Summer is a very exciting time of year for the Tasmanian fly fisherman. Until now the surface activity has been very few and far between. We relied instead on our keen eye to pick out trouty shapes amongst a myriad of trouty shaped things that aren’t actually trout.

That time is drawing to a close and things are really starting to fire up in the Western Lakes.

I headed up on a solo weekend away for a couple of reasons. Firstly to chase a fish that has occupied my thoughts for the previous 2 months and secondly to put my new fly reel to the test. As a machinist by trade I thought it would be a challenge to design and produce a reel to tackle some of these bruisers up on the plateau. Every component of the reel was machined by hand and I sent it over to Terry Hayden from Hayden reels to perform his magic with the anodizing. I was ecstatic with the finished product and was itching to put it to the test.

 It is funny how a single fish can occupy your thoughts. I know how ridiculous it sounds. I havn’t been able to move on and explore further waters believing that today could be the day that he slips up. After 3 outings targeting this elusive prize today could be the day that he obligingly accepts my offering and I can admire his being before gently returning him to his watery abode.

One day

Those little sail boats are back now….you remember the ones? They appear out of nowhere and drift in silence at the mercy of the wind. The “clomp” that follows is music to our ears. The fact does not escape the keen eye of the swallows either. It is a royal feast for trout and bird alike The dun hatch persisted long enough for me to land a handful of fat, well conditioned fish. I’ve never seen the backing on my fly reel while fishing so it was nice to see only 2 layers between success and an empty spool on two occasions.

 

Polaroided along the rocky shoreline

The rugged back shores often produce some gems

Tread carefully up here

Waiting for the duns to appear

It’s  a tough gig but someone has to do it

And what of the big guy you ask? Well I did manage to fool him. Well kind of……The cast was made and he plucked the tiny stick caddis out of the weedbed. He was facing towards me as he did so and inevitably upon the strike my fly ended up wrapped around a bush behind my head. And so our relationship continues and the challenge still plays on my mind.

Guess where I’m heading again very soon???