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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    near Warragul, Victoria
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    Default Fly fishing memories

    During 1969 I was in form 2 at high school. At the time, the local municipal library had a few fly fishing books written by David Scholes . I was hooked and I joined the Southern Fly fishers, based in Moorabbin . A SE suburb of Melbourne .

    Anyway a few years on I was in Tassie, living in an old farm house on the Liffey river . I spied a Citroen car one day as I was hitch hiking into Bracknell, the car turned down into my track .... I raced back and could not see the car . As I was standing in front of the derelict house, the car drove up and stopped .... After few a few hello's I said " are you David Scholes " His wife was taken aback and said " how on earth did you know who we are "

    I had his books with me and he autographed them on the spot . They drove me into Bracknell, at breakneck speed I must say ... David was a Lancaster pilot in WW2 and he drove like he flew .. flat out . We almost cleaned up a mob of sheep too .

    Mike

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Sanstone Point
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    296

    Default

    Cool story!

    Foo

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
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    3,543

    Default

    Whistler, BC used to have the biggest vertical drop of any ski resort in North America. I used to stay with friends on the west side of Alta Lake, across from the gondola base station.
    Early summer morning sunshine. Everyone else still in bed. I'm out with my rod and a #12 Mosquito tied with hollow brown & white moose-mane hairs to add for flotation.
    In a corner of a lake, there's rings, again and again, like every 30 seconds and in exactly the same place.
    No breeze at all. I false cast until I think I have the range and drop the fly.
    Danged if it doesn't fall exactly into the bull's eye of the last set of rings!
    Sucked under in a nanosecond.
    Maybe 6"/15cm rainbow trout. Without any doubt, the most exciting fish I have ever released.
    I've caught sea-run steelhead to 20+ lbs, salmon to 40+lbs. I was a professional (not commercial) fisherman with 20,000 fish/month. I will never forget that little rainbow (possibly 1974).

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
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    McBride BC Canada
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    Default

    If my last post seemed so much "hocus-pocus," I learned that 90% of fish live in 10% of the water. The rest was academic = how many fish can you cope with?

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Wodonga
    Age
    53
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    712

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Robson Valley View Post
    Whistler, BC used to have the biggest vertical drop of any ski resort in North America. I used to stay with friends on the west side of Alta Lake, across from the gondola base station.
    Early summer morning sunshine. Everyone else still in bed. I'm out with my rod and a #12 Mosquito tied with hollow brown & white moose-mane hairs to add for flotation.
    In a corner of a lake, there's rings, again and again, like every 30 seconds and in exactly the same place.
    No breeze at all. I false cast until I think I have the range and drop the fly.
    Danged if it doesn't fall exactly into the bull's eye of the last set of rings!
    Sucked under in a nanosecond.
    Maybe 6"/15cm rainbow trout. Without any doubt, the most exciting fish I have ever released.
    Makes me want to get out and have a crack in the local streams.

    My most memorable fish was also small, a trout that was maybe 30cm. But i managed to get him on a simple fly that was just a plain red body with ginger hackle. No embellishments like wings and such. It was also tied on a tiny #24 hook. I dont think i could even see a hook that small these days.

    Once you try fly fishing, you just never look back.

    Steven.

  7. #6
    Scribbly Gum's Avatar
    Scribbly Gum is offline When the student is ready, the Teacher will appear
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Telegraph Point
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    Default

    We had a benefit day for a local family here last Sunday and the Fly-fishing club gave demos.
    You blokes might recognise this:

    IMG_0038-002.JPG

    Cheers
    SG
    .... some old things are lovely
    Warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them ........................D.H. Lawrence
    https://thevillagewoodworker.blogspot.com/

  8. #7
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    Jul 2008
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    near Warragul, Victoria
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    Default red tag

    Quote Originally Posted by Scribbly Gum View Post
    We had a benefit day for a local family here last Sunday and the Fly-fishing club gave demos.
    You blokes might recognise this:

    IMG_0038-002.JPG

    Cheers
    SG
    That appears to be a red tag - a great beetle pattern . I used the red tag with great success on the LIFFEY RIVER in Tassie in 1975 ... I think it was originally a Grayling fly from the UK , but it is very effective on trout in small streams .

    I used to buy the fly fishing gear from Lindsay Haslem, he had a small tackle shop in Rowena parade in Richmond, Melbourne . He custom made rods and he was a well known fly fishing identity in Melbourne at the time . Boy, could he swear, he was a builder by trade and as rough as they come. I was frightened of him.... he taught me fly tying , he held classes in his flat every Monday evening 1970 . If I wasn''t listening to his instructions, he'd give me a blast of abuse and call me a little bastard ....

    Mike

  9. #8
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    Apr 2011
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    Here's the plan, if your drought ever lets up:
    Drive up to "Dead Horse Gap", it's near Thredbo. When the water is fast and clear.
    Walk upstream on the track until that crosses whatever that stream is called.
    March up another 100M and fish the very edges of the grasses in the water, no more than 1cm from the grass, for the next 400m. The gravel runs are good, too.
    I used to do that until I could not eat another rainbow.

    If you're allowed to drive up that track, there's a monster stream maybe 7-10km further on that same track. Keep this a secret, OK?

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    near Warragul, Victoria
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    Default Crackenback

    Quote Originally Posted by Robson Valley View Post
    Here's the plan, if your drought ever lets up:
    Drive up to "Dead Horse Gap", it's near Thredbo. When the water is fast and clear.
    Walk upstream on the track until that crosses whatever that stream is called.
    March up another 100M and fish the very edges of the grasses in the water, no more than 1cm from the grass, for the next 400m. The gravel runs are good, too.
    I used to do that until I could not eat another rainbow.

