Fly fishers love blue sky days
Blue sky days are one of the most appreciated events in the Tasmanian fly fishers experience. Hard to predict, but when you do get one, the combination of high summer sunlight coupled with favourable wind direction, open up the waters of the highlands lakes in the shallow, weedy, sandy and rocky lagoons. At times you can spot fish further away than you can cast. And on these days the numbers of fish seen are usually greater.
Ideally, the sunlight is coming from behind, or over your shoulder, and you are looking into the back of the waves as you stroll along the shores or wade the shallow lagoons, scanning for shapes, shadows, and moving objects.
At some point you will have fish in casting range, and by having a good controllable line length laid out on the water, all it takes is a single throw to present the fly in the path of an oncoming fish.
Tip for the novice fly fisher
For beginners, it’s a good idea to practice lifting and casting your line and laying it out in a single cast at a target, within the range of length you have out (sometimes shorter), because in the above situation, too many false casts will spook the fish. Casting low or from the side is another useful technique to practice as is long stripping to retrieve line quickly.
Tasmania’s Nineteen Lagoons, near the Western Lakes
The photo above is of Lake Botsford, in Tasmania’s Nineteen Lagoons, near the Western Lakes. With good light in October, it gets better into the summer months with a higher sun. Add in a cloudless sky, and a pair of Polaroid sunglasses to cut teh gare, and it’s an exciting day’s fishing to enjoy as you walk along the shore, looking into the water and seeing shapes, and therefore the oncoming trout.
This photo did not use a polarised lens, so with Polaroid sunglasses you will be able to see the bottom even more clearly than shown in the pic.
Short Shadows
Our friend, Fred Lunstroo, the other day reminded me about short shadows, and I’d like to share it with you here. For there to be classified as good and sufficient light for effective polaroiding, the length of your shadow wants to be shorter than your height. The absolute pinnacle of this is around midday, on the longest days mid summer, when the length of your shadow will be almost non existent for a longer period.
Happy hookups,
Gary
