Trout rising over there
From October a major local focus for mayfly hatches is on rivers, for which the Macquarie River is fabled. In the right conditions there are light winds, favourable for enough spinner on the water to get the trout's interest. Here the telltale rings of a rise are evidence of one fish moving rather consistently through the reeds. An adult red spinner mayfly pattern, well presented to consistent feeders, can bring excellent results. Image Credits: Gary France
The hitch hiker spins a tale
Shown here is the Red Spinner, or the adult of the mayfly atalophlebia australis, which is one of the most prevalent mayflies to imitate for fly fishers on Tassie's rivers and lakes. We discovered this hitch hiker who made his way from the Central Highlands to the Northern Midlands in the car. He's like many we find in the boat or car moving from one location to another. Hitch hiking is a means of natural population transfer, insects will hitch rides on animals and vehicles and the wind. Another hitch hiker shown here on the esky in our boat is [...]
Jassids on the menu
When Jassids are on the menu trout will single them out amongst other food items. There seems to be a symbiotic relationship between Jassids and ants and they live in harmony. Co-existing seems advantageous to both. Perhaps they protect each other, help keep their nests clean? Secretions from the Jassids are of interest to the ants on sappy gum trees such as manor gums and others. Image credits: Gary France
Baby damselfly!
This particular lowland water, Four Springs, harbours an excellent array of fly life. Mayflies, damselflies, and dragonflies, to name but a few of the flying insects. There were numerous shucks and newly emerged damselflies on this jetty post. This damselfly has crawled from its shuck a very short time ago, its wings have dried out and its about to fly. Video credit: Fiona Dewar
Drifting duns
Tiny sail boats drifting on the breeze. Emerging mayflies before they fly off to take the next part of their life's journey.
What did the trout have for lunch?
Let's talk gut content. From a couple of fish we kept for dinner (1 rainbow trout and 1 brown trout), an examination of the stomach content confirms what's on the menu over these days and weeks. There are snails, grubs, stick caddis, and mayfly nymphs as well as others, and some weed. No shortage of food here, and strong powerful fish. Location: Four Springs, northern Tasmania. Close to Launceston.
Life Cycle of the Tasmanian Mayfly
In Tasmania, developing a sense around what trout foods are available, where and when, increases the chances for success. Mayfly are in full swing from September/October on the lakes and rivers of the lowlands. The highlands follows a little later due to its altitude and climate. These mayfly hatches continue through to around March, peaking again on the lowlands through to the end of April and the season's close. Altitude plays a major role along with water and air temperature; changing light conditions, i.e. cloud cover; and wind and climate. Nymph The Nymph Nymphs live in the water [...]
Four Springs Mayfly
The water temperatures on Four Springs hovered around 12 degrees Celsius earlier in September. And the very first Mayfly appeared, although no surface activity from the fish on the day.
Waterbug Blitz
Larva is the stage of development of an insect between egg and pupa. Instar is a stage of life of an insect between two periods of moulting. Nymph is an immature form of an insect. The shedding phases. Pupa is an insect in the stage of development between larva and imago (aka: Emerger - a word commonly used in fly fishing terms when talking about mayfly emergence). It's more involved than that, of course, but there's a quick little summary. Why are we talking about this? Because we participated in a project and were excited to find some up close. [...]