Lake Liddell - June 2009

Lake Liddell

Date: Sunday, 21June 2009

Forecast: Scattered Showers; Wind, Light N to NE Temp, Air, 12 -20. Water - 20 Tide, N/A; Barometer, 1021, steady: Moon, last quarter, New on 23rd

The Winter Solstice saw us at Lake Liddel. This has been a favourite venue for the CCFR in years past & this year it was more popular than ever. Not only did we have a huge crowd turn out we signed up 2 new members on the day with 1 more keen to join at our next outing. So it’s g’day to Dave Miller & Rod Dillon & encouragement to… …… John Howard! That’s right; John Howard the caretaker of the Liddel camping ground wants to swell the ranks of our illustrious club. Why wouldn’t he? As previously mentioned the roll up was great: Dave Witham, Bob Williams, Chris Bannerman, Paul McGrath, Gary Kent, Tony Iason, Mac Lyall, Damian Webber, Andrew Waters, Col Bresse, Jim Hyatt, Steve Bunney, Murray Keating, Max Gear, Rob Harwood, Richard Hassel, John Roberts, Craig Parker, Peter Frere & last but not least by a long shot Ken Colmer, without whom we would all be probably still be wandering in circles, starving, caffeine deficient, dribbling fisher folk. Once again Unca Ken saved the day & our stomachs. Cheers mate. The fog which blanketed the lake was starting to lift as people set off in various directions. 6 members brought boats which were used to ferry anglers to distant shores as well as targeting fish in the deeper water. Most fished on foot with a slight majority fishing the southern side. Rod & I grabbed a lift off Ken over to the old road, and then he & Max zoomed over to the hot water outlet. When this didn’t look too promising they were meandering back in the direction they left us when they saw fish & it was on. Max lost no time, boating three while Ken struggled with an intermediate line. Down 3 zip it was a no brainer. Ken changed to a floater & he was rewarded with several fish quick smart. Meanwhile things were quiet back at the road. We could see fish mucking about beyond casting range but nothing closer in. I too had fallen for the intermediate line trick. It had done wonders 5 weeks before but I had packed a floater just in case. However it was back in the car so it was a case of run what you brung. Rod hooked up first only to drop it at the rod tip. I managed to hold onto a 45cm specimen a short time later which I had caught off a blind cast. Mac & Murray were working their way towards us; we were heading back to the camping ground & they were heading away from it. When we met up they hadn’t done much better than us, a fish apiece, although they did finish the day with Murray landing 3 & Mac 4. Rod was at a loss to explain it. You see, Rod’s a local; he lives just 15 minutes away & is a member of the Singleton Fly Fishers. According to him we should have seen lots of fish by now but as they say in the classics “There they weren’t”. We battled on & got back to within 200metres of camp when we bumped into Stickerman & Bunney. It seems Steve is a Bunney by name but not by nature. This was his first outing with the club & he bagged his first fish on fly in Oz & it was arguably the biggest fish caught on the day, 72cm & 8lb. Champion effort. They had gone in the opposite direction to us for about the same distance but what a change in fortunes. By the time we met up they had caught 11 carp; Steve 6, Stick 5. Sticker had taken his role as guide very seriously, which is a defining feature of our club. ‘Newbies” are taken under the wing of the more experienced, mostly as an undiscussed, matter of fact, ‘I’ll do it’ type of thing. I believe we are a better club for it. One other example of this was when new Dave [last name Miller] embarked on his first club trip. Dave has wielded the wand before only many years ago & never for swamp trout. He had not one but 3 members to help his aim with his mate Damian, our Pres ‘Don’Daveo as well as Paul McGrath. Mr Miller proved that fly fishing is like riding a bike; once learned never forgotten. While the rest of the lads held back to give him the best chance he sighted then cast to a big fish. It all came tight & Dave was soon holding his first carp. A happy chappie? You bet! The other three then got on with it & each landed a fish before the decision was made to try another bay. This new spot proved barren & when they returned to their original place it to had gone cold. They knocked off for lunch & tried again but were unable to improve their score. The area near the railway viaduct