FISHING REPORT

Central Tablelands Report July 2011

What a great season we have just had on the streams.

I feel that due to the floods early in the season the spawning will be late this year. On the closing weekend I did see a few browns in some streams already on the redds but not in big numbers.

A few streams stay open through the winter and I hope to explore a few of these.
I have had a few enquiries about the winter spawn runs. You really need to see some good rain over the catchment and a good flood going down the rivers before things really fire. I certainly would not be venturing in until such conditions happen. Sure a small amount of fish will come up but not the big runs.

Now in Winter we can turn our attention on the dams.The dams offer very good fishing especially when the highs are coming over and you get clear days and are able to polaroid.

The dams should all hold some prime fish that are now in top condition.
TCD seems to be getting the best reports, while Lyell is not happening at present. The new water levels mean there's lots of areas with inundated trees and shrubs, the fish should be poking around these areas.

I often use a slow sink intermediate line with large wooly buggers and fish the areas where the Yabbies are. The secret on the dams is to keep moving.

Dam Levels
Warragamba Dam 76%
Lake Wallace 89%
Lake Lyell 92%
Thompsons Creek 57 %
Oberon Dam 55%

Tight lines
John

Fishing Report Jan 2011

While many areas are suffering from devastating floods the Central Tablelands NSW is looking really good at the start of 2011.
Lake Lyell and Wallace are both 100% while Oberon is 60% and Thompsons Creek Dam is just over 50%. The great news is that Warragamba Dam is 75% which is really good news and hopefully later in the year we should have some good fishing in the remote areas of the Cox ( if you are interested in joining a trip in to the Cox over winter send me your contact details.)

I have had several trips to some private dams in the Blue Mountains, they are 100% full and fishing very well.
The fish have been feeding on yabbies and mudeyes and freshwater prawns.

One fish had about a dozen small yabbies many of them still alive.
Rainbow trout in the .5 -1Kg have been the most eager.
Since the start of the season many of the rivers especially the Fish and Duck have been running high and dirty. The fishing is difficult but the fish do have to feed. Often they are in the backwaters and you can have some good dry fly action.

I had a couple of days guiding on the Fish last week. The river has been running steady and is still not fully clear.
We had good days of fine weather and saw some rising fish. I had a fishing session with a mate and we had good dry fly action mostly Mayflys early to mid morning when it tailed off. We caught mostly Rainbows up to about 1kg.

I hooked one fish that I could not stop on my #3 weight, it did me in some fallen timber, I’m looking forward to round 2!

With the recent rain much of the grass is now waist high making spotting snakes very hard so take extra care in the coming months.
The next few days look like we will have some hot weather with chance of thunderstorms. A couple of local farmers have both told me that more rain is on the way!

Contact me if you would like a guided trip.
Tight lines

Fishing Report Oct 2010

I spent the last few days in the Central Tablelands.

Take a look at the two photographs of Oberon Dam taken from the same general area, the first one was taken in 2008, it really looks fantastic today at 36% and rising. Lake Wallace is 1005 while Thompsons Creek Dam is 49% and Lake Lyell is 52%

On Oberon there was amazing midge activity with midges balling up late afternoon. We did not see any trout action close in only beyond casting distance. I think it must take the trout some time to in-habit this new drowned ground.

All the streams are flowing really well, especially after the down pour on Saturday afternoon and all Sunday. I fished for a few hours on Saturday morning on the Fish. As we got out of the car we spotted two fish rising in a small back water. This was the pattern for several hours. When the river is this high it pays to look into the back eddies where much of the insect life gathers. I spotted a beautiful brown quietly swimming around gently sipping down midges. On one pool I counted five fish all rising in the tail out of a pool.

I hooked three of them two of them jumped and threw the hook while the third which felt like a very solid fish rocketed into the fast water and got away, but that’s fly fishing!
I landed about seven fish to about .5kg great fun on a #3 weight. All the fish were in very good condition for this time of year. We saw plenty of midge action also horned caddis coming off. After the first thunder storm passed the fish really came on the bite with a good hatch of Mayfly. When we left on Sunday many of the streams were discoloured and rising. The season is certainly looking good in the Central Tablelands.

Fishing Report May

The late season has been very busy for me, I have spent the last twelve days guiding in the Central Tablelands. April was a wonderful month weather wise with very mild sunny days and great fishing. In the last few weeks they have had some very good falls of rain. Most creeks are flowing well including the Campbell's River, it's good to see it flowing again.

The whole District is looking very green and most farmers are smiling.

