FlyLife Australia & New Zealand — Winter 2017

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Readers’ comments
FLYLIFE GIFT VOUCHERS
Take the hassle out of gift shopping on our online store
hank you to the kind and friendly people in
Tasmania. I spent a week fishing there early in
November with my son and my two brothers.
We try to fish Tasmania once or twice a year, and I
thought it was time I said thanks.
After a challenging day at Huntsman Lake (40 km/h
winds and light drizzle) we arrived back at the car park to
find a family having a picnic. We had a friendly exchange
of G’day, how was the fishing, where are you guys from
etc, as we packed up to get into the warm car. We were
in the car about to leave when (we guess it was) the Mum
offered us a hot coffee and a doughnut each. The coffee
was voted the best on the trip.
The other occasion was on a river. After fishing for an
hour or more we came to a fence with a Fisheries sign
saying not to enter without calling the farmer first. We
made the call and permission was granted after a long chat.
About half an hour later my phone rang: it was the farmer
wanting to know where we were.
“There are no fish there,” he told us, suggesting we wind
in and head up past the pump to the eucalypts and start
fishing there. Within a few casts, success.
We experienced friendly happy people wherever we
went, from a pie shop in a small village to service stations,
bottle shops, restaurants, accommodation — did I mention
bottle shops — and farms, and in all cases the service was
well above and beyond excellent.
Joe Searl, Narrabeen, NSW
T
have never heard of an incident like this one
and wondered if it might be of interest to your
readers. I have, albeit rarely, caught fish with
a residual hook in the side of the mouth, but nothing
like this...
This game little rainbow took an Elk Hair Caddis and
gave a good fighting display before I netted it. A swivel
could clearly be seen hanging from the side of its mouth
(next to the fly) and joined to this was line disappearing
into its mouth. Remarkably, there was also a length of line
trailing from its anal vent, with a hook attached.
The hook must have passed through its gut and out the
other end. I cut the line and the two halves came out in
opposite directions.
This rainbow was a real survivor, and while I was
always going to release the fish, it felt great to be returning
it minus the hook, line and swivel.
Fish length was approximate 300 mm, with 160 mm of
trailing line; the hook length was 35 mm and gape 7 mm



  • ooh that must have hurt.
    Thanks for a great magazine.


Garry Mayo, Canberra, ACT

I


have just read Tasmanian Twigwater by David
Anderson in issue 87. What a perfectly timed
article, especially for me as I travel to Tassie on
the ferry on Sunday for the Forum Gathering.
After receiving the ‘good oil’ from Stephen Hill, I plan
on fishing the North Esk on Monday. The following week I
have my eye on the St Pats and the South Esk and/or the
Break O’ Day.
It is hard to have a picture in one’s mind of what to
expect after reading previous FlyLife articles, and books by
Scholes, but by the photographs and descriptions in this
article I have realised that the waterways are similar to
those I am familiar with in NE Victoria.
I have read that Greg French wished to highlight the
great fishing on offer in the streams of the ‘Apple Isle’ and
feel that this article does just that. Although no secret spots
are identified, I believe it adds to the overall enjoyment
when we discover for ourselves these little gems.
Well done DA for an article that has got me expectantly
excited about my next three weeks exploring the
waterways of Tassie.

Greg Wood, Mulwala, NSW

I


irst of all I wanted to extend my great appreciation
for the magazine you provide. Your recent article by
Dr John Morrongiello about warming temperatures
was not only captivating but extremely relevant.
I saw the good Dr at the Wild Trout Conference and
thought this man is very important to the future of trout,
and I was so pleased to see that you gave him a soap box
to blast his message across the sometimes naive fishing
community — so thank you.
As a younger fly fisher, this subject is important to me
and, fingers crossed, to the majority of anglers both on the
fly and spin.

Jack Clough, Footscray, VIC

F

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