Autumn has to be one of my favourite times of the year, no matter where you fish in Australia. The days seem to be calmer with a softer light. With cooler days and that hint of something in the air foretelling a change of season it is a joy to be on the creek. Days are spent enjoying the warmth of 10.30am - 3.30pm before an edge comes into the air temperature, that reminds you summer is gone and the trout season will soon be no longer. Like a kid trying to sneak in just one more go on the swings before dusk, too soon it is time to go home.

So why is Autumn so special? Apart from the character of the weather at this time of year, I am just amazed at how some trout make it through the season.  So often they have endured low water, relentless fishing pressure, predators, catchment hazards, and the sheer brutality of drought heat and yet here they are inspired by the first cooling falls of autumnal rain and with summer behind them, driven towards spawning.

Last year I took the picture above on a small South Australian creek that is a feeder stream to a more prominent river. The creek was barely flowing throughout Summer, yet here after the first rains, it almost looked healthy again. I was convinced fish had either died or dropped back to the main river during the 35C plus temperatures that had prevailed through summer, yet as I walked an ant hatch started and very soon I saw a swirl and then another and another.  The tenacity of the brown to hang on is amazing. Their adaptation is probably underestimated by us.  Just think of the places you know they have been caught or survived in.

I used to fish a village pond in my home village of Holford on the Quantock Moors in Somerset in Southern England. In this pond were the most cagey 6 - 10 inch lean, mean, never to be seen browns. They were stream wise, they lived in a silted up 2 foot deep pond and had worm after worm and fly after fly cast at them. Driven by frustration we even tried to blow them up one well planned morning after raiding our barn for fertilizer, mixing with very fine sugar and making some fuses and a Cash and Carry coffee tin tightly sealed. We never saw any red spotted beauties floating, but we did upset some riders in Butterfly Coombe and scrambled, tripped, laughed and fled up through the bracken before the waters had even finished rocking or the leaves had stopped tumbling from the tree canopy above. The next time we returned, sitting quietly, there they were, taking up position on the fin where the water ran fastest into the pond. How did they survive our ground zero, how did they survive ever the constant attention of every worm dangler in the village?

 My point being that just about every trout water sees pressure of one sort or another to varying degrees. Take a look at Arthur’s Lake in Tasmania, what a vast expanse of water, and what a vast head of fish. Yes there would be fish that live their life without seeing a fly, spinner or other, however there would be plenty that are sick to death of the drone of another boat overhead, or a fly tweeked so invitingly past their snout, or a wobbling lure that almost drives them to the fury of snapping at it. Yet this is a vast lake totally opposite to that little muddy village pond, yet similar pressures are relative.

 So my love of Autumn fishing is not just about the weather, but as much about admiring any trout that has hung on through summer. These are the fittest fish, the best gene pool that can go on to produce even better specimens in years to come. So roll on Autumn, put us out of our misery of unrelenting hot days so that we may enjoy the last days of the season with our friends the trout.

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February 16th, 2008 | General, Blogroll | No comments

Pic:Grant Ker with late afternoon Arthur’s Brown (9′6wt Wild Creek “Swampy”)

Buying a fly rod is a relatively big decision for most people and like most product purchasing decisions there are many influencing factors. There is also a mass of product out there to choose from. One of the most important things to remember is that fly rods aren’t all the same and that is what makes them such “collectable” and enjoyable items. Don’t let anyone tell you different, you can never have enough fly rods! I can hear the intake of air from your wife. But the reality is some days you like to wear a light shirt, some days a heavier shirt, one day blue, one day green. That is the pleasure of choice. That is not to say however that the reality is you do need a base collection of lets say, three rods. 

My choice for a basic three rod collection would be;

1. 8.5ft 5wt
2. 9ft 6wt
3. 7, 7.5 or 8ft 4wt

My logic being an 8.5ft 5wt will see you handle rivers from the Thredbo to Brumbies to the Goulburn, as well as lakes in fine conditions. It is an enjoyable size to carry, light, fishable all day, and certainly capable of handling any fish you are likely to encounter.

A 9ft 6wt is a bread and butter lake rod, as well as a good rod for South Island NZ rivers if travelling. It is arguably the most bought size of rod by beginners and seasoned fishers alike. 

