5.45pm
: Twelve hours later and the hatch is
on again. I was walking through the shop thinking
that we should be getting some termites when I
saw a lone ant fly by the window. After mentioning
it to Geoff and not paying it much mind he returned
ten minutes later to tell me it was on in a major
way. A mad scramble ensued as camera and fishing
gear was thrown in the car and we headed for the
Goulburn.
When we arrived on
the river a few minutes from Thornton there were
millions of termites on the wing. The beautiful
afternoon sky was shrouded in them. |
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6.15pm
: Within five minutes of arriving Geoff
is straight into a fish. The new pattern he was
working on through the day had been conceived,
developed, tested and christened; all in a matter
of hours! The run above him was full of rising
fish as far as the eye could see. It was no different
down-river either.
Another group who
were fishing above us were struggling to connect
with these fish as they did not have the correct
pattern. You really need the right termite pattern
if you are going to fish our rivers in mid-late
spring. |
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| 7.30
pm:
The light is starting to go and the rise
intensifies. Fish are slurping the naturals with
a frenzied tempo and some better fish are now starting
to show. However they are hard to catch as the slow
flow of 130 Meg means
that the fish are not sitting on station but rather
roaming a very large area on the hunt. Most fish
work an area the size of a cricket pitch. Feeding
on the way upstream then quickly swimming back down
only to face back up river and start again. The
same fish will keep moving the whole time and sometimes
roam up to ten feet left or right. Exciting and
frustrating at the same time. |
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| 8.00
pm: A few more fish caught and released
is a great end to the session. Nothing big but all
sighted and fished for with a dry fly. The rise
goes on beyond the point at which an angler can
still make out the fly on the water. Retiring to
the car we all slap each other on the back and talk
about an amazing session that we will remember until
the day that we die. There are not enough of these
days in a lifetime. |
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 8.30
pm The day is over, the fish are still
rising out in the black of night and we are all
anticipating tomorrow's hatch. While it has been
a great day we all wonder what tomorrow will bring.
A rising river maybe? Then we can do raft trips
and fish backwaters and the river takes on a whole
new dimension. That is the beauty of living by
a big tailwater like the Goulburn. Such rich waters,
complex hatches and differing situations that
could keep you content for a lifetime.
Hope you enjoyed
sharing my day on the water.
Antony Boliancu |
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