I have guided both locals and overseas visitors. One thing I know is that the many of the rivers are in very good condition and so are the fish.
Some very nice browns and rainbows have been landed several fish around the 3lb mark. Sydney Goodman had a great couple of days and his beautiful honey gold brown of just over 3lbs can be seen on my site. Sydney had two great days of rising fish we had good Mayfly action. I have seen many good fish, some that would all probably go 4lb+ . Fish like this are usually in difficult spots and are never are easy from a casting point of view. Even on the more overcast days fish have fallen to small WD40 flies on a two nymph indicator rig. I had Colin from Ireland who was very surprised by the size of the river trout, unfortunately he missed most of the takes. On Lake Lyall he did get a beautiful Rainbow that went 1.5lbs the fish took the fly on the drop.

I also had a beginners weekend course and and several fish were hooked but lost on Oberon Dam.

I got a nice Rainbow that went about 1lb, taken with one of my BH Ms Simp fly. This pattern will be available on the shop soon. It is a fly that has undone many big lake fish, it is tied with a weed guard so can be fished through weedy areas.

Last week I had a couple of days showing Scott Levi from the ABC radio Big Fish program some of the local fishing. Unfortunately after the first day things changed with rain and a cold front that closed things down a bit. On the first day he had some good action. You can check out his article about the trip on the Big Fish podcast.

A couple of days later I had a break and the weather was perfect, I landed several nice browns the best two going 3 & 3.5lbs.
We did see the odd brown already carving out the Reds, these should be left in peace.

I am heading up to the New England area next week followed by Tumut the following week.

I have a few spots left and I should think the stream fishing should be good right up to the close of the season on June 14. Give me a call if you would like a trip.

I can offer day or overnight mid week trips.

Fishing Report Central Tablelands. 1 March 2010

Last week I spent 4 days in the Central Tablelands where the recent rains have turned the district from brown to green leaving the countryside looking beautiful. Some areas and rivers have done better than others with most rivers carrying colour but levels dropping from the recent floods.

I guided Paul, a visiting fly fisher from Qatar, who did very well on a fast flowing and dirty Fish River. He had to contend with some strong easterly wind, making casting difficult but still managed to take several Browns and Rainbows.

The best fish was a 1kg brown which unfortunately Paul dropped back into the river before I could focus the camera!
For a short period we had rising fish and fish fell to Royal Wulffs, Adams and Flashback Nymphs.
There are a huge amount of small hoppers around, we also saw Horned Caddis coming off.

Oberon Dam level is around the 10% + and still delivering good catches only a few weeks ago it had a stocking of rainbow trout. Thompsons Creek Dam 40%, Lake Wallace100% and Lyall 29%.

I had a couple of hours on one of the private dams and hooked but lost a really good fish. We did manage a couple of very fit rainbow trout about .75 kg.

In the coming weeks lets hope we get more follow up rain, the farmers really need it. As we head towards Autumn we can look forward to some very good fishing, it is the season that I really enjoy, the fishing can be sensational.

Please let me know if you would like a guided trip.

Fishing Report Central Tablelands. 5 May 09

Oberon has had some rain and more rain is expected this week. The various Dams are standing at:

• TCD 37%
• Lyell 38%
• Wallace 82%
• Oberon13.73%
• Ben Chiefley 82.2%

The good news is the fish are still there.

I have had a report of a 9.3lb brown from TCD and good catches coming from Lyell.
The only problem with TCD is break-ins and vandalism at the car park.

Streams are up and down and some are no longer there. Streams like the Fish and Duckmaloi are OK
Some of the smaller ones really need rain and I should imagine that they had fish kills around Jan/ Feb. It is particularly hard hit out towards the Campbells, including Sewells, Native Dog and Brisbane Valley all of which have large sections that are dry.

I love this time of year up there, I had excellent dry fly action on Friday on the Fish River with a great Mayfly hatch also huge numbers of Tea Tree Beatles. There are still lots of small grasshoppers about. I landed 3 browns between 1- 1.5lbs all on a dry. The following day was not so hot and windy but there was reasonable action and my client landed 7 browns up to 1lb on drys and nymphs and lost several other fish. We spotted two really good fish that would have been around the 3lb mark. One leapt clear of the water.
The most productive fishing times was around 1.30pm - 3pm. You really need to take your time and watch the pools. If no fish are rising then a search with a double nymph rig it often pays dividends.

I fished a local dam and had 5 rainbows between 2 - 3.5 lbs. On the dams large streamers and Wooly buggers are working well.