has often proved a happy hunting ground & this day was no exception. Chris Bannerman also played guide to Craig & JR. Chris: "John Roberts, Craig and I headed over towards the viaduct and after climbing through a couple of gates, inspected the deep channel leading to the viaduct before reaching the lake edge. The water seemed pretty clear but no fish were initially sighted. We blind cast for about half an hour, making our way around the edge before John hooked his first fish followed shortly by me. Craig was getting the fly out there but not many fish were interested. We continued to move further around the lake edge and with a change of fly Craig landed his first carp. To say he was pleased would be an understatement. During this time we noticed large numbers of fish seemed to be schooling out around the deeper weed beds. Dozens of fish seemed to milling around near the surface with the occasional bird spooking them. Col Breese and Rob Harwood had appeared in their boat and we guided them to where the schooling fish were located (our lower angle of view seemed to give us the advantage in spotting them). Rob and Col had a few hookups but the fish didn't seem all that interested. As the morning wore on the schools became larger and more common. Sometimes they came a bit closer, teasing us, but they were always just out of range. I managed to cast to a few closer fish but again they seemed to ignore my fly and were more interested in gulping on the surface. As to what they were doing we weren't sure, but they may have been spawning. We managed a few more fish as we walked the lake edge before returning to the car and joining some of the others back at the camp ground around 2pm." Blokes in boats made up the rest of members & they too had mixed results. Bob & Gary fished the bay we all say we will; the first one you see when you’re still on the Highway heading to the lake. The boaties had some trouble seeing the fish due to the overcast sky. Still, Gary bagged 7 while Bob was hot on his heels with 6. Jim & Richard spent a quiet morning with both fish landed going to Jim. They returned to camp for lunch where they heard about the weird behaviour exhibited by the ‘viaduct’ fish. They headed over with Col Breese after he dropped Rob off & Richard broke his duck while Jimmy added 2 more to his tally. Tony had brought his family & took Brayden, O’Shah & Kohen out on his boat with him. He too told me that he couldn’t see the fish untill he was right on top of them & while he saw plenty he only hooked one. He hooked it then gave the rod to Brayden while O’Shah stripped the line the pair of them supervised by Kohen. Eventually Tony took over & landed a true team effort. Ken & Max also tried the ‘pelagic’ carp, so called as they reminded Ken of salmon. It seems there must have been a hatch of some sort as carp breed in October, when they start to pair up. Anyway Max & Ken ended the day Even Steven, 5 each. Which leaves us with a couple of gentlemen. Well at least that’s what they looked like in their snappy Tit for Tats. Col & Rob were alerted to the surface action by Chris & crew & they couldn’t believe their eyes. Bags & bags of fish on the surface, mouthing at something. Imagine, a large piece of water, the area marked out by the orange ‘O’s formed by big, rubbery, fishy gobs. This was a tempting target & Col & Rob had a ball trying to chuck a fly straight down a fish’s throat. They had a bit of success at this novel approach to carp angling with Rob landing 7 while Col bagged 8. Col didn’t think that swamp trout would be as much fun as they are but he’s a convert now. His biggest fish was guesstimated at 10lb, but even bigger fish were sighted so we can all live in hope. Most of us had called it a day by 3:00pm or so while a few diehards were prepared to fish on. However Mother Nature intervened by sending down the heaviest shower of the day which convinced them that maybe they could leave some fish uncaught ‘til the next time. Because there will be a next time. Once again everyone had caught at least 1 fish & once again everyone had a great time, which is why we will keep coming back to Liddel. P.S. It seems the behaviour of the carp may have been a breeding event after all. Research on the Internet showed mating carp swimming on the surface, mouthing away just like the fish on the weekend. While we may never know the exact reason of why they acted the way they did, this trip will live on in C.C.FlyRodder legend as the “Day of the Pelagic Carp”.