Here is a new ‘go-to’ pattern for the freestone rivers of Tasmania. While I have a preference for fishing the dry-fly, this isn’t always the best approach. This is when I opt to fish a nymph in tandem with a larger, bouyant dry fly.

A nymph that has proved very effective this week has been a caddis grub pattern. Originally tied for the fastwaters of Tasmania’s north-east (North Esk, St Patricks rivers), this fly has historically produced for me a few times, but didn’t ever rate as a must-have pattern. That was until this week.

The speedy tail-outs of fastwater slots (the fastwater run-ins at the heads of pools), and the deep bored-out channels found on the outsides of long runs had always under-produced for me on Tasmania’s Mersey River. This caddis grub pattern, fished on a long dropper, has provided the key to succeeding on these sections of water over the last two days of fishing; seven brown trout between 1 and 2lbs, and a wild 2lb rainbow have been proof of its appeal, all fish that have been captured from these previously difficult water structures.

This fly is pretty simple to tie. Olive seals fur makes up the under-body, which is covered with an olive uni-stretch shell-back and copper wire ribbing. A black seals fur throat is added, just behind a black tungsten bead, all tied on to a curved grub hook. It probably looks a bit more like an amphipod than a caddis, so may be it should be called ‘The Amphicaddis’…

Mersey River - The Walls to the Cliffs

Anyone with a copy of the Spring edition of FlyLife magazine will see an article I wrote, based on a year of exploration on the Mersey River, in northern Tasmania. The article itself was a labour of love, enabling me to write about my favourite river.

 Some people might ask, why would you promote your favourite river - wouldn’t you rather keep it to yourself? For me, writing about favourite places is based on a use it or loose it mentality; you see, who is going to look after the river if it has no voice? It’s bushwalkers, kayakers, fishers and other outdoor enthusiasts that are the effective voices of the wilderness, and without these friends of the bush, the bush has no voice. 

The Walls to the Cliffs and the fish… 

The Mersey River story contains an essential part of any good fishing story: A big fish yarn. For all those doubters out there, I thought I might post a couple photos of the cannibal resident, at pre and post hook-up. Enjoy the photos (kindly supplied by Greg French)…don’t get drool on your keyboard.

 

 That’s a serious looking fish, even in five-foot depth of water!

Those who have read my own book (In Season Tasmania) would know that Greg, apart from contributing the foreword, acted as a mentor during the writing stages of the production. His experiences with the pen (or perhaps keyboard would be more appropriate) span well over a decade, and have included a collection of Tasmanian fishing guides culminating in ‘Tasmanian Trout Waters’, of which Tasmanian anglers refer to as The Bible.

Following from these publications, Greg wrote his first collection of short stories titled ‘Frog Call’ (2005), which has since sold well in excess of 10,000 copies, attracting a readership that reached well beyond the fishing fraternity. The success of Frog Call can be attributed to two factors: Greg’s literary skills, combined with his love and prowess for storytelling. Within these stories, the Tasmanian wilderness and Greg’s own personal relationship with it, aided by a unique circle of friends, provides the fodder for many personal stories.

I’m halfway through Greg’s newly released follow-up to Frog Call, titled ‘Artificial’, which could be loosely described as similar to Frog Call in style and setting. The characters of many stories are new, and the theme is a little different, but all in all, this is another great piece of work from someone with a story to tell, and a story worthy of being told.

Below is an interview Greg and I did earlier in the week providing some insights into his new book, along with some thoughts on getting out into the wild. If you would like to meet Greg in the flesh, he is holding a number of book launches during August, including one at Petrarchs Bookshop, Brisbane Street Launceston on August 15th. Ring Petrarchs on (03) 6331 8088 if you would like to come and hear Greg talk, get some books signed, and perhaps even glean some pearls of trouty wisdom. I’ll certainly be there!

D: What is the thought behind the title?

G: The title is in part a metaphor for the way people seem to prefer manmade environments to natural ones:

Although many fly fishers devote themselves to ‘matching the hatch’—in creating ‘perfect’ imitations of the things trout eat—the truth is that large nondescript flies are usually a better bet. In this regard, trout are like people. They find glitz bigger and better than real life—they prefer artificial things to natural ones. It is self-deception, to be sure, and they don’t realise until it’s too late that there is a sting in the tail.

Nonetheless, I use the title in myriad ways throughout the text, and in order to understand its full meaning you’ll have to read the whole book. Things won’t become completely clear until the very last page.

