then as the day was drawing to a close, Lee using a Mrs Simpson I believe, hooked up to a fine slugger on the fly rod.
She turned out to be a fully egged up female, weighing in at around 4lbs.

What a cracking end to the day, and reliving these moments, what a cracking couple of months it's been.

The stats are incredible; we must be pushing 90lbs of weight, for 15-16 fish!!!
That's an incredible average of over 5.5lbs per fish.

May we have many more days when we're blessed with the might of the Rainbow power.
And may the mighty Brown Trout shows us again and again that she is indeed the trophy fish of the Blue Mountains!

Edited February 11, 2014 by foolforjesus

[paul.kenny]

What a great post, thanks for sharing the experience of teaching Lee how to use the wand and rewards to be had in Thomos. It reinforces the fact that we are really spoiled by choice in the Greater Sydney region.....within 3 hours drive you can get onto big Bass to the north, trout to the west and cod to the south west.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Basscatcher

[foolforjesus]

What a great post, thanks for sharing the experience of teaching Lee how to use the wand and rewards to be had in Thomos. It reinforces the fact that we are really spoiled by choice in the Greater Sydney region.....within 3 hours drive you can get onto big Bass to the north, trout to the west and cod to the south west.

Cheers Mate! I had a few editing problems with the post, took bloody ages to get up lol, but its all good now.

Spoiled indeed Mate!

[oarderve]

Well done Chris some great fish and good times. And shareing it with new friend all the better!

Regards Reno

[Hooked-Up]

sweet report man,

its sure been fun learning how to tame these beautiful big browns,

before picking up a flyrod id only ever got one mini brown off my downrigger and to see that first big brown that Chris caught on that first day had a strong effect on me lol,

now i knew the quality of fish that were in there and id witnessed one being caught on Chris,s technique on the first day i felt i was in with a great chance of getting into one real soon,

it took another 3 weeks of marching round the lake pulling hooks, striking too late etc before i stayed connected to one,

like you say man its a bit of a blur putting it into a report (so many hours spent) but youve done well and loaded a heap of pics for the raiders to see, well done.

may the mighty brown continue to show us whos the boss of thommos, lol you bringing a towel next time mate,

may add a bit of video later after some editing.

oh well back to reality for 4 days then were off to the snowies to try and tame some wild browns, yeehaaaa.

[bassboy888]

Wow what an adventure fellas. Ffj well done on teaching hooked up some tricks of the fly buisness. You lpok like you were certainly rewarded with some awesome fish!!

[Jewhunter]

Great report & some nice fish taken on fly.

Well done on learning to fly fish & sticking with it Hooked up.

I didn't know you could fish there after dark. Have the rules changed?

Last time I was there, 6 yrs ago, you had to be off the dam by dusk.

Cheers,

Grant.

[foolforjesus]

Hi Grant, you can fish one hour before sunrise, and three hours after sunset now.

I'm not sure when it changed, but yeah, I think it's been that way at least for the last three years.

[shred]

awesome, this report singlehandedly has made my mind up to finally get up there and have a crack

[foolforjesus]

Shred, go for it mate. She can be tough though, especially this time of year, so don't be disheartened if the goings tough, stick at it ok, that's the key, persistence.

[Jewhunter]

Hi Grant, you can fish one hour before sunrise, and three hours after sunset now.

I'm not sure when it changed, but yeah, I think it's been that way at least for the last three years.

Thanks for clearing that up for me mate. I haven't been there for way too long!

It's my fave trout spot. I showed it to Swordy many years ago & we got 7 fish that day. All good fish as well.

As you know it can be very frustrating though. The odd long day of getting nothing is forgotten when it fires.

Well done again. Not just for the captures but also for helping another fisho.

Cheers,

Grant.

[foolforjesus]

No worries Grant, it's all good!

[dean]

WOW, what a great post. I can see why you love the place so much. One of those big browns would certainly make up for a few fishless trips. Well done

[foolforjesus]

WOW, what a great post. I can see why you love the place so much. One of those big browns would certainly make up for a few fishless trips. Well done

Hi Mate, yeah they certainly put a smile on your face! Cheers.

[foolforjesus]

Well done Chris some great fish and good times. And shareing it with new friend all the better!

Regards Reno

Thanks Reno!