    If you're allowed to drive up that track, there's a monster stream maybe 7-10km further on that same track. Keep this a secret, OK?

    That may be the Crackenback river ? SO you have been out here Robson Valley ? You seem to know the geography of NSW very well ..MIKE

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    shep Victoria
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    97
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    What a pleasant surprise to find this fly fishing forum,since moving to Shepparton from Bright in Victoria,which is some years now and
    not havin done any fishing or fly tying since the move,I am a life and one of the founder members of the Alpine Fly Fishing Club in Bright
    It was fishing there 7 nights a week unless the Barometer had dropped to low, Had the Ovens River and Morses Creek at My back door,
    and now its no more, here only Carp Cod and Yellowelly,just not the same thing as a Trout fishing, I hope more people will put in to this forum with their memories how about a few trouty photos,would that not be good,

    Eddie

  12. #11
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    Oct 2006
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    Wodonga
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    Hi Eddie,

    I too fished in the Bright area when i was younger. I was born in Myrtleford and was introduced to fishing at a young age by my folks.

    At about 22 years old i thought i would give this fly-fishing caper a go and never looked back. The old spin rod that served me so well up to that point sat in the corner gathering dust.

    My favorite piece of water to fish was either Eurobin Creek or the Ovens river in the Harrietville area. I once caught a 60cm brown trout from the Eurobin Creek just up from where it joins into the Ovens. I couldnt believe my luck, sight fishing at its best. I have some great memories fishing my home streams.

    Unfortunately the recent bush fire around Hotham (and subsequent rain) has left the Ovens looking more like the Yarra, all brown with ash run-off. I think it may take some time for the fishing to recover. But even before the fires, the fishing has never quite been as good for me as it was in the early 90's. The reliable evening rises where you would have up to a dozen rising trout in one run have all but disappeared. Hopefully it improves in the near future.

    Steven.

  13. #12
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    Apr 2011
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    McBride BC Canada
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    Default

    This is close to fishing: Drove over from Melb to visit friends in Canberra. Ross figures that we should fish some stretch of the Murrumbidgee(sp?) that he knew about. OK fine, away we go. Fishing is a bit slow but we each have a couple of keepers/rainbows.
    Anyway, Ross is standing on a rock with his rod tip back over his shoulder. All of a sudden he just about falls over backward withy a mighty tug on his rod! Turned out that some 40cm lizard took a flying leap and hooked itself to the fly that was dangling from Ross' rod!
    Anyway, just so you all know, I lived in Melb for almost 4 years and earned a PhD in botany/wood anatomy at LaTrobe as a Commonwealth of Nations Research Fellow.

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    shep Victoria
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    Hello Steve ,fished the Porepunkah area quite a lot when I lived in Bright we use to use the school there once a week to have our fly tying sessions and regular meetings,
    I think the club there is very quiet now so I am told ,what a shame, we held many a casting session in the Porepunkah Ovens swimming pool,with a barby and a few beers to finish it off,there was a lot of youngsters joining in those days but as soon as they learned the basics they drifted away.
    Every year it was a trip to the Tantangra Dam in to Taylors old station called Carango Station which is now taken over by the parks department,You have to book and pay early to get the right time of the year for fishing it used to be quite rough in the old shearers sheds but they have lights and running water the last time I was up there that would of been about 12 years ago ,I know the Alpine fishing Club still go up there every year,but I think I am past it now would be nice though,could put some pics up if there is any interest.

    Cheers to all Eddie
    Last edited by TKO; 17th April 2013 at 11:01 PM. Reason: Wrong name

  15. #14
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    Jun 2009
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    167

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    Hi all, I think fly fishing is one of the greatest past times you can have in life, nothing beats being outdoors at the crack of dawn with frost on the ground a fresh run of fish in your favourite river, getting into trouble with mum because you are late home, the things we do when we a lot younger than we are now. Most of my fly fishing has been done in NZ around Taupo, though I first started off at the age of 3 or 4 in the Aberdare Park in Kenya when my sister fell in the river and i caught a fish, still have the rod and reel in Dads shed in NZ, Have seen my grandfather poach a 10lb Salmon out of the local river in Scotland when the fishing rights were around 1000 pounds per 100 yards of river bank!!!!, I bought Dad a new rod when i was in Tasmania this year and christened it with three reasonable trout in one afternoon fishing at one of our favourite rivers when over there for the racing, Dad is now 75 and still loves his fishing, just finds it hard bush bashing and traipsing around the countryside, also the weight of the old rods makes it tough on the wrists, split cane rods have a lovely action but get tiring after a while when doing a lot of casting, even his favourite Fiberglass rod is getting the best of him now, so a new Sage is what he got as a present just to say thanks for all the years and patience that he has shown showing me how to fish, he can still outcast and outfish me any day. Also you get to meet some real beaut people as well. Needless to say I love fly fishing and miss it heaps,
    Cheers,
    Richie

  16. #15
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
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    Default Noel

    I consider myself fortunate to have met Noel Jetson, who with his wife owned the post office in Cressy Tasmania back in....1981 I think...might have been 82.. and who sold trout flies etc from his shop. (Was on a deer hunting trip up at the Spencers "Little Den" property (below Poatina) at the time.....and caught small browns on fly in Brumbys creek up in the mountains where it flowed thru the den.
    Went back and fly fished Tassie trout again a little more seriously for a week sometime around 1992..or 3 maybe... Mostly Great Lake area.
    Hard place to beat Tassie, for fly fishing...



    BUT - WA has a little trout action too if you know where to look!



    Nothing Like Tassie tho

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