Northern shores of Arthurs Lake
The road less trodden along the northern shores of Arthurs Lake, with rich weed beds and extensive shallow margins, harbours some very good specimens like this 53cm brown trout, which came up from the bottom in a foot of water to take an emerging mayfly imitation. Image: Gary France
Basic fly cast
Here is the highly valuable lift up and lay down single cast. Note the rod on the back stroke STOP is vertical at 12 o'clock. This throws the line high, setting up for a good forward stroke. When beginners to fly fishing come fishing with us, we teach casting basics on the grass first. The we add water!
Learning
A small group receives fly fishing instruction from their guide, Gary France. In this moment on the river bank, they are learning about trout foods and discussing what fly they might use - what's on the ground, what's in the air, what's in the grass, what's on the water, or popping off the water from the depths.
Lunch!
A group of guided fly fishing anglers stop for lunch. We provide hearty fresh food to energise your afternoon’s fishing activities. We cater to all dietary needs. We stop close to the lake or river and watch for activity, chatting about our strategies for the afternoon.
Keeping in touch with the line
Have you heard the words "keep in touch with the line"? What does this mean? To keep in touch with your line is to keep your rod tip low to the water. This removes much of the slack from the line. When you remove the slack from your line, you are more likely to feel the take when a fish eats your fly. And when the fish eats your fly, there's no slack line for it to run away with. And there's less line for you to pull in, giving the fish less chance of diving into the weeds or [...]
The weed line…
In bright, calm conditions, with occasional cloud, a fish or two are showing just outside the weed line, moving around in the light current, and their exact location can be hard to predict. When they do show, committing to an immediate fly placement in the zone, preferably just upstream from the rise, will be the best opportunity to illicit a response.
Trout Fly stock box
This is Gary's stock box where he will take a few flies to suit the location and the time of season, and place them in a much smaller box he carries with him. The aim is to narrow down to a few functional and productive generic flies, and a few imitative flies specific to the available foods. Check out some of our flies and how to tie them here. Image: #NECIAUS & Ideasbanq
Chunky river brown
This chunky river brown trout took a number of presentations to notice the fly was even there. Once landed the fly in the right place with the right drift, my black spinner fly was noticed, and taken. The black spinner is a go to fly in Tasmania's mayfly season for any river or lake. Image by Gary France, Trout Territory
Fly fishing coaching for groups
Guide, Gary France, teaching a small group the basics of fly casting. We start on the grass, with demonstration, coaching, and then it’s time to move your new skills onto the water! We have a very high success rate with the basics leading to graduation and the grouping of various skills. Stepping stones to trout and fly fishing success. We offer workshops or fully guided tours for beginners.
Grasshopper
Here's a grasshopper fly. Into the warmest months of Tasmania's summer, grasshoppers are a feature on rivers and lakes. This is a foam bodied hopper that will float all day, and imparted with the right sort of movement, twitch twitch, bringing it to life, is a highly effective dry fly technique.