# (NSW) epic fail at trout opening - recovery at the coast



## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

Age doesn't save you from emotion.

The getaway from work on Friday night for a long awaited long weekend was perfect when my 2IC told me to leave an hour early and get a head start on the 5 hour drive to where we were going to camp for the next three nights and cast flies at trout for the opening of the rivers for the trout season. So far so good. The drive was uneventful although there were a few other drivers whose self esteem led them to believe that their high beam didn't need to be lowered for other mere mortals. 
Our destination was a very isolated spot and we have not driven this road in darkness before so there was some anxiety on behalf of the co-driver but the old patrol was never challenged. The limited slip diff made it possible to get through in 2 wheel drive but owing to the rain that had been falling all day I used 4 wheel drive on the steeper sections to protect the road from damage by any wheel spin. Setting camp in the dark was another unknown with our current equipment but the addition of a set of workshop LED flood lights made the whole process quite simple.

While I was working on the roof top camper the child bride went for a wander in the moonlight, albeit muted by the storm clouds that were still overhead, and when she returned there was a problem that was totally unforeseen. The river was flooding and the water level was still rising. We both walked back to the water and watched as a rock TCB had placed by the water's edge slowly disappeared. It was too late to pack up again and drive home, tiredness would have made that a dangerous option but I assessed the situation and reasoned that if the flood reached the truck we would be safe as the water would have been spreading over a very wide area. We tried to get some sleep but the rain and wind came back for a second round making for an uncertain and uncomfortable night. About 4am the rain stopped and in the silence we got some sleep, only to find out that the silence was not so much the absence of rain as the presence of snow...










By this time I was concerned about the safety of staying as the wind and rain/snow was not only threatening to increase the flooding but we were also a long way from the road. When that was coupled with the river not being suitable for fishing in its present condition it was a no brainer to accept the situation and head out. That decision made we spread a tarp over the dry cargo and just shoved all the wet things in the back and ended up back home about 22 hours after we left.










I was not a happy camper. This was a weekend that we had both been looking forward to for months and although we can try again later there is only one opening weekend and it was gone... Like I said before, age doesn't save you from feeling gutted or defeated, but maturity can bring a resilience that allows tomorrow to be a better day.

It wasn't "tomorrow" but Monday dawned clear and still, a stunning day on the south coast. We have so many options here that there are a lot of places that we really don't know how to fish for the best results. We chose to head to Wallaga Lake as this is one of those places that is almost always wind affected and if the wind came up too strong there are other options nearby. When we arrived there was some wind blowing across the lake and TCB chose to stay with the truck and read but I rigged the AI in its adventure format and headed out onto the water with two finesse bream rods, some plastics, some hard bodies and a small number of cooked prawns.
The lake was noticeably light on for boats and missing the normal fishermen lining the bridge and foreshore so the signs weren't good. I tried everything I could, I dropped one rod with a baited jig hook and then set about casting plastics but all to no avail. I couldn't even loose a bait. After some time I pulled up the anchor and began a slow drift trolling both rods, still set up with one bait and one plastic and as I passed under the bridge I finally caught something - pity it was only a pylon... I lost the leader and some line and after re-rigging I put baits out both sides and began to pedal over the weed beds and around towards the front of the lake.


















This tactic finally paid off and when one of the rods went off I had a brief tussle with a mid 40's flathead and was starting to feel that things were looking up. The flathead was in the yak - good - and all I had to do to secure dinner was to get it into the keeper net. The flathead wriggles a bit but I had a good hold - still good - but somehow it slipped from my hand and even though I managed to get it between my arm and my chest it "swam" up through that hold, over my shoulder and made a perfect rip entry into the water...

After that effort I turned back and headed for home, still trolling the two baits. I was still in the main channel not far from the truck when one of the rods buckled over in a quite spectacular fashion and I wasted no time in getting it out of the rod holder as it was in serious danger of high sticking and after everything else I really didn't want to break a favourite carbon rod. After the initial hit, the fish came in quite easily with just a few shakes but no real fight. I was reaching for the net as I didn't want a repeat of the previous mishap and as I did I finally saw a silver flash as a very nice tailor took one look at me and the yak and decided that it was time to head for the far side of the lake. From that moment it became a game of give a little, take a little and with the teeth they have I was not expecting a good outcome. Fortunately for me it had not swallowed the hook so it was not biting on the leader and after a few minutes I was finally able to bring it into the landing net. The child bride does love tailor so this one was not going anywhere but home with me where it was filleted and skinned, dipped first in egg and then crumbed and cooked on the BBQ with some Spanish onion and served with fresh avocado and tomato.










It's back to work tomorrow, visit some sick relatives next weekend, but the weekend after - what's the weather forecast for the hills and that isolated little river? I wonder

Cheers

John


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Wonderful story John ..... with you all the way, in disappointment and triumph.

trev


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

kayakone said:


> Wonderful story John ..... with you all the way, in disappointment and triumph.
> 
> trev


Hey Trev, still hating the fact that the fly rods haven't come out of the bag 



BigGee said:


> One weekend I'm glad I wasn't at the Mountain Lakes by the looks John. I was enjoying the new Von Gee Forward Operating Base at Durras (and will continue to this week). Was windy on Saturday but delightful otherwise as you experienced in Wallaga Lake.
> 
> Was it you telling me how to use a keeper net? :twisted: ;-)
> 
> ...


Gee, if I knew you were down I would have tried to line up a snapper session - still dreaming that they will turn up...

cheers guys

John


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

I actually thought of you on Friday night thought surely you would have backed out.

It's scary on the high plains in that kind of weather (never seen that river flood though, did you get pics?)


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

koich said:


> I actually thought of you on Friday night thought surely you would have backed out.
> 
> It's scary on the high plains in that kind of weather (never seen that river flood though, did you get pics?)


yeah koich, both pics and some video but its not that watchable... the water wasn't that far below the bridge and the last we saw it was still running high and fast. The plan is to go back on saturday week and try again - weather permitting

cheers

John


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## robsea (Apr 7, 2010)

What an adventurous weekend! All ended well with fish in the pan. Great story and pix.

cheers
rob


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

Great story John.

I remember one occasion when my ex and I decided to try out my new snow tent in the blue mountains. We walked about 5km down a trail to a beautiful creek. We set up camp on a beach fell asleep to the pitter of rain. Waking during the night, the rain was much heavier. I got concerned so each time I woke up I peared out the back of the tent to check the water level. Each time I checked, the water had hardly risen at all and was still many metres below the tent. That was until the last check at about 3am. The creek was at the tent peg. Holy crap! We broke the wettest of camps, stuffed all the soggy stuff into the packed and trudged out in the pooring rain at 3.30am. I'm glad I woke up though. I never camp on floodplains anymore.

Great effort on Wallaga. It's another local waterway I'm yet to fish. The locals swear by poddie mullet at night off the bridge for big flatties. One day ...


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