Neil May heads to Lake Elingamite in Victoria’s south west to target trout on fly.
You never know where a conversation about kayak fishing will take you. Recently I ran into a mate who I had met while running the Hobie superstore Action Kayak and Sail in Geelong. Justin Rayner or Spoony, as he’s known, was telling me about some great fishing he’d experienced on a small lake near Cobden in Victoria’s south west. According to him, Lake Elingamite was a cracker.
He went on to say that the lake’s water level was a little lower than normal. This meant that boats would struggle to launch, and land based anglers would also find access difficult due to shoreline mud. He assured me though that kayak launches could still be made with ease. Any situation where I can greedily indulge in kayak fishing with smaller crowds piques my interest, and I’d even describe it as an ideal kayak fishing stage.
Next we discussed the fish and the habitat that make Elingamite an appealing kayak fishing destination. Large brown and rainbow trout, as well as thumping good redfin find cover in the lakes extensive weed beds. Our conversation was as good as a contract, and a plan was hatched.
The Launch
A couple of days later, Spoony and I were checking the lake from the jetty. The floating jetty was sitting on solid ground, and all that was at the bottom of the ramp was a slurry of mud. From the jetty leading out to the lake proper was an 80 m long mud filled channel, about a metre wide. This was no easy launch.
We drew straws to see who would paddle their way out first. The first Hobie out would take a rope with them and attach it to a buoy at the entrance to the lake proper. The other end of the rope would be attached to the jetty, allowing the second kayaker to pull himself through the mud with less effort. This would also allow both kayaks to return the same way.
As soon as Spoony got into his Hobie and started paddling his way through the mud I nearly wet myself. I was bent over with pain from the laughter of watching him trying to make his way out through the slurry. There was mud from one end of his yak to the other, and he was going off about how the straw selection process was rigged. Finally he made it to the buoy and tied off the rope.
Then it was my turn to try and get myself out along the rope. It was an easy process to gently pull myself along the rope to the buoy, and eventually paddle my way the extra 100 m into the lake proper. You have to love when a plan comes together.
Drawing the short straw.
The Fishing
I first learnt to fly fish to add an extra string to my bow, especially when the fish were chasing insects. I came from a lure fishing background and believe that streamer or wet fly fishing is very similar, apart from the method of getting the lure or fly out there.
Justin is a bit of a purist fly fisher, and he shook his his head when I told him I was going to look for some fish by trolling a fly out the back of the kayak while pedaling around the lake. In fly fishing terms this is called harling. It’s often a good way of finding out whether the fish are in close or out in the deep.
Justin started fishing along the weed bed while I took off through the middle of the lake. After a couple of laps towing the ‘Magoo’ around without success, I decided to set up a drift and work some of the weed beds. My fly armoury consisted of a Tom Jones, a Bibbio Hopper and an olive BMS.
Varying a retrieve is always a good idea when finding fish. I worked every retrieve between a fast long strip to a short slow strip of about three inches. I had started a slow figure eight retrieve when I thought I felt an abnormality. I immediately stopped for a few seconds before starting again, and then felt some weight. I struck and to my glee I’d hooked him.
Russ, an old mate of mine, taught me that once I’d set the hook, that I should let the line go, and wind the slack line back onto the reel. Once you have the fish connected directly to the reel, the drag of the reel can be used. That’s when the tension on the fish is released, and the fish swims normally.
On this hook up, I initially thought it was a very small fish as it swam straight for me with little fight. I soon realised it was bigger than I first anticipated. Once it got closer to my Hobie Revolution I could see it was a 3 to 4 lb rainbow. It was around this time that it realised it was hooked, and started to give me a bit of stick with some fighting runs. But after five minutes or so he was in the bottom of the net.
Another hour with Spoony nearby didn’t yield any more interest, and we both decided to split up in search of some more quarry. Justin headed along the western shoreline, fishing out from the weed bank. I decided to put a team on with a bead head Magoo on the point and a Bibbio Hopper on the first drop. I again took off across the lake.
From time to time I needed to wind in and remove the floating weed from a fly. On one occasion I thought I had weed on my fly and started winding in. To my astonishment I found a three inch redfin hanging off the end of the Magoo.