I spent a week in the district last week. 4 days guiding two couples . They were all novices and all caught fish. Helena took her first trout on a fly which is always a great moment. We had terrific dry fly action in the afternoons with Elk hair caddis and Adams accounting for most fish.

I spent two days guiding French visitors Michelle and Laurent. We had perfect weather both days. Rising fish on both the dam were they caught their first Australian trout. We also had a day on the Fish River. Laurent cast to beautiful big Brown Trout but unfortunetley spooked it. It is good to see such great trout.
I had a fish at a dam just on dark and landed a beautiful jack Rainbow that measured 69cms.

I arrived at the Inter Club at Wang on Saturday night and there was good reports of fish landed. The winner of the fishing comp was fishing on Thompsons Creek Dam.
Lake side Casting Club scooped most of the Awards as they have done for several years.
It is a terrific weekend and great to catch up with other fly fishers. I also met up with some local fly fishers from Wang.

February Fishing Report

January and February have been very hot with little rain falling over the Central Tablelands. Some rivers faired better than others in these conditions.

Areas in the west including the Campbells, Brisbane Valley and Native Dog have all suffered and many stretches of these rivers were dry a couple of weeks ago.

Good rain fell across much of the district especially around the Lithgow and Blue Mountains in the last week or so. The main dams are all on the rise and should fish well in the coming months.

Last week I ran a beginners course staying on a beautiful property on a great stretch of river. We observed lots of feeding trout and I managed to hook a couple when demonstrating to the class.

I stayed on for the Sunday night and fished a dam and had a terrific session, I managed 5 fish up to 5lbs and lost a couple of real thumpers, one lept clear of the water and threw the hook.

As we now go into Autumn the weather conditions usually stabalize and the fishing becomes very good. You can often encounter rising fish throughout the day.
I also ran a course down at beautiful Wee Jasper, this was the weekend of the terrible fires in Victoria.

We had temperatures 40+ degrees, it was still an enjoyable weekend. The river temperatures became very high and not good for trout or fishing. I will be running a similar course there over the Easter break, it should be much cooler then.
I also have courses at Tumut which again fishes well towards the end of the season. I will also be running some lake craft courses on a private dam stocked with trophy trout.

November Fishing Report

This month I have run several trips to the Central Tableland, on two I was guiding beginners.
David Andrews from the USA took his first trout on a Fly on the Fish River. We encountered rising fish both early morning and mid afternoon. Not ready for a couple of really good sized trout, David lost 2 but really enjoyed polaroiding trout and watching them cruise the weed beds. He also enjoyed seeing playtypus, kangaroos and wombats!

The last week of November saw some very good rains again fall across the district.
We arrived on the weekend to find that 50mm had fallen the night before, really swelling the rivers. The fishing in the chocolate coloured water was hard but as the river dropped we took a couple of fish around the .5kg mark. The thunderstorms that were predicted never arrived. Once the streams are clearer the dry fly action should be in full swing and we saw plenty of Mayfly and Caddis.

In the new year I have a couple of weekends planned for beginners at Oberon and Tumut . Over the Christmas break let me know if you would like a guided trip the fishing promises to be very good.

October Fishing Report

On the opening weekend I ran a course for beginners to Fly Fishing based at Oberon. The Friday evening began with some much needed rain which continued on and off for most of the weekend.

The streams were in flood, some streams dirty up quicker than others, so I started my newcomers off on Oberon dam where we observed one or two large fish smelting out wide. One of my beginners managed two small rainbows and lost another, which is not bad for a first time.

On our first trip to a stream we visited the Duckmaloi River. There was a good hatch of midges and caddis and another slightly larger fish was taken. I saw a really good brown around 1.5kgs feeding in a back eddy.

The rains have really greened the area up and one property I visited on Tuesday had over 32mm in the gauge over the weekend.

For dams you need various sizes of Mrs Simpsons and Black Wooly Buggers weighted and unweighted.
Try fishing tandem rigs with a small nymph or stick caddis on the point and it always pays to have some midge patterns and midge balls in your fly box.

Hear what the participants said:

“I was warned by John on the first night of our three day stay at Oberon that once the fly fishing bug bites that there is often no turning back. After the trip I can confirm that is very much the case.

There is a wealth of knowledge to be acquired, and having a guide with so much experience is of enormous benefit. During the three days we gained a very practical introduction to fly fishing, including the equipment and of course casting technique.

The weekend was most enjoyable, from the accommodation, to the cooking, to the company. I will definitely look at further trips with John to further my fly fishing education.”

