Tooliorook 2012
Well, the club fishing trip to Tooliorook, Lismore was a great success. The poor weather held off long enough for us to get a great days fishing in. There was only a small dose of showers in the afternoon and a little breezy at lunch time. No worse for wear. Meanwhile, foul rainy in Melbourne for club members who stayed at home.
So in attendance, Wozza, Anne, Ted, Chris, Royce, Big Steve, Harold, Charlie, Fly fish Steve,.plus, anyone else I forgot to mention.
I guess most of us rocked up at the same time around 8.00 in the morning. We took a while launching our boat and motored off to the right bank and fished close in with the bank fly fishers.
Close enough to chat and watch all of them hook in to fish, land them and lose them. Chris managed three fish, I say managed; he handled them pretty bloody well. I did not and lost a real trooper who marched promptly out to deeper waters with me having no hope of turning him. He wasn't a fingerling by any stretch of the imagination. Best flies were the Shrek, fly number one for the tying competition so fellas, tie some more of these up. See web page for instructions or purchase kits from the club.
The wind blew up for lunch but we secured a sheltered pocket by the cleaning table and some of us put on a cooked three course meal. By this stage, lunch was the only highlight of my day. Lunch was a good chance to chat and catch up on our experiences. Royce appeared at lunchtime, I guess the great Melbourne weather encouraged him to head west.
The afternoon session was a little better for me, losing yet another but bagging a nice conditioned bow in the late afternoon. We managed to circumnavigate the lake and tried several spots, always looking out for the smelters. One nice fish rose in front of us, but that's about it.
The boat ramp area had a camping area so this would be great for members who have a van. Be mindful, in the right or wrong conditions, the midge are in abundance, millions and about the size of helicopters. I would not recommend a tent. Today, there was no midge, great for camping, but pretty cold. There is a toilet block and showers on site. Not sure if there is power in the amenities. Don't camp too close to the bins or downwind from them. Tooliorook is one hour and 50 minutes from Sunshine via Geelong. Don't bother going via Ballarat.
Next competition, well that’s not up to me. I have already put my suggestions in to the club and Tooliorook was one of them. Glad you are listening. In June, there is the Ashes competition. Its South Australia vs Victoria. Its a great weekend with dinner at the LakeFyans caravan park. The fee for the comp is $55. Not cheap, but a good chance to fish in a boat with an experienced angler and learn and improve your techniques. Cheap tuition in my opinion. Just fish with one fly, watch and listen and ask lots of questions. Details are on the Fly fish Australia web page. Saturday to Sunday, 23rd and 24th of June. LakeFyans. Entries close, 6th of June.
Steve Varga,