In January, the Durban Fly Tyers asked me to write an article for their monthly newsletter, The Bobbin. Having only recently started getting into the Australian fly fishing scene, I decided to write about my first taste of Aussie fly fishing.
Sunset over Lake Munmorah After a long and painful journey back from the USA, including a lost bag and a delayed flight, I was happy to climb into the ute and head north for Budgewoi. We'd booked a deluxe cabin on the banks of Lake Munmorah at the Budgewoi Holiday Park, and were ready for a long weekend of fishing, swimming pools, and beach. The cabin was by far the best we've stayed in. Firstly, it was either newer, or at the very least, recently renovated. It also had incredible, uninterrupted, views of the Lake Munmorah, whereas most of the other cabins we've stayed in have had limited to no views, and are usually surrounded by multiple other cabins. Inside the cabin was pretty standard; there were two bedrooms, one…
On a lazy Friday morning, I decided to take advantage of the fact that granny was staying with us, and took her and the girls down to Manly Dam, to show her one of my local fishing holes. It was the first time I'd tried to load my Hobie Outback onto the roof of my ute by myself. And amazingly, it was easier than doing it with my sister, although it did take me fractionally longer, as I had to lift each side onto the roof on it's own. This amazing feat was achieved using the Rack and Roll roof rack bar, which I purchased from the Life Aquatic. When we got to the dam I setup a small picnic area for granny and the girls, and then got about…
After months of deliberation around which fishing platform would be best suited to my use cases, having considered multiple options from boats to float tubes and paddle kayaks, I bit the bullet and purchased a 2019 Hobie Outback. Surprisingly, even after I'd narrowed my choices down to the pedal kayaks, the decision was still far from obvious. What drive system did I want? Should it be fin based or a prop drive? Was size and ease of transport important? Or was stability more critical, being a fly fisherman? These are however questions better suited to a future post, once I've had a few more sessions on the kayak. With a shiny, new Hobie sitting in the garage, I absolutely had to get it onto the water as soon as possible.…
I snuck out of the house late on Saturday afternoon, fly rod in hand, ready to explore some nearby waters. Despite having lived in Sydney for close on 2 years, I had only fished the harbour twice, and was eager to find some good fishing spots close to home. When I arrived at the Willoughby Creek Bay, it was just starting to rain. There was a strong westerly blowing, it was close to low tide, and the water was murkier than usual. But none of that was going to put me off. I stood on the bank for a while, trying to work out my game-plan, before climbing down the steep wall into the water. The bottom was covered in oysters and, despite wearing rubber booties, it was still sore…
My family and I recently headed out to Oberon in NSW, in the hope of finding some trout waters closer to home. While Lake Jindabyne and the Thredbo River were incredible venues, driving 7 hours to fish for trout is just too tall an ask for me to do frequently. So with that in mind, we left home after work on Friday, and started the 180km drive through the Blue Mountains, to Oberon. I was not initially impressed with our accomodation, the Jenolan Holiday Park, predominantly since it was located in the middle of town, under the clouds of steam billowing from the timber mill's stacks. That said, the cabins were comfortable, consisting of 2 bedrooms, a bathroom with a shower, and a small living area including an open plan…
A Deluxe Cabin at Discovery Parks, Gerroa The family and I recently headed down to Kiama, predominantly to show the kids the famous blowholes. We ended up staying at Discovery Parks, Gerroa, which is a lovely, lesser known park. It had been recently renovated, and the Deluxe Cabins were absolutely amazing. The park also boasts a great little playground, mini golf, and a swimming pool, so it's well worth a stay. In terms of fishing, I only managed to sneak out once with the fly rod. The Crooked River looked like a prime spot for flathead, so I headed out with a lot of confidence. There was a deep channel on the far side of the river, as well as 50 or so meters of "shallows", which were completely exposed…
While camping at Emerald Beach, the lure of the many beautiful beaches surrounding us was far too great, and saw us heading north to explore Woolgoolga Beach. This proved to be a good decision as we drove onto the sand at the incredibly picturesque Flat Top Point. From there we headed south, looking for a good spot to setup camp for the afternoon. On route we passed multiple promising looking holes in the surf, all sure to hold fish, before coming to a stop at Dammerels Head. We selected the rocky point for both it's aesthetics as well as the promise of species other than dart, which we were beginning to tire of. Aerial photo of Dammerels Head While our kids chased (and amazingly caught) crabs, we kitted up our…
During a recent trip to Emerald Beach we decided to have some fun, and put the 4x4s to use, by doing a little sand driving on Darlington Beach. After spending a confusing 30 minutes trying to find the very well hidden road onto the beach, we drove out onto the sand and headed south. The sand was solid underfoot (tyre), thanks to the many days of rain, and made for easy driving. Having explored the small region zoned for beach driving, we found a secluded spot and settled in for the afternoon. The girls got straight to business, building sand castles and collecting shells and rocks, while Nick and I kitted up our fly fishing rods and headed down to the surf. An aerial shot of Darlington Beach The water…
A rainbow over Emerald Beach The family and I recently headed north (for 7 hours) to Emerald Beach, to spend a week camping with the Nortjes. The Baha Reunion had been long anticipated, but got off to a rocky start when the salt water flies I'd ordered online never arrived. This meant that the trip started with a quick visit to Coffs Harbour where we thankfully found the most incredible fishing shop, MOTackle and Outdoors, which was also home to perhaps the best camping shop I've ever seen. If you're even in Coffs Harbour it's definitely worth a visit. With my fly box replenished we headed back to Emerald Beach and kitted up for our first session. We opted to head south and to fish off the rocky point into…