[foolforjesus]

sweet report man,

its sure been fun learning how to tame these beautiful big browns,

before picking up a flyrod id only ever got one mini brown off my downrigger and to see that first big brown that Chris caught on that first day had a strong effect on me lol,

now i knew the quality of fish that were in there and id witnessed one being caught on Chris,s technique on the first day i felt i was in with a great chance of getting into one real soon,

it took another 3 weeks of marching round the lake pulling hooks, striking too late etc before i stayed connected to one,

like you say man its a bit of a blur putting it into a report (so many hours spent) but youve done well and loaded a heap of pics for the raiders to see, well done.

may the mighty brown continue to show us whos the boss of thommos, lol you bringing a towel next time mate,

may add a bit of video later after some editing.

oh well back to reality for 4 days then were off to the snowies to try and tame some wild browns, yeehaaaa.

Lol @ towel!!!

The mighty Snowies here we come!!!

[foolforjesus]

Wow what an adventure fellas. Ffj well done on teaching hooked up some tricks of the fly buisness. You lpok like you were certainly rewarded with some awesome fish!!

Thanks Mate! Gotta hand it to Hooked up though, he really has stuck at it with the fly rod, and yeah, he's sure been rewarded!

[foolforjesus]

A couple of other photo's which I forgot to add into the post.

Every fish we caught, was successfully revived and released too.

We certainly don't mind some trout now and then, but we just love watching them swim off

[Hooked-Up]

A couple of other photo's which I forgot to add into the post.

Every fish we caught, was successfully revived and released too.

We certainly don't mind some trout now and then, but we just love watching them swim off

we certainly have been having a ball and hopefully we can get a few through the winter too,

check out the blue sheen down the brown in the 2nd pic, what a fish that was, simply beautiful.

its been hard work but its been great fun,

how good is it when you see the water swirl around your fly and the rod starts kicking in your hand and picking line up off the water,

then the fight down and dirty browns or turbocharged rainbows,

good times. some of the rainbows ran crazy fast lol.

[Delraiser]

Well done lads. We bumped into you guys on the way back to the car on Saturday and were wondering how you would get on (I hope the wind died down a touch!). Glad to see you managed a fish in the end. I certainly appreciate what it takes to catch fish in this lake as I have scored many donuts in the past. With the lake level up, the next few months should make for cracking fishing. I will post a couple of pics of our weekend adventure tomorrow.

[foolforjesus]

Hi Delraiser, awesome, looking forward to seeing the pics!

You Guy's did well! We only got that one hit from the lost fish first thing, then the one Lee managed later on.

That's the thing up there, when you get them, it's magic!

[Delraiser]

A couple of fish from Saturday....

This was the first, taken after several hours and a couple of near misses. The lure was a 50mm Squidgy Fish in Silver Fox colour. I didn't bother measuring but I'd say at least 3-4 pound and far and away the best fight I've had from a trout. I hooked him around some drowned trees and a few times he threatened to run me through them.

This was the second, and biggest fish. It didn't fight as hard as the first, but was a fair bit larger. The pics don't quite do justice to how well conditioned these fish are. They are just so fat across the back.

Letting the big guy go. It seems a shame to just catch them once

This was our best day at Thommo's so far and certainly makes up for many fishless trips. With the water levels up, I think we are in for a cracking few months

[Hooked-Up]

A couple of fish from Saturday....

This was the first, taken after several hours and a couple of near misses. The lure was a 50mm Squidgy Fish in Silver Fox colour. I didn't bother measuring but I'd say at least 3-4 pound and far and away the best fight I've had from a trout. I hooked him around some drowned trees and a few times he threatened to run me through them.

This was the second, and biggest fish. It didn't fight as hard as the first, but was a fair bit larger. The pics don't quite do justice to how well conditioned these fish are. They are just so fat across the back.

Letting the big guy go. It seems a shame to just catch them once

This was our best day at Thommo's so far and certainly makes up for many fishless trips. With the water levels up, I think we are in for a cracking few months

well done mate, there some lovely thommos rainbows and your spot on with the condition of them, got yourself some nice pics there and good to see you let them swim, i couldnt agree more there worth too much as a sportfish to catch once only.

good job.

Lee.

[foolforjesus]

A couple of fish from Saturday....

This was the first, taken after several hours and a couple of near misses. The lure was a 50mm Squidgy Fish in Silver Fox colour. I didn't bother measuring but I'd say at least 3-4 pound and far and away the best fight I've had from a trout. I hooked him around some drowned trees and a few times he threatened to run me through them.

This was the second, and biggest fish. It didn't fight as hard as the first, but was a fair bit larger. The pics don't quite do justice to how well conditioned these fish are. They are just so fat across the back.

Letting the big guy go. It seems a shame to just catch them once

This was our best day at Thommo's so far and certainly makes up for many fishless trips. With the water levels up, I think we are in for a cracking few months

Hi Mate, nice fish, all coloured up for spawning.

You've done well!

[denzor]

Awseome report!! love the pics mate