The last week of the season couldn’t have ended any better. Coffee and pie at the Mountain High Pies shop were delicious as usual. The colorful leaves mostly fallen off the trees by now, meant that winter is almost here. Managed to trick couple of browns later that day. Next day started with a bang by landing the biggest rainbow trout of the year. So stoked! Couple of pics and off you go big fella. Now let’s leave fish alone for a few months and pray for a little bit of rain so that the decent spawn run happens this year.

Had to get out to the mountains desperately. Work has been super busy so needed to clear up my head and take a good breath of the fresh air instead of the usual city smoke. Trout season was coming to an end so this trip was supposed to be my last one for the year to the Snowy Mountains. Packed up my gear, made sure I haven’t left my tent poles (it did happen in the past) and left city in no time. Cruising on the highway, listening to your favourite tunes, staring at the horizon and watching the sun disappear behind the hills…there’s something magic about long drives. It sort of relaxing and healing in a way. Lots of time to think about whats going on with your life, what decisions you have made or any bright ideas you have for the future. And of course then there’s a fishing part at the end of those long drives. Which turns the whole deep thinking sort of meditating state upside down as soon as you set the hook and fight between fisherman and fish starts. You loose all your sense and care for everything else in the world. All your worries and thoughts disappear like being flushed down the drain. It could be the WW3 happening, but you just wouldn’t give a damn. Doesn’t matter if you believe in God or not. You start praying. Praying like there’s no tomorrow. Praying that the knot you tied this morning is solid as a rock.

 

It’s so good when the local creeks are fishing well. Had a really good couple of weekends fishing my usual spots but also getting some nice fish out of the stretches I had never fished before. So that’s always rewarding. This is a strange time of a year, some fish might be in the spawning mood already and couldn’t care about the flies you throwing but others would smash the dry fly off the top as soon as it hits the water. Dry dropper rig using Stimulator as a top fly and a flash back nymph underneath (sometimes with a bright bead head) did the job and seemed to suit those both scenarios for unpredictably behaving fish.

Got to spend Easter break down in the Snowy Mountains National Park doing a little bit of fishing and camping. Didn’t get into any big fish but the little ones I caught were angry and in great condition. Some are still taking dry flies, some are already holding in the deeper water and only interested in nymphs. The weather normally cools down to the comfortable level, around Easter time, to be able to camp inland again . And it’s great to light up a fire at night not only just to stare at it but almost out of necessity to warm up.

These are just a few pictures from my recent adventures trying to catch a decent size aussie bass on a fly. Tried few spots around the Sydney suburban area and got into a few little guys that were a good fun on light tackle. Most productive time of a day for me was just before the storm or at dawn or sometimes even in the dark. Travelled up to the Mid North Coast where I landed my biggest bass probably to this day. South Coast rivers were full of the small size bass in every spot I tried, so hopefully they grow a bit bigger in the near future.