A good bream between storms.
At the beginning of this week, when the low pressure system south of WA reached category 2 cyclone strength and began marching across the Bight towards us, it looked as if the timing for the trip JD and I had planned might have been a bit off. We don’t mind bad weather, and know how to dress for it. However, a 987 hPa low pressure system arriving just off the Victorian coast on Tuesday – about the same time as we arrived to fish – had us devising plans B through to F. To back up this line of thinking, the BOM weather warnings ran for several lines, the gist being you wouldn’t want to be a sheep, and to stay away from boats, beaches and breakwaters.
In the event, we stuck with estuaries for Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning (the Fitzroy, Hopkins and Merri), before retreating to the relative shelter of Lake Bullen Merri’s crater on Wednesday afternoon.
Salt fights fresh on the Merri while the rain teems down.
On the estuaries, the Merri was open to the sea, although the tide was struggling to push up against the ever-increasing freshwater flow. Meanwhile, the ocean was trying its violent best to break into the Hopkins, although the berm at the mouth was so massive, the surf could only manage to send a few foaming runnels down the sand and into the river. It was a similar situation on the Fitzroy with flooded roads and carparks, although at very last light on Tuesday evening and just as we were leaving, a breakout trickle became a flood, and the river began racing for the sea like Ablett towards goal. We could literally watch paths, pontoons and picnic areas returning to dry land again.
A Hopkins opening seemed imminent.
Through it all, the fishing ranged from tough to excellent. Moving around made all the difference; sometimes even walking mere metres further down the bank changed everything. Regardless, the best fly seemed to be a chartreuse Merri Minnow, and as so often with bream, the mantra ‘only move the fly so you can stop it’ rang true.
One of several to the Merri Minnow.
Late yesterday morning, one drenching gust too many persuaded us to leave the estuaries, grab a fortifying coffee, and head inland to Bullen Merri. While hardly a haven of fine weather, this crater lake was an improvement: Warrnambool went on to clock 50mm of rain after we left, compared to the odd shower at Bullen Merri.
At first the fishing at the lake was quite slow despite the somewhat more ‘pleasant’ conditions. I had a possible hit, and saw a couple of smelters way too far out to be useful. Then around 3.30pm, I noticed some baitfish dimpling inside the drop-off, and soon after, they shimmered nervously – which can suggest a nearby predator. A bit later, I caught up with JD, who, it turned out, was busily covering a smelter a comfortable cast offshore.
JD hooked up to a Bullen Merri smelter.
As we were discussing tactics, I noticed another smelter further down the bank and only a rod length out from the edge. I ran down and peppered the area, but – as with JD behind me, no luck. Eventually though, persistence paid off as it so often does with smelters: JD hooked into a good fish, and eventually he brought a solid tiger trout to the net. A little while later, it was my turn, and I managed to land a decent rainbow. My rainbow took a white BMS, JD’s tiger a simple white smelt pattern Chris Dore from across the ditch ties. Smelters being tricky fish, you never quite know whether it’s the fly or some other witchcraft that brings them undone. Still, as JD wisely pointed out, it seemed that, at the very least, white didn’t do any harm.
JD's Bullen Merri tiger showing its char-like roots.
Today was supposed to be our Ballarat lakes day, but the very worst of the weather caught up with us: cyclonic winds, 6C temperatures, and torrential rain. Had the trip to this point been less successful, chances are we would have persevered in what were as horrible conditions as I’ve seen this year (although the rain itself is very welcome). But one coffee led to another, and the lake views through the windscreen just weren’t inspirational. We gave it a half-hearted cast or three, before deciding that using weather like this to attend to life’s more mundane (but indoor) chores, made a lot of sense. Several hours since JD hit the road home, the weather hasn’t let up, and that decision seems even more sensible.