D: If you inspired readers to do one thing…

G: It would be to question everything, to rage against the machine, to live every day as if it’s your last… Hmm, that’s already three things. Sorry.

D: Where is the best place for beginner bushwalkers?

G: What a question. Forget about where the walkers should start; where should I start?

The easiest and safest places are ones reached via sheltered, well-marked tracks. The Hugel Lakes near Lake St Clair are good, as are lakes Seal and Belcher in Mt Field, the Mersey River in Lees Paddocks, and Lake Esperance in the Hartz Mountains. Really, though, the best fishing is in the Western Lakes and many of the best destinations are not tracked. My recommendation is that the beginner starts off in the Nineteen Lagoons, getting a feel for the countryside around popular waters like Lake Kay, Double Lagoon and Lake Ada. After this, a walk to O’Dells Lake would be a good primer. Then you could try the main walking tracks in the Chudleigh Lakes: Higgs Track from the foot of the Western Tiers to Lake Nameless; and the old stock route from Lake Mackenzie to Blue Peaks. After this you should start to feel confident about making cross-country expeditions.

For more detailed information, you could refer to my guidebook Tasmanian Trout Waters (published by AFN in 2002). Email Daniel to organise a copy.

D: What are your three favourite pieces of equipment?

G: This is a loaded question: I’m sure Daniel wants me to mention my Sage travel rod, which has been broken so many times it now comprises four sections of four different rods. The truth is that I don’t usually have an affinity with gear, any more than I have an affinity with the sheet of paper I happen to be writing on at the moment. The one real exception is my backpack which I’ve customised to suit my peculiar habits. I also take Strokey everywhere with me when travelling overseas (see ‘Strokey’ in Artificial). And I’m quite partial to the lightweight bottles I put my whisky in.

D: Is there a place for modern technology in fly fishing and bushwalking?

G: The point I make is that gear is not the most important thing. It is more critical for your enjoyment of fishing, and more essential to success, that you concentrate on getting an affinity for trout and the natural environment. You can catch lots of trout with mediocre gear if you are out there fishing. You can’t catch any fish with top-of-the-range gear if you have to spend all your time in the office paying it off.

Also, an overreliance on gear can be a real impediment to becoming a good angler. For example, if you spend all your time staring at the screen on your GPS, you never develop a natural affinity for distance, direction and landscapes.

I am not afraid to use technology—for example, I’ve just Google-earthed the rapids on some rivers in Mongolia that I’m earmarking for future rafting adventures—but when out in the bush I travel as lightly as I can with as little gadgetry as possible.

My advice? Try not to go for real low-end fishing gear because it is likely to underperform and/or break. And for safety reasons, always make sure that your camping gear is adequate for the conditions you are likely to encounter. Apart from that, just get out there and do it.

D: What about those pictures at the back of Artificial?

G: When the pages of Artificial were formatted, we ended up with a couple of blanks at the end of the book. I decided to fill them up with small black-and-white snapshots. Each one relates to a specific story, though some could conceivably be associated with more than one story. The idea is that you try and link as many photos as you can with as many stories as you can. If you have trouble, New Holland will soon post the ‘answers’ on their website: www.newholland.com.au

D: Your favourite story?

G: Come on—they’re all good, aren’t they?

Seriously, my favourite stories, as always, are other people’s, like ‘Yamame’ and ‘Penny for your thoughts’.

I think the best writing, in a literary sense, is to be found in the chapters where I’ve discussed language: ‘Spanish inquisition’ and ‘Hootiner’.

On the other hand, the stories I most enjoyed writing were the ones that encompassed my best memories, including ‘Magic’, ‘Laughing dog’, ‘Fly skinking’, ‘Rental car’ and ‘Bear aware’.

But the real story is the overarching one, the subliminal one, that becomes clear only after you’ve read all the stories in sequence. This is the thing I’m most proud of.

D: What do you have planned for next season?

G: In mid-August I go with my family to Ireland for four weeks (grilse, sea trout, gillaroo, loch-resident brown trout) and Slovenia for one week (marble trout and grayling). Woo-hoo!

At the moment I am flat out learning the Slovene language. To je nemogoče.

Words from the man behind the book—thanks very much to Greg French. I am sure that Greg would be right behind me in saying get out there into the wild, for it is the wild things in life that are truly rare and precious. Daniel Hackett.

