Jon was our next introductory 3-day workshop ‘Tagger’ and besides getting some great fish at Currawong on day 1, he also took the first wild brown river fish of the season in the backwaters on the lowlands rivers.

This lovely brown is less than three years old and is one of the wild spawned browns in the creeks at Currawong Lakes.

Here Jon breaks the wild river fish duck for the season, a very fit brownie approx 2lbs, full of vim which took a slightly weighted Tasmania fur fly (red tag version) fished just below the surface.

Another top conditioned early season brown, lurking alongside the bank to Jon’s right.

This one picked up on a brass beadhead nymph. This section will dry up in the next few weeks, just shows that fishing the flooded backwaters can be quite productive.
This was still August, late Tassie winter!

In addition on day 3 we saw the first mayfly hatch out in a quite, sheltered back water. Trout didn’t take it, but further inspection revealed many well advanced nymphs so close to go.

Day 1 saw some good fish to hand on a #14 brass bead-head nymph. Although we release the vast majority of fish, this one of Ben’s supplied a nice entree that night.

Day 2 belonged to Peter, with the only single day trifecta of the season – one on the wet, one on the nymph and one on the dry.

This is Peter with his hands full on the dry fly take. Result was a beautiful wild brown trout around the 1.5lb mark, an excellent small stream fish.

Late September introductory workshop was not the best weather day, for these starters into fly fishing. But the day was successful for Lee with his first ever wild brown trout on the fly.

Gary ‘of the 2wt large wild brown fame’, had a day at Currawong (weather driven) then a second day on the Macquarie river.

Both turned out to be good fish days, if very different experiences. First up weather not so hot but the fishing was at Currawong Lakes. Gary releasing his first to hand for the day, a lovely wild brown.

Then a number of top condition rainbows among them. The conditions at Currawong were fantastic after those winter and early spring rains.

This photograph shows the edge growth and feeding grounds which have produced top mayfly nymphs and hatches.

Then on the Macquarie, top conditions for a mayfly hatch and a good fish on here.

This is it, a magnificent river wild brown … they don’t come in much better nick, or more wild, than this.

Robert and son Peter came down for a return and soon got amongst them. Peter’s patience and calm presentations were rewarded with this early morning sipper, above, taken on the emerger.

Next it is Robert’s turn to get onto a nice wild brown, again on the dry, while Peter helps out with the netting.

This was a very well deserved, and worked for, brown by Peter. Double hauling on the #4wt to get a dry almost across the broadwater, then skilfully guiding the resultant trout through the reeds. I think many a wily trout will fall to Peter’s presentations for years to come!

Next month will be the start of the mayfly hatches around our rivers and lower lakes.

If you want to have a go at bringing a sucessful fly you tied yourself, in my view the Dark Brown Emerger is one of the best.

Also a great all round fly for the majority of the season

Hook: any size #14 – suitable for straight backed nymph ties
Tail: a few dark brown cock hackle fibres
Body: Dark Brown Antron or similar body material
Ribbing: fine copper wire
Post: white calf-hair (or equivalent)
Hackle: parachute tie of ginger cock feather.

This is a durable and very visible ‘in the surface’ mayfly emerger pattern that can bring up polaroided patrolling fish, deceive bubble-line lurkers and attract mayfly risers.

Also check out Tassie’s Dangerous Dozen Flies. All irresistible to Tasmania’s famed wild brown trout.

For details of shows, venues and dates visit Fishing Tasmania.

The featured film is a 45-minute fly fishing travelogue, The Source — Tasmania demonstrating the State’s variety of wild trout waters. Highly recommend it.

The secret of Tasmanian tailers! One of our special wild trout activities is the trout’s extremely shallow water feeding and cruising display know locally as ‘tailing trout’.

Currawong Lakes is an excellent example of this. With an extended tour party from the US in mid-April we stayed there for a couple of nights.

On the second morning did the pre-dawn fish outing — very spectacular with 2-5lb rainbows and browns only feet from the edge fossicking after snails, nymphs and scud, etc in less than 6 inches of water depth showing back fins and tails. J

ust fantastic. Mak, the most experienced angler of the group, said he had never seen anything like it around the world and we believe this activity to be a Tasmania-only trout phenomenon.

We were so entranced by the fish we didn’t even take a rod with us, as an old Guinness ad said when pouring a glass of stout, ‘I like to watch!’