Dartmouth Dam - Nov 2008

You might be going to give this nice brown a kiss, but we're not throwing her back Barry "Bazza" Kerr! This trip was a change from my usual 'waving the wand' with us spending our time trolling the dam. This was a learning experience for me with us using what I referred to as christmas decorations, but in truth called Ford Fender rigs. For those not familiar with these, they are metal plates about 3 inches in length with reflective surfaces that rotate and send out beams of light in every direction as they are trolled through the water. Attached about a meter behind these is attached a worm, dragon fly nymph, or in my case a Tassie Devil lure. In the case of this fish I had a pink Tassie on the rig which after an hour of dragging across the lake had not produced a fish. I switched over to a yellow with black stripes (which the guys in Tassie on our recent trip said were producing all the fish their) and within 5 minutes we had a hit and catch of the brown pitured above. Our host Chris "TOR" Davies (pitured top) put the trip together and had the unenviable task of weathering the weather through cold, wind, rain and temperatures that had our teeth chattering in the front end of the boat. While the fish were sparse, the food, laughter and hopsitality were plentiful and made the trip a memorable event.

GlenLyon Dam - Queensland - Nov 2008

While in Brisvegas on business I had the opportunity to wet a line with a mate of mine Garry (Gazza) Lane out at Glenlyon Dam. Water levels were down to under 30% capacity which was a dramatic change compared to our last trip back in 2000 when it was at 50%. Fishing conditions where challenging with fish being very light on the bite. Live shrimp baits were gently sucked off the hooks instead of the usual 'boof' of past trips. Talking with other punters back at the boat ramp saw similar 'hard luck' stories. At the kiosk we were told 'you should have been here last week' ... we'll see how it goes next time.

Tasmania - November 2008

Couple of nice ''breakfast' fish (above) caught in the Meander River by myself.

My Mate Colie and I made our annual pilgrimage over to the Great Lakes in Tassie the weekend of Melbourne Cup. This years trip wasn't as near fruitful as previous years. It seems that crews trolling lures (Tassie Devils in yellow body, black strips) cleaned up with catches of 20 plus fish per boat per day being common. Being die-hard fly fisher folk, we slogged it out through hard and testing conditions. Our first two days saw bright, clear and cloudless days - unfortunately by the time we saw the fish, they saw us and headed for deeper waters. Fish proved to be very spooky under these conditions. Our third and forth days saw cloudy, windy, blustery days which made it difficult to keep our flies under control. By the fith day (and some couple of thousand casts later) I had worn my skin down to the flesh on one of my fingers through pulling the fly line over it - ouchy!

Sorrento - Victoria - Oct 2008

Last weekend we went out the front of Sorrento fishing for flathead and pulled a nice little bag for three of us. Colin cleaned up catching 8 of the 12 keepers we caught. The bait that performed on the day was whitebait. We drifted between No. 6 marker and the Fort to produce these results.

USA - Atlanta - June 2005

In June of 2005 I found myself in Atlanta in the USA on business with a weekend spare to fill in some time. Through one of the local contacts in Atlanta I got wind of a private stream owened by a guy named Bob who ran a smoke house outside of town. Following directions sribbled down on a restuarant napkin from dinner the previous night I made my way to Bob's place. An hour of of town and I found the smoke house where I wandered in and asked about the 'secrete' fishing stream. Bob said he knew nothing about any such stream. My heart sank, but thinking quickly I said that Frank Higgins had put me onto him, and then a broad smile struck Bobs face. A short while later I was given another set of directions on a scrap of paper smudged with gravy and other smoke house muck along with a set of keys to get me onto his beloved hot spot. Buying a couple of smoke house special roles and discussing the fishing I was about to do, Bob asked what kind of fly gear did I have? "Oh, just a 6 weight rod with 3 pound tippet" I replied. Bob was rolling on the floor laughing and remarked that I'd need at least 20 pound tippet if I had any hope of landing a fish. I thought he was joking with me, being an kangaroo and all. Anyway, I soon found his parting words ringing in my ears as I was busted off left, right and centre. The fishing was fast and furious with takes happening on every other cast. The battles were short lived as these bruisers found new ways to bust me off at every turn. The water was skinny, being only 8 to 10 foot across in some sections. Trees overhung and followed the stream, but all in all was pretty clear of vegitation to prevent you from casting. The challenge came in that each pool of opportunity had a tail end with overhanging branches, logs for the fish to swim under and then drop down into the next pool, hidden tree roots for the fish to swim through and do loop-d-loops, and a new one I'd never seen before when a fish hit a dry fly and cleared the water before bouncing off the bank and rolling back into the water before snagging my fly on the opposite bank! A big hole was appearing in my fly box as I lost rig after rig. Finally, one fish decided to give me a break and headed up stream and into a pool that it couldn't get back out of. I literally had to throw myself in front of the fish every time it made a dash for down stream. Despite the early difficulties, I soon worked found a couple of ideal pools to fish in and once hooked, keep them in the upper parts before tiring them to catch and release. It was a fantastic spot to wet a line. If anyone ever tells you about a secrete spot and to ask for Bob, make sure you let him know how put you onto him, otherwise you'll miss out on a most excellent place to spend a day.

