Summer is officially here in a big way, with air temperatures often in the 30’s and water temperatures creeping up to over 20C in the afternoons.
The most active fish are around in the mornings as the cooler water provides good oxygen, with trout becoming inactive later in the day and retreating to deeper water.
There are good numbers of large terrestrials around, with cicadas, crickets and blowflies being the main food sources. There has also been some exciting adult damsel fly fishing, with our flies being taken explosively the instant they hit the water.
Southern Wild has good quality imitations of all these terrestrial flies in stock. With cicadas, make sure you have a couple of different sizes and colours, with light green for newly hatched ones and darker shades for ones that have been out of the ground for some time. With the adult damsels, we have most success with the red ones.
Our backcountry rivers are in good condition, having been stable for a couple of weeks now after the last flood.
Remember to consider other river users, and if someone got there before you, have a talk to them and see if you can work something out, and if not, go somewhere else.