I checked in with Spoony, and found him with net in hand about 400 m away. He was onto his second rainbow of about three pounds. He had also put a team of flies on with a bead head Magoo on the point and a bead head Bitch Slap on the first drop. He did this to try and get the flies deeper in the water column. It seemed to have worked for him as he was now hooked up to his third fish, which was giving him a workout. I immediately moved in beside him and started casting with no luck. Spoony dryly noted I was fishing well without catching.
After a half hour of casting with no action, I was off harling again with the flies trailing about 30 m behind. All of a sudden the rod nearly got pulled from my hand. I immediately spun the rudder to full lock, and got the kayak facing the fish. I again struck the fish to set the hook, and the fight started.
He was quick to show himself, and started jumping around, trying to jettison the hook. I could see it was a rainbow of about 4 or 5 lb and continued to work him closer. One run was straight at me, at a pace that was difficult to keep up with. Once he was within about five metres of the Hobie, he took me by surprise by doing a righty, and took off with the drag screaming. I started to palm the reel and put a bit more pressure on him when I heard the dreaded ‘ping’, and he was gone. The rainbow busted me off about a foot up from the fly, so I can only assume it was a wind knot that I had not noticed.
Rather angry with myself, I headed off to catch up with Spoony, who was still in the same spot. Once there he told me he had netted 5 rainbows and 2 nice browns. It was just after 5 pm, so we decided we should make our way back. I suggested that on our pedal back he should give harling another go and drag his two flies behind him. He mumbled something about if he was going to troll he should tie on a Tassie Devil. I explained that no one would see him to judge so he may as well give it a whirl.
Much to his disgust he cast out the flies and started pedaling back toward the launch site. His flies were about 25 m behind him. We were almost back to the start of the weed bed, and the light was dimming when all hell broke loose on the end of Spoony’s line. I spun around to see a huge six pound-plus brown dancing on top of the water, doing its best to part company with the top fly. Spoony was in total control, spinning the
Quality fish finder installations from AKS help put you in the fish zone
Hobie around to face the fish and start the fight.
Having such a light tippet meant I was shouting instructions to Spoony about not putting too much early weight on the fish. For my effort I received a colourful retort from a Frank Sinatra song called ‘I’ll do it My Way’.
Spoony fought this fish valiantly for about 15 minutes. It came to the surface on a few occasions right beside his Action Kayak and Sail Hobie. He was so pumped that he’d finally hooked into a decent brown of 6 or 7 pounds. The fish was getting close to being spent, and took a final run to the weed below. It started to dog down when he yelled out that he thought it was done. After another five minutes, Spoony had the fish yak side, but the look on his face told me something was very wrong.
He let loose a chorus of expletives and shouted, “This is not the fish I hooked”. When I finally got beside him I nearly fell out of my Hobie. The fish on the end of his line was a 1 to 2 lb redfin!
It was amazing how we just sat there for what felt like 5 minutes until we both came up with the same explanation. The brown had taken the top fly of the team. While going deep toward the weed at the end of his fight, the pesky redfin took the flailing fly on the point (end of the line). For that instant Spoony had two fish hooked up, the trout and the redfin but as the weight and fight of the redfin progressed, it allowed the brown trout some leverage to unhook itself with its last ditch effort.
After much laughter we agreed that it would have been nice to get a photo of the Brown. Spoony mentioned that he would have let it go, so the end result was the same, minus the photo. While pedaling back he explained that his wife didn’t like trout but loved redfin, so the outcome would at least make someone happy.
We finally arrived at the buoy that had our tow line attached, and it was a very easy task to pull ourselves back to the jetty. Once we de-rigged and loaded the Hobie’s on the roof, we both agreed it was a fantastic day on the water. Some fish were caught, some were released, and some would provide a freshwater feed. What more can I say? Great fishing, great company and Action Kayak and Sail provided two great Hobies to
make it happen.
Waving the wand in side saddle mode.
I‘ve always been a keen fresh water fisher, preferring lure fishing in creeks and streams. Around 2003 I joined the Ballarat Fly Fishers and learnt the art of catching fish on fly. A couple of years later I opened the Hobie dealership Action, Kayak and Sail in Geelong. Over the years I have put the two together to enjoy the very exciting and challenging sport of kayak fly fishing. Now that I have retired from work I am living the dream.
A Lake Elingamite brutish redfin.
