Hi all....
My fishing exploits started from an early age, and I was really the only child of 3 that showed a particular interest in the sport. Countless days were spent with my dad bait fishing for Flathead or spinning for Salmon. The Tamar River in Northern Tasmania was only a quick stroll from the front of our house, and safe enough so that my parents would let me go down there by myself. I cherish the moments at that tender age fishing in solitude, and observing Mother Nature’s daily routine – every now and then I even caught some fish! Generally Flathead, Cod and Salmon.
It was a bit out of the way for us, but a couple of times a year I would get to head off Trout fishing with my old man, drowning a wattle grub and spinning with ‘Tassie Devils’ and ‘Ashley Spinners’. I personally had more success on the grubs but Dad would land some nice Trout which left me in awe of his experience. I recall one time when I was roughly 10 years old, we were staying at a shack at Arthurs Lake in Tassie’s highlands. Dad and his mate ‘Jimbob’ had slept in a bit, more than likely after a boozy night around the campfire drowning grubs – as the fish keeper was looking healthy when I awoke. Anyway, I headed off on a cool, overcast morning for a ‘shore bash’ with Dad’s spinning rod, and a few lures. Aaah, there’s that feeling again – to be on a solo mission to tangle with a wild fish. I guess had been spinning for around 30 minutes when I noticed a fish follow my lure and swirl at it at the last moment. This got me very excited and I persisted until I found a submerged log amongst the heavily timbered shoreline. A loud ‘twang’ dampened my enthusiasm briefly as I thought I would get in trouble for losing dad’s gun lure. I knew I had to make it up to him so I re-tied. On went a green and gold Ashley Spinner and I found success in a few minutes. This fish was pulling like nothing that I had ever felt, and instantly made me very nervous. I managed to keep my cool and played him until he was only a couple of metres from my feet, when he launched in the air and threw the lure. I was shattered, and made my way back to the shack soon after, dragging my bottom lip on the ground. I told Dad my story before telling him about the lure, crafty little fella!
I continued this style of fishing for years, and hooked up with some good mates that had a boat, and we began trolling and spinning for Salmon in between some bottom bashing.
It’s not until about 4-5 years ago that I discovered Fly Fishing with the help of a good mate. After landing a little Brown on my first outing I was instantly hooked, and purchased my own outfit not long after. More often than not, I would head out to one of my favourite little rivers and wade for a few hours, landing fish here and there and pushing myself to become more polished along the way. I recall one afternoon the stage was set for a perfect afternoon with Spinners hatching and Grasshoppers plentiful. My previous personal best on this river was 18 fish in one afternoon, over about 4 hours. I was having a ball landing little Brownies on dry fly and releasing them with care. I knew I was on my way to smashing my PB when I was at 16 fish. It’s from here that there appeared to be a lull, much to my disappointment. Although I had been having plenty of success on a Royal Wulff pattern, I began getting refusals from fish so I changed to a Coachman fly which eventually brought a few more undone. I guess we all like beating our Pub’s and getting a new species etc. but I was stoked to break the 20 mark! You could imagine how jubilant I was to continue on to 34 fish for that afternoon…… and I probably could have caught more but I ran out of light!! Trout fishing in small streams and rivers is a fantastic way to spend your day, and is generally overshadowed by Tassie’s great Lake fishing.
It was only natural that my fly fishing hobbies would see me have a crack at the salt. This year I started some shore-based SWFF and have not had a lot of success! Although, I have mainly been targeting a fussy fish in the Black Bream. I suppose I have been focusing a lot on other methods but after a dozen or so sessions – I landed my first Bream on fly! Only a little fella, but stoked all the same.