Following a few days dedicated to the various soccer tournaments my boys were playing in, I managed to squeeze in some fishing on the way home from Bendigo today. After washing the frost off the windscreen, first stop was Harcourt Reservoir.
Casting to a trout in Harcourt’s shallows.
I couldn’t believe how idyllic (and relatively full) this little lake looked. With the level only a bit below the new spillway and quite clear, the lake held plenty of promise and after only half an hour looking, I found a fish working a shallow bay. I thought I covered it perfectly with a small olive BMS but apparently the trout disagreed – that was the last I saw of it.
Malmsbury couldn’t match Harcourt in appearance, though it is clear enough to fish.
Next stop was Malmsbury. Although it had come up somewhat after the recent rain, at 21% it was fairly uninspiring both in appearance and trout activity (or lack of it) during my short visit.
Lauriston was the most productive lake today, and the Scintilla Stick Caddis worked well on polaroided trout like this one.
Just up the road, Lauriston at 66% was a different matter. Although I couldn’t find anything breaking the surface, clear water and patches of sunlight allowed good visibility along the steeper shores and in a couple of hours I polaroided three nice browns. The first followed but refused both a fat Woolly Bugger (which I’d tied on in expectation of roach feeders) and then a Wet’s Zonker (a better match for the slim smelt I subsequently spotted along the edges nearby). A change to a Scintilla Stick Caddis about 70 cm beneath an indicator resulted in a much better response with the next two trout taking without hesitation.
While Upper Coliban was quieter, it’s looking better as the water begins to rise.
After that, the cloud made spotting increasingly frustrating, so I headed to Upper Coliban. Although relatively low at 37%, this large lake has risen and the muddy margin is much reduced. Clarity is good by Upper Coliban standards – not clear enough for reliable polaroiding, but no worries for fish finding the fly. I spotted one large trout smelting in the middle distance, although by the time I got within casting range, the action had ceased.
Wombat is low and quite clear – and bitterly cold this afternoon!
There was just time after that for a quick look at Wombat, but by this stage the air temperature was down to 7 C and the wind had picked up. I left it to the lone flyfisher I could see to search out any midging fish and headed for home.
