Ballarat

BALLARAT Shane Stevens

Fishing around the Ballarat District waters has been exceptional over the past month, mainly due to the mayfly hatches. A lot of fly fishers from all over the state were desperately waiting with anticipation for these to start, and weren’t disappointed.

The hatches this year seem to be a little later than normal, most likely due to the cooler weather we experienced throughout our spring months, and the excessive amounts of rain we received. This, in turn, has ensured the water temperatures have been a lot cooler, thus delaying the mayfly hatches. When the water temperatures reached the optimum level for the

Nathan Anngee landed seven fish in a session on brown nymphs during a mayfly hatch on Lake Wendouree, including

this 50cm brown trout. Image courtesy of Nathan Angee.

Shane Stevens nailed this magnificent 55cm brown trout on a Possum Emerger fly pattern on Lake Wendouree during a mayfly hatch. A Moorabool 60cm 6lb brown trout found this Brown Nymph too irresistible not to eat.

were still in the shallows, gorging themselves on all the newly accessible food supplies available to them, but haven’t seen or caught a trout on any of the trips. Hopefully when the water levels even out the water will clear once again.

The Ballarat Fly Fishers Club recently ran the Wastell Trophy, which has been running since before World War II. The ‘Wastell’, which is sponsored by Andrew Summers from Mayfly Tackle, is the most prestigious and sought-after fly fishing competition to win in Australia. The aim of the Wastell Competition has always been to bring likeminded people together to enjoy their passion of fly fishing, and it continues to do so. Fly fishers from all walks of life participate in the Wastell. This year 57 fly fishers registered for the Wastell Trophy fishing local waters around Ballarat, including Lake Wendouree, Hepburn Lagoon, Newlyn Reservoir, Tullaroop and Moorabool reservoirs. The Wastell is a catch and release competition open to everyone – you don’t need to be a member of a club to participate. If you catch a trout, you just take a photo of it on a brag mat, then send the photo to a central point. Wendouree is the talk of the fly fishing fraternity, especially after a recent round of the Victorian fly fishing championships. Fly fishers from all over Australia descended on Ballarat to fish Lake Wendouree in the second round of the Victorian Championships, and fish for the inaugural Vern Barby trophy. Vern is a Ballarat Fly Fishers Club member who has represented

mayfly to hatch, they have hatched in large numbers. The trout in our waters have been feeding on them with gusto, and given us as anglers the opportunity to cash in on the feeding trout.

On a disappointing note, one of our top fisheries – Tullaroop – which had been fishing exceptionally well for trout in early and late spring, has fallen foul of the La Niña weather pattern, which drenched the state with rain causing widespread flooding. Tullaroop reached a level around 120% full at one stage, with well over a metre of water spilling over the spillway. The massive amount of water pouring out of the reservoir has turned the pristine, clear water of only a couple of months ago into a muddy looking cesspool. Visibility is down to only a couple of inches or less.

I have been fishing the muddy water to see if the trout

This year’s winner was Bryce Younger, who caught the longest trout – a 60cm brown trout from Moorabool Reservoir. Bryce’s winning fish earned him a magnificent Orvis fly rod, reel and line combo.

A total of 19 trout were caught and released for the competition. Ballarat Fly Fishers Club President Nick Roche won the Gerald Armitage Trophy for the longest fish by a Ballarat member at the Wastell, catching his new PB 55cm brown trout on Lake Wendouree. Nick also won the John ‘Wacka’ McKay Trophy, which is fished between the Ballarat Fly Fishers Club and the Mornington Peninsula Fly Fishers Club during the Wastells Trophy.

Lake Wendouree has been one of our fisheries that has reached lofty heights over the late spring months, due to the mayfly hatches. Australia on the international fly-fishing scene, including world and commonwealth championships.

As mentioned, Wendouree really turned it on for the championships, with 446 trout caught and released throughout the competition. This is a record for any round of the championships since their inception some 20 odd years ago. A pat on the back to the Victorian Fishing Authority and their stocking program for Lake Wendouree.

Congratulations goes to Daniel Ringer who won round 2 and the Vern Barby trophy.

Wendouree’s shorelines have been lined with anglers, and boat ramp car parks have been full, with the word spreading around the traps, which is great to see.

I have been out as much as I can to cash in on the mayfly feeders, generally fly