If you would like a copy of ‘Artificial’ and can’t make it to the book launch, email Daniel to purchase a copy.

The ‘seepage springs’ as I call them are the spring creeks of the Western Lakes. Flowing underground from feeder lakes, these springs are the most common spring creek types found on Tasmania’s Central Plateau. My best guess is that they are formed when dolerite bedrock fractures, creating a subterranean riverbed for lake-bound waters to escape into. Somewhere along their travels, these waters re-emerge among the scoparia and pineapple grasses, where they hold the odd trout, who are in fact translocated remnants of winter floods.

The best way to fish them? I like to start at the bottom of the catchment, and fish my way up. The lakes found along the way will provide for good polaroiding, while the interconnecting stream offers a more intimate snout-hunting venue. If you are lucky, you will reach the headwater of the spring, which are often true trophy trout waters.

The give away on the maps are the systems as I have described them: look for chains of lagoons and tarns interconnected by a whisper of a blue line.

This is what all the fuss is about, an awesome spring creek resident (and yes, those colours are real).

Coming soon, part three of the spring creek series will cover what I call the seepage springs; the springs that carve their way through the bogs and moors of the Western Lakes. The trout are large and the creeks are skinny.

 

Limestone…just the word puts a smile on the dial, but then that’s nothing new. Look at the ole’ boys of fly fishing, and the streams of their stories─chalkstreams such as the Test and Itchen. Yes, limestone streams have a timeless appeal, and abundant hatches, clear flows and fat trout no doubt perpetuate their timeless appeal.
Tasmania has a small number of excellent limestone spring creeks, often appearing in the middle of paddocks, only to disappear down the gullet of a sinkhole a hundred or so metres away. In terms of geology, the most prolific area of limestone in Tasmania is found between Western Creek and Sheffield, which is the general focus area of any search for limestoners. Mole Creek is the geological epicenter, with the area said to have more than 400 limestone caves and sinkholes. The trick is finding creeks that contain fish, which is harder than it sounds owing to the semi-permanent and subterranean nature of many of these streams─this is also the part of the fishing I’ll leave to you.
Limestone geology is spread from Deloraine in northern Tasmania, across to the West Coast. With this in mind, smaller outcrops and associated creeks are found along the West Tamar (think Beaconsfield area), as well as in the far south (below Hobart).

Happy hunting, and may the minerals you find be brown and speckled.

 

Question: Ever wondered how many springs make up a small stream? At my last exploration, the South Georges River starts with 14 rainforest-born springs splurging out of the hillside, eventually collecting into one lovely sandy stream.

Lets face it, everyone loves a spring creek. The gin-clear waters, lower temperature variations and abundant hatches create dry fly fishing hotspots, but it is because of these reasons that their locations are often closely guarded secrets.
To the east of Launceston sits the North Eastern Highlands, a collective of peaks and high plains. It is these high plains such as the Diddleum, along with the granite filled bogs and soaks that interest fly fishers, for it is in this country that the first type of Tasmanian spring creek is found. That’s it, thats the clue: find the granite, and you’ll find the springs.
These creeks are often feeders to larger rivers such as the St Patricks, North Esk, South Esk and Georges rivers, and feature narrow, shallow and gravelly bottoms consisting of granite sands. This sandy bottom is awesome to polaroid, but the trout are flighty-they know they stick out like dogs balls. The best tactic is to get down in the long bankside grasses, eye-ball to eye-ball with the tiger snakes and stealth along hunting shadows and shapes.
A box of dry flies and a first aid kit is all you’ll need.

Well if you haven’t noticed, the winter doldrums are here. The sun sets at 4pm, and an extreme lack of outdoors activity has given me the milky sun-tan of an Emo. The only saving grace? A few good reads.

Friend and author Greg French is about to release the follow up to his best seller Frog Call, with his new book titled ‘The Artificial’. No doubt more stories of wilderness adventures, fishing, life and all critters great and small will be included. If you like John Gierach, you’ll like Greg’s stories, so keep an eye out for it.

Speaking of Gierach, he has also just released a new title, ‘Fools Paradise’. Without even seeing it I know this will be a cracker; this is the guy that popularised the term ‘Trout Bum’ after all.

Finally, a read I really enjoyed last winter was ‘The River Why’ by David James Duncan. It’s a bit slow off the mark, but by the time the semi-autobiographical lead character is at home in the woods, the reader is well and truly hooked. This is deemed a modern classic by those in the know, and is now destined for the big screen.