fishing

This newspaper article highlights some facts about the Tasmanian Tiger from circa 1920's




These are magnificent times and then its like a lion that tastes blood he has to have more. Well I was like a hungry lion casting to this trout then to another, sometimes it was easy, other times it was hard, but best of all it was fun.
You know I love it when you have that momentary fill of fishing and that fishing urge is quenched. At these times I’ll sit down on the river bank take out a sandwich and just look at everything around you. As you chew you see the sights of nature, things like the trout and insects, the swaying grass along the river, the shifting tree branches and their colourful leaves the floating clouds and the patterns they form. It’s just another world I love to see as much as I can.
Don’t you also love how a rising trout breaks you free from those sights and beckons you to fish again driving you forward to cast your fly again. I guess its just the feeling of success and that power of a wild creature on the end of your line that keeps you going .
At this time I decided to walk to another favourite section where the riverbank was lined with high standing reeds. Hard to cast over, but sensational to use as cover. In this first pool I sneaked up to the reeds and peeked though to see a trout of oversized dimensions for this river. This big trout was working a beat and when reaching the bottom section of the pool he would work his way upstream rising to spent spinners that were floating down a thin current through the middle of the pool. Once at the top of the pool and exhausting all the spinners he would casually swim down to the bottom of the pool as more spent spinners would drift in again and repeat the process. So firstly I’d need the right imitation fly and I knew exactly what I needed. A Rumph Spinner tied and developed by John Rumph. This fly is the most detailed and highest representation of a natural insect that there is. Two tails and six individual legs that is very hard to tie. If you tie your our flies give this one a go, it will test you.
So I tied it to the leader and watch the cruising trout again and waited till it was making his way down the pool. I had to time this perfect and with just two backcasts I landed the fly at the top of the pool and threw in a wide mend and watch as the fly float in line with the natural insects looking no different. The trout with golden brown spotted flanks started rising, I roughy counted about six naturals until my fly would be reached, then one by one they were engulfed, then there was mine, it seemed like there was hesitation, then this trout stopped and floated downstream just under the fly, my heart sunk, it seemed like it discovered the deception, but then in an instant he quickly came up and as if in slow motion and took the fly. I waited until it had turned down and raised my rod and felt the solid connection to a four pound ripper. After a spirited fight I landed and released this Tasmanian wild trout. What a day is was, one to remember and I still had more hours to fish, but no sooner do you think its going to be good, life and nature takes it away in an instant. I felt it on my face, the wind, light at first, but then stronger, strong enough to blow the spinners away from the water surface and like someone had flick a light switch the trout had stopped rising.


The Rumph Spent Spinner developed by John Rumph


Anthony Bratt watches a rising trout with the Ben Lomond range in the background Canon 300D 1/60s F-22




At times like these I sometimes like to explore and see new sections of a river to see if there are any prospective areas to fish in the future. So walking upstream into a stiff wind I heard the sound of sheep which isn’t unusual but there seemed to be distress in the sound and eventually I came across two sheep stuck in the riverbank mud almost up to their chest. Now there is one thing I always do for the farmers that avail me access through their property. I look after their property and all that they own, so I began to pull these sheep out of the mud. How this happen to the sheep I’m at a lose, but no further then a another hundred yards I came across more sheep stuck in the mud this time four sheep, hunch down and lifeless.
These sheep were dead, I stood back trying to work out how they had died. Upon closer inspection I couldn’t believe what I saw, the breast bone had been ripped open and looking inside the thoracic cavity I could see that the heart was gone with just remnants of the pericardium.
No other part of the body had been touched with very little blood observed. Instantly I remembered the old article I read in the Mercury times from the old newspaper reports, and how the Tasmanian Tigers would do exactly this to sheep and other animals they preyed on. Looking up at the Ben Lomond range I wondered and said to myself are the Tasmanian tigers still around, did they do this to the sheep.
Grabbing my rod I decided to walk back to the car in the late afternoon sun, looking at the heavy bush that fringed the Ben Lomond Range and conjured up mental visions of Tasmanian tigers roaming the area, and who knows maybe they Do roam the area at night and early morning. Who looks for them when we fly-fish, I don’t, do you, maybe we should look more and you never know what might happen. The sighting of Tasmanian Tigers are reported on a regular bases and I firmly believe they still exist. In this instance the evidence points to a Tasmanian Tiger kill which is enough for me to realise that the Thylacine is still out there.


In the Break-o-day there're some big trout.