YABBY FEEDERS

YABBY FEEDERS
Large populations of dark olive Yabbies of the Cherax Genus have developed in both Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene. Many anglers suggest that the Yabby has been responsible for changing the feeding habits of trout in the lakes as the populations of Yabbies have increased. In fact in both Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene you seldom catch a trout with a full stomach when the contents doesn't include yabbies.

This winter Lake Jindabyne brown was a prime example of a fish feeding mostly on yabbies.
I was able to count 12 mostly juveniles of around 5 cm in length - just about as long as the woolly bugger the trout fell for.

Yabbies live around the margins of the lake with the preferred habitat being muddy banks and shallows. They live in holes that they borrow into the soft bank and bottom and move from hole to hole as the water levels change. They move out of their holes to relocate, to forage for food and to find mates. All of these activities make them vulnerable to trout. Juvenile Yabbies are available from February and trout targets yabbies of all sizes.

There are a lot of yabbies moving about Lake Jindabyne at the moment because of the rapidly falling water levels. Up until just a few months ago Lake Jindabyne was at almost 90% capacity the highest its been for some 16 years. Over a period of only three or four months the water levels have been dropped dramatically down to below normal winter levels and the dam is now at only around 40% capacity. This rapid and continuing decline in water levels has really got the yabbies constantly relocating and that in turn has really put yabbies onto the trouts menu. If you watch a yabby moving about it will present as shades of olive sometimes with blue highlights or almost black and a range of flies fished in those sorts of colours can be used to represent yabbies. More important than the actual selection of the fly is the form and function of the fly in combination with the retrieve. I find slow retrieves with the occasional pause and occasional faster strip serves me well but its worth experimenting.

Whilst yabbies are sometimes active during daylight hours it is the dusk to dawn that they prefer. So if your going to target "yabby feeders" my suggestion is that whilst you can fish at any time the most productive time is from the hour before dusk and as far into the dark as you are comfortable. As the light of the day fades, on Lake Jindabyne, more often than not you will find that if there is going to be any fish activity that's when it will occur. Sometimes you can see the fish but more often than not you just have to pick your location carefully and trust that the yabbies and hence the trout are there. Sure during the day trout will have made sorties in the same areas picking up the occasional yabby, nymph or snail and coming into our polaroiding or prospecting range, but on those occasions they have been conscious of their vulnerability and have stayed on guard ready to retreated to deeper water if anything aroused their suspicion. The other time that particularly rainbows feed around the shoreline is when the wind comes up. My guess is that the wind and the rougher water stir up food and at the same time the rougher water provides some visual protection. In the darker hours and when the wind is up my experience is that trout certainly drop their guard and even move into a relaxed feeding routine moving in and foraging in areas well within casting distance.

In any case even if you don't catch a fish, any fishing trip has to be more relaxing and much more fun than watching the Olympics, the football or even a re-run of Pride and Prejudice.

I use a 6 weight outfit but most outfits from 6 to say 8 weight can be used in this type of fishing. Anything less than a #6 weight outfit is problematic at best. You can certainly play a fish once hooked on a lighter outfit but it may be difficult to cast the heavier and larger flies required particularly in a wind. Think about what the fish are seeing when you present your fly and set your terminal gear up accordingly. I prefer an intermediate line for most of my "yabby feeder" fishing. I run a 1 meter tapered leader nail noted to the fly line and terminating in a loop and then run 2 meters of 7 or 8 lb Rio Fluorocarbon Plus as my tippet. If I am fishing one fly that will probably be a size #8 or #10 bead head woolly bugger or size #10 or #14 flash back nymph but I often fish two flies together with the heavier or more wind resistant fly on the point tip and the second smaller or lighter fly on a dropper half way up the tippet. I always attach my wet flies using a loop knot. If I were fishing a floating line I would fish a weighted or bead head woolly bugger on the tip and if I were fishing a sinking line I would fish a floating yabby or booby on the tip.

Once you are set up you can target fish in one of two ways.

If there is no visible activity prospecting or blind fishing is the go. Because I am going to be fishing into the dark or in stronger to very strong winds I like to pick the area I am going to fish fairly carefully. The first thing I make sure of is that there is plenty of yabby habitat. Obviously look for signs of yabbies, yabby holes, muddy banks and muddy bays and other structure like drowned timber and exposed rocks in muddy bays. The second thing I take into account is the prevailing wind. I will even compromise on location if that's what I have to do to have the wind coming at least partly across from my left. I am a right handed caster and I have found that particularly at night and in strong winds I get into much less strife if I position myself with the wind blowing the line and the fly/ flies away from me. I like to pick an area rather than a spot. If it's an open area along a bank or along a point in the lake proper I always start at the downwind end of the selected area. I do that because generally the fish will be feeding into the wind and whilst I will have the cover of darkness as the sun sets or the broken water surface due to the wind in my favour I still like to be as cautious as its possible because the fish can be right against the bank. If its an area at the end of inlet or bay I tend to work along the structure keeping in mind that the trout will gradually move into the bay or inlet as it gets darker and as food is disturbed with the wind and waves. In either case my suggestion is that you use a stripping bucket and move slowly along the bank covering the water in front of you as you go.

The alternative is to find individual fish and to fish to them. Whilst a lot is written about polaroiding or sight fishing to trout during the day I haven't seen a much written about sound and sight fishing to trout as the light fades. If you listen carefully at night you can sometimes hear fish feeding. It may be just a subtle sound of movement of the water, the sound of a rise or the noisy movement of a big fish as it forages in the shallows. Also its surprising how much you can see at night once your eyes acclimatize and your night vision comes in. Focus on the water surface and watch for even the slightest movement. I have seen bow waves of big fish illuminated only by star light. Fishing to these fish at night located either buy sight or sound is no less exhilarating than fishing to fish sighted with the aid of polaroid glasses during the day. In fact there is the added element of not being able to clearly see the surrounds. Is there a log or a rock that's going to interfere with your cast and is the fish actually where you last thought he was? On the plus side as I mentioned earlier trout are much more relaxed at night and once you have tuned into one and know where it was feeding chances are it will still be in the same area looking for more food - and hopefully your fly. On windy days it's much more difficult to see fish but with a little practice you will find that you can still polaroid fish through the waves and target them individually.

Unless there is a lot of surface activity I generally combine the two techniques and move along a likely bank or point fishing to structure and covering the water whilst watching and listening for tell tale signs of trout in the vicinity.

15/8/2004. Whilst prospecting along the southern bank of Taylors Bay with a beadhead nymph on the point and a black unweighted woolly bugger on a dropper of my intermediate line I scored this nice fish. I had seen a fish swirl amongst some recently exposed timber just as the sun set and as I worked toward the timber I saw a second movement. I placed a long cast into the area and let the fly settle. One strip a pause, a second strip the line tightened and it was on for young and old. Conscious of the surrounding timber I kept pressure on the fish hoping to avoid the timber. Unfortunately that didn't happen and the fish swam behind a log. I moved along the bank and released the line a little and the fish swam the right way for me the wrong way for him. A bit of side pressure and a little more dogged struggle on both our parts brought the fish to the bank. Definitely better than Pride and Prejudice.

Last modified: 11-Jun-2008.