Jon Reilly, Sydney

I had a fabulous "beginners" fly fishing weekend at Oberon.
Thank you so much-learnt all the basics and fished lovely rivers with beautiful scenery.
I could place my line where I planned and managed to pull in a fish!

Your breakfasts were only surpassed by your sensational dinners, not to mention the wonderful homemade chocolate cakes awaiting us on our return to the welcoming lodge.

Thanks John, I look forward to repeating the experience

Penny Smyth, Ireland

Fish River October

My most recent trip was to the Fish River, which, again was running high and dirty from more rain but cleared as the weekend went by.
In two days over 20 fish were landed, one or two to .75kg. Most were taken on a double rig of tandem nymphs one weighted and fished under a small natural wool indicator. On Saturday there was a large numbers of termites and caddis. We observed one or two fish feeding voraciously in the back eddy on a big pool and on fish was taken on a dry at the tail of a pool.

In the coming weeks we should have some really excellent dry fly action as the weather warms.

If you would like to join me on a trip give me a call. I have one place for a beginners stream craft weekend staying on a property with some of the best fishing water in the district (1 person or 2 twin share). The dates are 31 Oct - 3 Nov.

Tight Lines
John

Central Tablelands, July 2008

Winter has certainly arrived on the Tablelands. When I left there on Monday snow was trying to fall and Tuesday saw a good fall.
Even though the streams are now closed there's still good fishing to be had on the dams.
Last weekend I took a group of beginners onto Oberon Dam where we observed trout chasing smaller fish. While demonstrating a cast I hooked up a reasonable fish but it jumped and I lost him but we managed a couple of smaller fish. I also spotted one or two groups of fish patrolling the dams edge.
The week before I managed two nice fish both about 2 kg, really fit rainbows.
At this time of year I have found that snails can be a large part of the fishes diet though a mate on the same trip caught a beautiful rainbow( about 2.25 kg) that was full of mudeyes.

If you do venture into the tablelands make sure you take plenty of warm layers, as the weather can change very quickly and get very cold.

Central Tablelands, May 2008

I've had two great trips in the central tablelands this May and with almost perfect weather and fishing conditions.
I attended the CFA Inter Club weekend at Wallerawang. I fished Thompsons Creek on the friday, it was a touch windy but managed a rainbow about 0.75 kg and pricked a couple of fish.
Saturday was still windy and we had an hour or so on Lake Wallac, then moved to the Fish River. The afternoon was beautiful and with rising fish I landed four browns, the biggest measured 420 mm, which won stream prize for the biggest fish.

Last week I guided 2 anglers over 4 days. We fished a beautiful property on the Fish River.
It was great just strolling down to the stream. Again perfect blue skies, warm days with cold nights and frosts early morning, rising fish every day made for perfect fishing.

I spotted several browns already on the redds and some very big fish in one large pool.
My two anglers both caught fish. The best was a Brown of just over 1kg.
They both learnt that accuracy is everything when casting to rising fish in a clear stream. Quite a few fish were missed on the take.
I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to get out and practice your casting, it makes a trip much more rewarding.
I think the last remaining weeks of the season should produce some great stream fishing. I am booked most weekends however the 6-9 June is still free or I can fit in a mid week trip if anyone is interested.
I'd certainly recommend it.

TUMUT, APRIL 2008

I just spent four days guiding two novice fly fishermen at Tumut.

While Sydney was drenched by rain we enjoyed sunny clear blue skies. The Tumut River was flowing well but still wadeable. Perfect!

After the first day learning basic casting on the water and stream-craft the guys were ready for some trout. This was the first time either of them had fly fished.

We found trout in riffly water, mostly Rainbows and all of them fell to the Flashback nymphs behind a weighted Prince Nymph.

On my second demo cast of upstream nymphing I hooked and landed a solid rainbow of about 1.5kg.

Both anglers landed several fish up to 1kg and lost several; they did really well.

On the last day we encountered rising fish, I took one that had a full stomach of small yellow grasshoppers.

Tumut is very attractive at this time of year, autumn was already showing with many of the European trees turning golden.

Contact me now If you want to catch some great fly fishing in Tumut before the end of the season, (I have mostly mid week dates available.)
We stay in beautiful stream side cabins.

In October I will be running stream craft courses in Tumut, staying at the cabins. I will hold Intro to Fly Fishing Sessions at night.
Register your interest now and I will send you details.

It's a great location to get away for a few days break and improve your fly fishing.