Tasmania - November 2007

In the weekend leading up to Melbourne Cup my good mate Colin and I headed to Tasmaina hell bent on having the best fishing adventure ever. Making the journey over on the Spirit of Tasmania and utilising Cols Landcruiser to get about once we hit main land at Davonport. We had a plan in place to fish various lakes and streams as we stumbled on them en route to Great Lake and Arthurs Lake. We enlisted the help of a local guide for a couple of days (I always highly recommend doing this so that you can figure out quickly whats going on - you can't beat local knowledge) and we were soon into the fish. One of the things I love about fishing is that you are always learning. Our guide Chris Bassano taught us the art of dibbling from a boat across the shallows where losts of frisky browns cruised looking for their morning feed. Thirteen fish around the 3 pound mark were landed in quick succession. We're scheduled to make our annual trip again during the same period this year (2008) ... so stay tunned for some more brilliant pictures and stories to follow.

Moreton Island Offshore - Queensland - Australia August 2007

I often quote that "a bad days fishing is better than a good day at the office" ... well, how about when you have a ripper day fishing! Makes you want to give up working?? Not likely - I love what I do too much. The pictures tell the story here with a great mixed bag of snapper, pearl pearch, and a kingy to top things off. A days fishing off Moreton Island in Queensland with my mate Jeffo. My mate had the right idea in the early morning as we pulled up at a spot to pick up some live baits. I was soon to find out that this was a set-up as Jeffo used rubber wiggly things on his hook and he fastened a nice yakka to the end of my line. As the line peeled off the reel in free spool, Jeff looked over and said "you'd better hang on tight to that" ... I guess the little yakka got about 2 meters before it was nailed by the kingy above. Ripper day!

Eildon Pondage - Victoria - Australia July 2007

While researching spots within a short distance of Melbourne to 'wave the wand' I came across references to the Eildon Pondage below Eildon Dam. The fish (trout we are talking about) fall into two categories - ETs and PIGS. The ET is an acronym for Educated Trout - trout that have been in the system for a while and have become accustomed to finding critters to eat. The term PIG refers to trout recently released from local trout farms. The later PIG fish are easy to identify - they usually have worn tail fins and are pale in colouring. These fish were part of a mixed bag that included other smaller trout and a couple of redfin caught also on fly. These all feel victim to a green wooly bugger with gold bead head. I managed to nail a fish every 20 minutes or so by slowly making my way along the bank on the northern side of the pondage, on the eastern side of the bridge.

Big River - Big River National Park - Victoria - Australia - December 2006

Between christmas and new years I put in some time on the Big River in the back blocks of the Big River National Park. I've found this secrete little spot with fantastic pools, runs, riffles - all the classic trout fishing water in a stretch about 500 mtr long. The fish aren't elbow slappers (although you have to keep your wits about you as every now and then you get a nasty surprise when ol bruiser pokes his head out and sucks down your fly when you least expect it) but what they lack in size they make up for in quantity. Its not unusual to go out for a mornings session and have 20 or 30 hits. Did you notice that I said the word 'hits'. Setting the hook can be a challenge, and you have to have reflexes like lightning. Certainly not for the weak hearted - a real adrenoline rush. Best rig is a humpy used almost as an indicator with a black red tail nymph with gold head about 20 cm underneath. This last trip saw a couple of nasty finds in the shape of carp in the river. These two were taken on green wooly buggers with gold bead head. Certainly a challenge on 1 and a half pound tippet! The fish in this little spot of mine I class as breakfast fish - great in a shallow frying pan with a squeeze of lemon and eaten with some fresh baked white bread - most excellent. For the second year in a row I've seen big Carp cruising the ponds in Big River. These two fell victim to green wooly buggers with a gold bead head. Great fun on 3 pound tippet.

France May 2006

At a later stage stage I'll add some video fotage form my fly fishing outside of Lyon in France. Away on business for a month, I had the opportunity to wet a line on weekends when I was tied up doing work activities.

Woodend - Victoria April 2006 - Private Lake

My mate Jeffo again with a cranky looking trout he picked up at a private lake at a conference centre we were at for work. The lake was stocked with thousands of fish per annum and guests were invited to have a crack at them between conference sessions. This one made a fantastic entree before a main course.

Townsville May 2005

My mates Wayne Cox, and Dave Rose made the trip to Townsville to fulfill our life ambition to catch a barramundi. Again, the secrete to our success was local knowledge in the form of getting a guide (Andrew) to put us onto the fish using the local techniques. Live baits were the order of the day geared up with Penn reels and beefy Uglysticks. Serious stuff. Between barra there were plenty of Jacks, Grunter, Queenfish, greasy cod, and catfish. More video of this trip will be added at a later stage.