December

December has traditionally been my favourite month; the mayflies on Arthurs start to get serious, Little Pine is firing, as is Penstock. It usually means no more wet fly fishing and a complete switch to the dries. The second week of the month is the cherry on top. This year was different. Water levels at this time were well below par and the mayflies were suffering. Hatches were practically non-existent all season at Arthurs and Little Pine (although a little cleaner than previous seasons) was still dirty and not consistent. The water warmed quickly and it was only the consistent water heights at Penstock that led to good hatches and ‘proper’ mayfly fishing.

However, the big numbers of fish associated with the early weeks in December did not eventuate. Interestingly, the fish were still very happy to eat nymphs fished at depth, but at this time of year a dry fly rarely fails. My fingers are crossed that next season we see a return to stable water heights – whether they be high or low.

Hugh Foxcroft was over at this time with his always-enjoyable group of fishos. We were fortunate to have fishermen of this calibre at that time as the fishing was below par. Unfortunately, the fishing was patchy for them although Craig Henderson and his son Chris did mange some good fish on Great Lake – much to the dismay of party member, Peter “Gary Loomis” Megans.

Bright weather did enable some clients to get fantastic polaroiding on Great Lake. Both shallow and deep-water drifts brought about exciting sight fishing. Jim Stewart polaroided and caught a Rainbow in less than a foot of water – not ten feet from where he had just caught a typically fat brown. John Worrell and his son in law, Ozzie, spent three memorable days polaroiding fish eating dry flies.

Harry Simpson and wife, Helen, then arrived and found the overcast conditions just to the liking of the fish in Arthurs and Penstock. Harry parted company with a very large Rainbow in Penstock which still haunts him while Helen (a complete novice) caught fish from every water visited. Harry has always liked the idea of a western lakes walk and when we finally got there, he was rewarded with three lovely fish polaroided on the shore. The biggest of these weighed over eight pounds and was the fish of the season.

My long time friend and fly-fishing nut, Lane Olding, had returned from chasing Permit and Bonefish around the world and was guiding for Rainbow Lodge at this stage. We are very lucky to have Lane with us and all of those who were fortunate to be guided by him know what I mean. He spent a few days in the western lakes leading up to Christmas with American Robert Hamblin.

Heavy rain and cloud cover for the entire trip was not ideal, but Lane managed to put Rob onto fish feeding on mayflies whenever the polaroiding was not an option. While that was going on, David Jarman and son Tom were having a successful time loch style fishing and casting to risers, culminating in Tom landing a very large brown in Penstock after a lengthy fight that drew a crowd of onlookers.

Christmas enabled me to have a short break and do some fishing of my own and become reacquainted with my much neglected fly rods. At least they still worked.

January »