A 4wt is a must for the essential three. I think under this becomes specialist territory that is outside of everyday fishing for most people. We read a lot about “Twig” water fishing these days, and whilst it all sounds very quaint, the reality is that there have been many great exponents of fly fishing quietly stalking the smallest of waters for decades. Equipment can easily be made fashionable to suit a purpose and sometimes I think this can overtake and be distracting from the simple pleasure of going stream fishing with basic but suitable fly gear. A 4wt is a delightful size to fish on streams and rivers throughout the majority of Australia. The length really is determined from what level of under/overgrowth you are encountering on your favourite stream. On an open stream I favour a longer rod for mending and control. On the narrow, tight waters of many wild creeks I enjoy a smaller rod that allows me as much of a backcast as possible. I am looking more to get a fly well presented at a short distance, in ambush tactics, than casting and mending.  Many small creeks in the South of Australia flow quite slowly, therefor line mending and fly “steerage” is less of a concern. It is more about whether you can just get the fly into that one pocket between the overhanging bramble bush and that dead log.

Brand with any products is a big consideration whether we like it or not. We are human and we respond to the millions of dollars that go into advertising around us everyday to alert us to this or that. I should know I have been in Advertising as a Senior Writer, Strategist in consumer behaviour for most of my latter working life. Sometimes I grapple with what I am actually doing, but hey if it funds the next fly adventure, then sorry I will convince the consumer to buy another useless widget. Flippancy aside the interesting thing about branding is often the perception that helps build a brand’s reputation. “It’s expensive therefor it must be good, wow it casts like a rocket, it must be good, have you seen the superb green shimmer it exudes in sunlight, it must be good.” I too have often been a victim of this and there is no right or wrong. As with any product, you can buy that can of fruit with the fancy packaging off the eyelevel shelf at the supermarket and pay top dollar, and yet two shelves down quietly sitting their is the same fruit out of the same factory, with a bland non-inviting label. This is their marketing strategy. After all why would you put all your fruit in the one basket? The fruit is exactly the same, the packaging and price are just different to attract relative markets. And so it is with fly rods to an extent. There is definitely some truth in the old saying “you get what you pay for” to a degree, however search around and you will find some surprising product quality amongst the lower end. Again there is no right or wrong. I have my first Boron fly rod that was given to me on my 18th Birthday. It is a cheaper brand and it is absolutely superb, I have had it rebound so that it may continue its career and I caught one of my largest trout ever on it. I have a couple of superb Hardy and Thomas & Thomas rods that I treasure and love fishing with and would never part with, however it is not about the brand…it is about what rod you enjoy. Are you that much of a wine snob that you say… “oh I am terribly sorry I cannot drink that unless it is Grange Hermitage?” Well with rods forget the brand it is about what feels good to you and what you enjoy.

 The most important thing in buying a rod is to actually pick it up and cast it. You must feel comfortable with it. I encourage every purchaser of a Wild Creek Rod to actually pick the rod up and try it before you buy it. I don’t want to sell a rod that may not be suitable to someone, yet funnily enough not one has been tried and returned yet.

Also remember that it is not about how far you can throw a fly. There is a bit more to fly fishing than that. Any reasonable rod in the right hands will cast more than adequately. I am not afraid to state that I hate the nouveau fly fisher attitude that judges a rod on how far it can cast. I didn’t realise it’s a length thing, I thought it was more about how you used it! Or so I have been told!

There are plenty of great rods on the market, I don’t beleive there are too many manufacturers who make consistently brilliant rods across their whole range. Also fly fishers can be poles apart in their likes and dislikes when it comes to equipment. That is another good reason to work out what you enjoy, not what others say you should enjoy. With Wild Creek Rods I do very little advertising, yet my sales are consistent, the reason being is that I sell 80% to stream/lake/river side referrals. I have people run into someone fishing on Penstock, the Swampy, the Goulburn, Odemangakau and on it goes. They get chatting, look at each other’s rod, exchange comments and try. A few days later I get a phone call enquiring. I then know that that person has tried a Wild Creek which is the way I would want it. I sell Wild Creek as a fly fisher would to another fly fisher, not as a retailer to a consumer. I appreciate that a fly rod is a very personal piece of equipment and each time you take it out to go fishing, I want you to be smiling at the thought.

The choice of a rod can be confusing and if you need advice don’t hesitate in asking me, even if it is not a Wild Creek you are after, I am always open to lending my thoughts on various rods. Whilst not an expert by any means, as I don’t believe such a word exists in the realm of the fly fisher (you can never truely master such a pursuit, that is why we chase it passionately) I am always happy to lend my experience. 

Pic: Late afternoon Arthur’s Lake

February 14th, 2008 | Blogroll | No comments