Lake Leake Report 6/11/2011

Apart from yesterday afternoon (where the wind got a bit wild for a time), it was fantastic weather for camping.
Fly fishing “early morning” seems to be the best bet here at the moment, although President Jim was talking to a fellow camper who had a great day a fortnight ago on duns in the Big Timber area around midday, where he landed 7.

We only saw a couple of these “little sail boats” on the water for the whole time we were there, ants, caddis moth, smut and brown gum beetles the predominate terrestrials that we saw floating on the water in our fishing sessions and there wasn’t really enough of them to keep the fish looking up on a consistent basis.
When we did find a fish locked into a feeding pattern though, they readily took my Klinkhammer dry or the Orange bead head positioned 2 foot under it using 6.4 pound Rio fluorocarbon tippet.
President Jim was talking to well known (Fingal Valley football identity) Craig Woods, who did very well on the Saturday morning using the pattern pictured below.
He landed four very nice rainbow using this fly before having to head home, he even broke one off his fly line for Jim to copy which is testament to the generosity of the bloke.
This pattern is fished the same as the Orange bead head under a dry fly.
It looks orange in the picture but the colour is actually a “deep red” with a black head.
Soft plastics struggled for those having a go with them, but South Australian Peter Hubbard (camping beside us), landed a nice brown and a huge Perch (see pictures below) on Saturday evening, whilst anchored to some trees opposite the boat ramp (dam wall end).
He also lost a rainbow estimated at around 4.5 pounds at the net when his knot came undone on him...so perhaps it is a case of “right place, right time” in regards to their usage at the moment.
Brownies are still a little under- done condition wise, but they do seem to be improving and there are plenty of small rainbows to drive the fly fisher nuts  still around.
Some are so small and with myself “striking so hard” one flew out of the water and hit me in the chest...hmmm,...”must ease up a bit” on that methinks!.
That aside, there are also enough decent sized ones mixed amongst them to keep one on their toes!!
To finish this report and for no other reason than to be pedantic, I have included a close up picture of President Jim Mckenna’s soft plastic bag,...what an absolute disgrace!!! ( lol.)
That’s about it in a nutshell; we met some great people whilst camping and will return there again soon.
I’ve tried to be as specific as I can in the hope that perhaps it will help a few Presidents catch a couple when next fishing here.
It isn’t an easy water by any means, but it is rewarding should everything come together on the day !!.
How did everyone else go this northern Tasmanian long weekend?

Kind regards,
President Todd