• Jan’s Flies

From the Archives ...

Sea runners - Early Season Excitement - Christopher Bassano

Presented from Issue 100
Considering the world class quality of our sea trout fishery, these fish are not sought after by enough anglers. Sea runners live in the salt water and run up our estuaries and rivers from the start of August to the middle of November. At this time of the year, they are here to eat the many species of fish that are either running up the rivers to spawn or are living in and around the estuary systems. Trout, both sea run and resident (Slob Trout) feed heavily on these small fish which darken in colouration as they move further into fresh water reaches.

The majority of these predatory fish are brown trout with rainbows making up a very small percentage of the catch. They can be found all around the state but it would be fair to say that the east coast is the least prolific of all the areas. They still run up such rivers as the Georges (and many others) but their numbers along with the quality of the fishing elsewhere make it difficult to recommend the area above the larger northern, southern and western rivers.

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Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
One husband and I have just spent the last five days in my favourite fishing destination - the very remote lakes or our beautiful central highlands. The fishing in this part of Tasmania has a place deep in my heart, I am sure my grandfather, Miles, had his way there as he was a great explorer and fisherman of Tasmania's high country.

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Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
Tuesday 12 November saw me catch my first fish on a dry fly in the highland lakes. I had heard on the grape vine that there had been an odd fish or two coming to dries during the first weeks of November. Previous to all this there has been some great fishing to tailers on Little Pine Lagoon and frog feeders in the Nineteen Lagoons. To see the antics of these fish the angler needs to be lakeside at daybreak or late evening, although there are odd times such as a very overcast rainy day where the fish will do their tailing, chasing and charging acts all day.

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Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
Towards the end of September there was some great fishing to tailing trout. Apart from rising trout, tailers can be very exciting, as well as being difficult to catch.
When fish move into the shallows they will almost certainly be food hunting as shallow water can be life threatening. Trout will feed hard at these times, watch the twisting of the body and if they have their head down the flickering of the tail are all tell tale signs of them feeding intently.

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Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
It's July 2nd and we are knee deep in snow at Miena in Tasmania's central highlands. Some would say how beautiful it is but personally it becomes a pain to live with as in these heavy conditions it stops my fishing. As most would know though we need any sort of H2O we can get in whatever form to help fill our lakes and in turn sets the rivers with a strong flow.
Fishing at this time of year is for the hardy, but it can be very rewarding if the effort is put in. I have had some superb polaroiding on Great Lake. The place for this is shallow bays with bright sun and at this time of year the best time of day is mid-day and this only gives a span of an hour and a half at the most.

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Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
Even though the weather in Tasmania's highlands has turned cold and most of the lakes are closed through the winter months, I am lucky to have Great Lake on my front door step. Great Lake is one of a few which is open all year. There can be some excellent cold weather fishing if you are hardy enough to brace the cold.

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Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
This season so far has been good to me, due mostly to the early warm conditions. There has been a multitude of insects which prompted the trout to get active and look up.

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Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
Recently I was given a book on tying paraloop flies. Being an admirer of parachute flies I became quite fascinated with the paraloop method. I had seen a couple examples of the tie but hadn't really taken a close look as there always seemed to be another project on my mind. The basix paraloop is certainly not difficult to tie, the way this method is done makes a lot of sense in its ability to float.
Instead of having a hackle like a parachute fly it has an all over effect much like a human crew cut hair cut, so to me this would trap air amongst the hackle fibres.

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Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer

I simply love this time of the year. It starts to warm up, days lengthen, daylight savings kicks in and insects and the trout start to waken.

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Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
The weather has cooled and the trout fishing slowed, so it's the time of year to reflect a little and look forward to the next season. Slot in the diary what weekends and holidays will be set aside for some fishing, it's great to do it early so one has these times to look forward to.

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Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
Over the last three months I have been based at St. Helens on Tasmania's sunny east coast; I suppose it doesn't take a genius to work out what has taken up most of my spare time while being in this lovely holiday destination. Anyone who wishes to have some great fishing included in their holiday would not need to look further than this area.

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From the Archives ... (last chance)

Tiny creeks and sea run trout - Christopher Bassano

Presented from Issue 105, August 2013
Christopher Bassano fishes over 250 days a year. This interview was recorded just before he headed off to fish for Australia in the World Fly Fishing Championships in Norway 14-17 August 2013.

I live on a small stream and at the start of the season I like to go off on a bit of a discovery mission and fish the headwaters of the creeks and rivers I feel an affinity with.

These small rivers include the St Pats, Meander, Forester, Little Forester and others. The further up you go on these rivers the clearer and lower the levels. They are often less affected by the rain and runoff and you get some good opportunities. Get as close to the source as you can and you will find some good dry fly fishing. Don’t limit yourself to those I have mentioned. Most headwaters will hold trout.

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