LAKETIPS

BLIND FISHING OR PROSPECTING TIPS FOR JINDABYNE

Whilst the tips I have set out below evolved from fishing my "home" fishery which is Lake Jindabyne, in the Snowy Mountains of NSW, in general terms they are equally appropriate to a whole range of fisheries. Success in fly fishing is ultimately based on just 5 things: appropriate gear including flies; the ability to cast the flies to where the fish are; an ability to fish the flies in a way that doesn't spook the fish and induces them to put your fly into its mouth for one reason or another; confidence; and last but not least co-operative fish.

These tips are all designed to help you locate fish and to encourage their cooperation.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

Location is as important in fishing as it is in buying and selling real estate.

Lakes and impoundment's are not just big volumes of homogeneous water denuded of any structure even though at first glance that may be how they seem. Lakes are full of structures, or effected by structures, of one form or another that dramatically influence the available food sources, the temperature of the water and the general comfort zone of the trout. A lot has been written about structure, the effects of wind, thermoclines and other water layers so I wont get bogged down reinventing the wheel. Suffice to say that the type of structure you look for will depend on the time of year and the trouts available food sources. For example windblown grassy banks may be a good starting point during the hopper season but yabby beds may be a better option at other times of the year. Be aware that there are two forms of structure. The first and most obvious is fixed structure such as such as weed beds, rocky undulations, drop offs, drowned timber, mud beds where yabbies live, pockets of detritus matter where some nymphs live, sandy shore lines where some caddis live and of course the nature of the bank itself and adjacent vegetation.

The second form of structure is equally important and is the wind and the effects of the wind. Give the wind a lot of thought because to a large extent it will determine how many, and where, terrestrials such as hoppers and beetles fall on the water and concentrate. It will also create wind lanes and currents on and in the water that influence the water temperature and move around drowned terrestrials and other trout food sources. Wind lanes are an extreme example of influence of wind. They are an extremely variable variable form of structure and occur when the wind is split by some structure only to reform a some later point or where wind from slightly different directions converge. they can prevail for extended periods of time or may appear out of the blue and then disappear just as quickly. When they prevail they they concentrated food into the area of convergence. At the same time the convergence also interferes with the prevailing surface effect of the prevailing wind on the surface of the water and creates flat spots and hopefully flat lanes of water that hold more food than the surrounding water that are easy for the fly fisher to see. The best wind lanes to fish are those that are long and thin and the best practice is to drift down either side of the wind lane and fish along the edge where it joins the main body of water. It should also be mentioned that the converging wind effect is not only on the surface of the water and often extends for several meters below the surface Fish are cognizant of the fact that converging wind increases the food supply in that area and generally travel up a wind lane toward the prevailing wind eating what they can either of the surface or in the wedge of water below the wind lane.

Cloud coverage is also an interesting form of variable structure. Clear bright days are best for sight fishing but although it's very pleasant for the fly fisher around the water on those sorts of days the shadows that you and your gear cast will be problems and in any case trout may be keeping out of the sun. Constant cloud cover creates the best of conditions for blind fishing or prospecting and as long as you don't mind getting wet then a light rain is good as well. In these conditions shadows are not a problem and when combined with a light breeze and the right structure it's likely that fish will be freely moving about feeding and they won't even see you unless you make yourself obvious.

I don't worry too much about the barometric pressure except to the extent of avoiding fishing when the barometric pressure is changing quickly. I think quick changes in barometric pressure put fish down and off their tucker. Generally the higher and more stable the barometric pressure the better. You don't often get ideal barometric pressure conditions and I regard any barometric pressure that is above average and reasonably stable as acceptable.

Whilst its most comfortable to have the wind at your back, in most cases, your prospects will increase if your fishing into a wind that's bringing food and hopefully fish toward you. A good compromise is pick a position where the wind isn't quite into your face with the most comfortable compromise being a situation where the wind is coming toward your non casting shoulder. The wind will still be bringing food and fish onto shore but the wind will hold your cast away from you making casting distance and presentations easier.

As a general rule consider shallower areas for evening fishing and deeper areas in the morning. In either case choose a location which has a combination of structure and deep water close by for fish to either come from or retreat to.

Fish the margins out before moving into deeper water. Don't get to your spot and put a full fly line out. You may be casting over fish. Pick your location and start with short casts fanned out around you and then gradually increase the length of your casts and the perimeter of the fan. Always cast to your left and right fist. Think about what you expect the fish to be doing.

