2013-14: The Season That Was (Part One)

I briefly thought about going for a fish today, then I walked outside into a stiff southerly, 6 C drizzle and a sky without a hint of blue. Back indoors, the heat of the fireplace exerted an irresistible pull, so now I’m sitting at my desk with a cuppa in my hand instead of a rod. Thumbing through my fishing diary, it seems as good a time as any to review the last 12 months or so.

Lake Purrumbete on a rare settled afternoon in winter 2013. The trout were moving well around the inshore weedbeds.

Lake Purrumbete on a rare settled afternoon in winter 2013. The trout were moving well around the inshore weedbeds.

For much of south-eastern Australia, winter 2013 wasn’t too far from normal in terms of rainfall or temperature – although in my part of the world near Ballarat, Victoria the lack of sunshine seemed relentless. The winter trout fishing was about typical too – I had some reasonable days at Purrumbete, Tooliorook, Wartook and particularly Tullaroop. Max and I also some managed some great bream fishing on the south-west estuaries (see the latest issue of FlyStream magazine.)

As usual, the best fishing winter fishing at Tullaroop was on the milder, settled days - though these were few and far between in 2013.

As usual, the best fishing winter fishing at Tullaroop was on the milder, settled days – though these were few and far between in 2013.

Some people describe the September to mid-December period in Victoria and Tasmania as the spring that never was. That might have been a bit harsh, but it’s true that my diaries show a distinct lack of warm, settled and sunny days. There seemed little to recommend the high, cold and fast flows of the north-east rivers so I mainly concentrated on the lakes. These were in top shape – by mid spring virtually all the Victorian central highlands lakes were full and clear, while the main Grampians trout lakes weren’t too far behind at around 80%. (Unfortunately Toolondo was the exception – the water managers decided there wasn’t enough surplus in Rocklands for a Toolondo top up. This had no impact on the excellent spring fishing there; however it leaves the lake reliant on good rain in winter/spring 2014 to comfortably hold enough water to survive next summer.) Spring highlights for me included October dun hatches and polaroiding at Lake Fyans, and an evening click-beetle fall at Wartook.

In spring 2013 there were plenty of mayfly nymphs around at Hepburn (above) and plenty of other central Victorian lakes. So why weren't the hatches better?

In spring 2013 there were plenty of mayfly nymphs around at Hepburn (above) and plenty of other central Victorian lakes. So why weren’t the hatches better?

It was also a weird spring elsewhere. On the central Victorian lakes, dun hatches were light and unpredictable everywhere, despite the presence of good numbers of mayfly nymphs. In late spring/early summer, our Rainbow Lodge friends reported much the same from the Tasmanian lakes – was the common thread lower than average degree-days? (see ‘Scientific Angling’ in the latest issue of FlyStream magazine.) Conversely, at Upper Coliban Reservoir, I caught the tail end of the biggest caenid hatch I’ve ever seen in Victoria before rain stopped play.

A trout takes a caenid towards the end of a massive hatch at Upper Coliban Reservoir in late Octiber 2013, while a lone mayfly dun hopes to be overlooked!

A trout takes a caenid towards the end of a massive hatch at Upper Coliban Reservoir in late October 2013, while a lone mayfly dun hopes to be overlooked!