Low Head

Set the alarm for 2:30 a.m. Slow getting up, but out the door by 3.30 a.m., and got to low Head by about 4:30 a.m.

The tide was high and there was no wind. Under the light at the pilots pier there was an amazing number of fish. At first they all appeared to be toadfish. Then I spotted a large puffer fish. And then a narrow grey fish -- some sort of mullet I guess. A little later a school of small pike went by. Then I noticed a perch like fish with black and white vertical stripes -- just one small one -- feeding in the deep water. A little later a narrow eel shape went past -- a small couta (which I caught). And as the dawn broke a large parrot fish appeared.

Ater a while I went to the other end of the jetty and fished around the small beach. At a fraction past 5:00 am Got the largest salmon I have had in a long while on a paddle tail minnow soft plastic. The fish was large enough to break the line when I tried to lift it out of the water -- it was a good 2+ kilo fish. Unfortunately, salmon are normally fantastic fighters, but this one was just a weight, so I am guessing I gill hooked or otherwise damaged the fish.

As the light appeared I went to the breakwater and fished there. A cormorant in front of me got 3 or 4 minnows. But I had no luck. Left at 6:00 a.m.

Brumbies Creek

Got up at sparrow fart and checked out brumbies before heading into work. Saw a fish move behind a willow, but otherwise drew a blank.

Tyenna River

Went for a fish with Cameron. A civilised start at 9:00. The river was almost perfect -- clear, low enough to wade, and not cold. We fished the lower reaches near the saw mill. I got one smaller fish on a bead head nymph, and got another strike I missed. Cameron had no luck (an unusual result!)

Then went to the Salmon Ponds for coffee and pancakes. Home by 5. Didnt actually fish that much -- spent a lot of time just catching up.

Low Head

The fishing report in the paper recommended the pilot jetty at low head at night -- stating it was impressive to see the couta / squid under the lights. I was anxious to give it a try, so off I went after work. Got a 40cm couta at 8:00 pm, which was just about low tide. The lights came on then, and suddenly the water was full of toad fish. The wind was high, an nothing else was visible, so left at 9:00 pm. Note to self -- try again in the morning / middle of the night, when the tide is high or at 1/2 tide. Even at low tide the currents were impressive!!!! Didnt see a couta or squid under the lights -- but the number of toadfish was astounding!!!

Brumbies Creek

Went to Brumbies after work.

The water was low and minimal week growth at the sides of the banks. No fish (though may have had a touch). No pics as the camera was left in the car, and when I got back it was very dark.

Need to fix the fly line -- take off the last foot that is very tattered!

Tasmanian Ballroom Dance Competition

It was the Tasmanian Ballroom Dance Competition. And while the rest of the faimily was involved, I got a free pass!!!!! The plan was to head to Arthurs or Toombs. On the morning I discovered i was supposed to act as transport for the family. And whats more -- Alex had lost his bow tie. So I had to hang around till openning time for the shops to buy ALex a new bow tie. Once the tie was sourced and dropped off, I headed North. It took almost 2 hours to get to Arthurs, so I didnt arrive till just before noon. The weather was warm and still in Hobart. It was blowing a gale at Arthurs. And the lake was down -- the cow paddock was a shallow ditch! Despite massivce rain that had filled lakes elsewhere -- I guess this means Arthurs had been really down!!!!

No fish at the cowpaddock, and the wind was so strong it was getting dangerous. Went to Jonah Bay campground and fished there -- the bay was sheltered from the wind and was relativly calm. No luck. Gave up and went to Penstock -- again found an area sheltered by trees. No luck. The lake was flooded with water up in the trees, but no movement in the trees either.

In summary -- didnt see a fish all day or get a touch.

Openning Day

Went to the Tyenna at 7:00 am. Got there at 8:00 -- there were a good 1/2 dozen cars spread along the river. Fished below the salmon farm -- but the river was high and couldnt get the fly down deep enough. Got one bite (struck three times) on an egg sucking leech -- but the fish must have been small. Another fisherman got a great one at the same spot on a hard body lure. Tried downstream drifting a soft platic under a willow on the fly line, and hooked another small fish. But then had to go home.

Fishing with Eric

Took Elizabeth out on the boat. A beautiful sunny day.

Fishing with Eric

Eric tried out his new boat. We tried NorthWest bay. Frist tried near the powder jetty, and got a small flathead or two. Moved over to conningham for no real result. Moved over to Bruny for no real result. Finally fished near tinderbox (outside the reserve) and Eric got something large that took the soft plastic and broke the line. Work called and the day was over :(

Tyenna, 16/2/2008

I just survived two days on the Tyenna.

Day 1 was a mental health day. I shot up there before the weekend crowds. The plan was to fish the river hard, and see what I could do. I started off up at the Tyenna Rd bridge (where the track is into the falls). The day started off in fine form, with fish frequent. I was fishing a dry with a nymph dropper. At one point I had a fish on each! But after and hour of lots of action the river suddenly went quiet. I explored a bit, and then decided to try some other locations. But it seems that plenty of fishermen had decided to try Friday afternoon as well. I tried below the fish farm, where I saw the leviathan. It looks like the secret has been discovered. Instead of the large number of big fish, I saw one 3lber, and that was it. I also saw lots of lures, line, litter, etc. Final score for the day was 6, with as many lost in the fight. One platypus that came within a rods length. And a narrow miss of a kangaroo on the way home.

Day 2 was take the kids into town day. No sooner had they got in the car than they started fighting. As we were driving in I tried to get them to stop. Instead it escalated. By the time we were in town it was full scale war. So I turned around and drove home -- telling them they could walk in if they wanted to go into town. This caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Being teenagers, there was even some interesting language. When I got home Susan said that to show that I meant it, I should head out and go fishing -- to really drive the point home. So back to the Tyenna.

Every spot on the Tyenna had a car. I didnt get there till 1:00pm, but still -- the river was being hit hard. Went back up to the Tyenna Rd spot -- there was even a car there. So I parked near the bridge and bush bashed through to the river. After 50 meters of sweat I found a track, which I followed to a magnificent pool, full of fish. Tried fishing with hoppers, and got one almost straight away. Tried other flies to no response. Back on with the hopper, and lots of looks. The key seemed to be the hopper with a yellow body -- I had some with tan and grey bodies, and they were ignored. I worked upstream from the pool, and had some more luck with a hopper in the next pool, and missed a few in some fast water. Eventually I came to a very long, deep, pool. At this point I decided that it was getting late, and I should head back. I wasn't looking forward to wading back down the river. However, the forest by the pool seemed to be open gum forest, so I thought I would try walking through that for a bit. I climber up the bank, and found the train track was 4 meters away. Once I was on the train track, I decided to walk upriver a bit and explore some more, and found a couple more pools at a bridge nearby. More luck with the hopper at this pool, fishing until dark and walking back along the track. Final score was 3 on a hopper and one on a bugger, with a good 6 or more missed on the hopper. Also missed one on a royal coachman wet.