Finally if there are water birds about be aware of what there doing as well. By in large water birds feed either on the same sort of things as fish or on fish themselves. So it's a fair bet that if there is a lot of bird activity that the fish wont be far away. The down side of this is of course that water birds are easily startled and if scared into a noisy retreat from an area can easily spook fish. As you approach an area you intend to fish make enough noise so that the birds know your there and gradually move out of your way. Having said that don't stomp through the bush or grass thinking that's sufficient to move the birds on in an efficient way. It may be effective and there wont be a bird within cooee but the noise you make on the ground will have vibrated all the way to the fish and alerted them that something is on.

CHOICE OF LINES.

Part of the location deal is getting your fly or flies into the zone where the fish are. If there are enough fish around actively rising the first choice of lines in most cases would be a floating line. Unfortunately for every time I have been fishing when there has been actively feeding fish on the surface in reasonable numbers I reckon I've been fishing several dozen times when there hasn't been any or enough activity to justify using a floating line by itself. If you do you limit yourself to fishing the surface layers of water only and in all probability the fish will will be deeper than your flies. You may raise a couple of fish but generally your catch rate will increase if your fishing closer to where the fish are. The fish are often quite deep and you may need a sinking line to get down to them. From time to time I still fish a full sinking line, particularly if I'm pumping boobies but sinking line fishing does have its limitations. If there is drowned vegetation the chance of getting snagged is increased and often you have to retrieve quite fast to cover intermediate depths. A really good compromise is to fish a sink tip on the end of a floating line and if that's not available a straight intermediate line. I like the sink tip floating line combination rather than a straight intermediate sink for a number of reasons. First, the combination allows you to fish your fly or flies at a range of depths by choosing the type and length of sink tip being used. Also for most of your retrieve you can fish the same depth staying in the zone longer and avoiding drowned vegetation. Also when your ready to pick up and recast its easy to pick up and recast a floating line with say a six to nine feet of intermediate sink tip rather than a full intermediate line. One final advantage of fishing the floating line with a sink tip is that in most weather conditions you can get away without use of a stripping basket. If you try that with a full intermediate line in all but the stillest conditions you'll soon find your line tangled around your feet or in drowned vegetation. I have made up my own sink tips from sections of an intermediate line I ran over with the outboard one day and from short sections of Rio T14 shooting head material. My fly line and the sink tips are all finished with braided nylon loops and its easy to swap them over from time to time to vary fishing depths. As an alternative you can try one of the newer multi tip lines or you could even buy a floating line with an integrated intermediate tip such as the Rio Lake Line. The only problem I see with these last two options is that the sink tips are of predetermined lengths and the flexibility of carrying a range of tips in different materials and lengths is diminished.

MIX AND MATCH.

The next step in the equation is to find a fly or flies that the fish will put into their mouth for one or more reasons. I say "put in their mouth for one or more reasons" because I don't believe that everything that a fish puts into its mouth it intends to eat. Obviously fish don't have hands and I belong to the school of thought that maintains that fish put some flies in their mouth for other reasons than eating them. I reckon that more often than not they see a fly and just wonder what is, is it edible or should they have a whack at it just in case its a threat ? So they put it in their mouth and "mouth it", make an assessment and either swallow it or spit it out.

I like to cover as many option as I can when searching out fish and increase my chances by fishing a team of two flies (or three where legal) in all but the worst weather. Be aware of what trout have on their menu at that time of year. If for examples it includes nymphs, yabbies, midges, hoppers and creation carp consider fishing a streamer such as a woolly bugger, Mrs Simpson or larger nymph on the point fly and say a midge, smaller nymph or English style wet on the dropper. In any case mix and match your fly selection up so as to give the trout some choices.

POSSIBLE POINT FLIES	POSSIBLE TOP DROPPER FLY OPTIONS
#10 WOOLLY BUGGER	#12 EPOXY MIDGE
#10 YETI	# 12 PHEASANT TAIL NYMPH
#10 BROWN NYMPH	#12 ENGLISH WET DRESSED IN "ADAMS" COLOUR

BE THERE WHEN THE GAME IS ON.

It's no good turning up at the show ground to watch a footy game just after the final whistle has blown. The same applies to fishing. If you really want to improve your catch rates fish at the prime times which are without a doubt the hour before and after both sunset and sunrise.

Last modified: 11-Jun-2008.