October in OZ
- This topic has 29 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated Nov 10, 2008 at 9:18 pm by
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Well you guys do such a great job of letting us all know what is happening on your rivers and having sampled your hospitality and tempted some of your trout this summer gone, I though I would give you all an idea of what spring fishing here in Oz can be like.
I mostly fish the streams of South East of New South Wales.
The water varies from little bush streams
to the ‘high country’ rivers & streams of out Snowy mountains…….these are mere hills by your standards though.
Some country is open and easily accessed
Others are very hard to access due to the density of our Aussie bush , particularly in the coastal ranges.The resident fish are predominantly Browns
and in some of the better streams they can reach a good size
The streams where these fish survive the continual threat of drought usually have deep spring fed holes which can sustain the resident population through these periods of drought.
This is the once famous Kydra river , which in its hey day supported plenty of very large browns. however, the drought in this area has lasted for 5 or so years and each summer the stream has stopped flowing and any fish that survive are hard to find.
Roos are NOT hard to find
and most times there is water enough to find a few fish and have a great day out.
Belly, some of us are hard at work and don’t need reminding of what we’re missing !!
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
No Grizz or Mountain Lions here……Phew.. ;D
Nothing will actually eat you in the South East of the Country , although in the Upper Murrumbidgee of the Snowy mountains area Wild dogs are becoming a problem.
These are Dingo /Domestic dog crosses that hunt in packs killing wallabys, sheep and calves and can get as big as a Rotweiler or German shepherd…..Not good !!
When in the Bush here it is important to remember that 9 out of 10 of the worlds most deadly snakes call Australia home……..
The Murrumbidgee River
Snowflake Caddis on the Thredbo River
Great post. Out of curiosity, how do you deal with the snakes? I assume many of them are attracted to the water? Do you wear snake gaiters, or is the density of them low enough that you rarely see any?
I will typically see 1-2 cottonmouths a year, usually while fishing in summer for warmwater species. In Arkansas, the cottonmouths infested the trout streams, too, so you had to be careful. A cottonmouth is the Southern United States’ most aggressive poisonous water snake. Unfortunately, they have a close mimic in the Eastern water snake, and few (including myself) can tell them apart at a distance/glance.
Cottonmouth (aka the Water Moccasin):
(So named for obvious reasons. This is the standard defensive posture, and this snake is ready to strike from that position).
Eastern Water Snake:
We also have rattlesnakes in the timber areas, but I have never encountered one. They are all hibernating by deer season.
Zach
Zach, actually cottonmouths in GA don’t occur north of the fall line, although with climate change they’re probably creeping northwards.
Zach, a lot of people here wear waders more for snakes then staying dry.
The real dangerous ones here have short fangs that have channels for venom as opposed to needle like fangs and they can’t poison you through neoprene or tight thick fabrics.
(so the theory goes anyway ;))When wet wading I wear long thick socks and long pants in the hope that if a tiger bites me on the ankle (most common spot) I will live to brag about it online.
The other thing I have is a long bandage for wrapping a limb in the event of a bite to stop the venom circulating.
While most of us aren’t scared of snakes, I don’t know many Australian fisherman that don’t at least have a respect for the danger.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Great pics Andrew, you’ve been practising mate!!! Isn’t it great when the seasons reverse and its our turn. I’m heading off for a week of barramundi fishing tomorrow and I’m thinking about the stories the Idaho guys told me about snowdrifts 20 feet deep. Ha!!!
I reckon snakes strike at movement.
I’m just back from a trip to Tasmania, the island state to the south of mainland Australia. This place is famous for its high country lake fishing. Mosy of these lakes are shallow tarns and in spring the fish feed right in close to the edges,in water so shallow that they are often found tailing like bonefish. They are mostly browns but there’s also some great rainbow fishing in some lakes. Plenty of snakes there too, especially tiger snakes one of the nastiest. There’s a great river flowing through the highlands called the Pine river which has such a huge population of snakes living in dense tussocks along the river banks that no one fishes it.
There’s some big hatches of mayflies on the lowlands in spring on the rivers and also in summer in the highlands on the lakes.
Fishing the margins.
Fat triploid rainbow.
And a fit spring brownie.
Guide Chris Bassano and his “hatch hat”.
Casting to tailers in the dawn light.
Some good rivers i Tasmania – this is the Meander.
Tailing fish working the edge.
Tassy brownie.
Casting to a tailing brownie.
Cheers and beers.
Andrew and Morsie those are some great shots and posts! It is nice having you boys on the other side of the world to help all of us over here get through our winter blues.
Andrew I would take a Griz or a Mountain Lion over a poisonous snake ANY day of the week!
Joel
Hi Morsie, very nice…….. as usual.
Don’t get too sunburnt up north and watch out for the King Brown snakes 😉Joel , I can’t tell you how Paranoid about fishing on my own I was over your way in July.Early on in my trip I spent a day right up the top of the St Joe, with forest around my ears and no one in sight all day and I was wishing that snakes were the only ‘critters’ out there Ha Ha. I didn’t have a Bell , or spray , but anyone who has heard me sing would probably say that after a few verses there wouldn’t be any critters sane enough to stay anywhere close ;D
When I hit the more popular waters of Montana though, the realisation that I was unlikely to get any water completely to myself calmed me somewhat.
These are Red Bellied Black Snakes… When mating , they can be quite aggresive, but most times they are pretty docile. On a few occasions I have had one slide over my boot when stalking a pool… a bit startling but they are usually earger to get away as quickly as possible.
As Morsie said , Tiger Snakes are NOT docile, and most folks who get bitten have usually upset them in some way.
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