I Ain’t Leven

from Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News Issue 143 2020 November

Get Cranking — Jarvis Wall

The River Leven is home to some beautiful wild brown trout.

The Leven River is little known outside the NW coast. Here is an overview. by Casey Pfeiffer

The River Leven in Tasmania’s North West offers some of the best dry fly fishing for wild brown trout in the state. It flows through densely forested gorge, with several flatter regions with easy access. Tasmania’s Inland Fisheries have put in the work to supply large portions of angler access through private properties, which means there is always a place to get away from the crowds. In this piece, I will be covering some advanced techniques and leaders to help you up your dry fly game.

When

During the late season when water levels in several of the most popular rivers in Tasmania such as the North and South Esk have dropped to almost unfishable heights, it pays to look a little further afield. The River Leven offers incredible dry fly opportunities when the water is low, making it the perfect waterway to target during the warmer months of Summer and Autumn. Caddis hatches are particularly prevalent at this time of year if you are fortunate enough to have the right weather conditions. Warm, still and sunny days are always enjoyable on the river, but a caddis hatch makes them all the better! On windy days the hopper fishing on the edges can also be very effective and watching a fish chase your hopper downstream is a thrill.

Where

The River Leven has many great angler access points, however, I have found two that are particularly suited to dry fly fishing. The first is Bannon’s Park, a large campground with very easy river access from just about any point inside the park, and a path that runs along the bank for around 2km upstream. If the www.tasfish.com - Get the knowledge - Get the fish.

fish are rising, I struggle to fish even half that distance in a day! There are slow pools that tend to hold larger resident fish, as well as beautiful runs and shallow riffles, all of which hold good numbers of fish. Upstream from Bannon’s Park is JR Lee Memorial Picnic Ground. This is a day-use area with no camping, but several picnic tables and the most picturesque pools you can imagine, and plenty of fish. At the bottom of the Picnic Ground, there is a large pool that normally features several rising trout and a platypus, but the majority of the area upstream offers ankle to hip deep riffles and extremely easy wading. In some areas, both sides of the river are lined with willows, but as they are not particularly overgrown casting is still a breeze. The River Leven also has long stretches of faster pocket water that are ideal for fishing with nymphs but are not particularly suited to fishing with a single dry fly. Whilst I am sure several other sections also have great dry fly fishing, these are just the two I have discovered so far.

Rod Choice

Casey netting a lovely little brown trout

My dry fly rod choice tends to depend on two main factors. The first being the size of the fish in the water I am fishing, and the second being the size of that water. Typically in larger Tasmanian waterways, I opt for a 9’6ft rod in a three or four weight, but in tighter waters such as the Leven, I tend to go for a slightly shorter option. A 9ft rod in a three or four weight offers better control in both casting and landing fish in smaller waters. There is nothing worse than attempting to net a fish in a tight spot and getting your rod tip stuck in the low hanging branching losing the fish. Dry fly rods should have a parabolic action, which means they are soft through the entire length of the rod. The last thing you want for a dry fly rod is fast action, as that will overpower the cast and create a drag on your drift. In the Leven, fish can be anything from very small juveniles to solid one kilo Some of the dry fly patterns suitable for the Leven fish.

Some waters such as slow pools and shallow riffles have a simple current configuration, with most of the water moving at a very similar pace. This makes fishing a dry fly easy because your leader sitting on the water will move at the same speed as your fly. As long as you are casting upstream on a slight angle, you should be able to get a drag-free drift without too much hassle. Because of this, the leader choice for these types of water is also very simple. A high quality 5x tapered leader with a micro ring and tippet on the end should do the trick! Some brands offer dry fly specific or finesse leaders, and whilst they can be a little pricier than their basic counterparts, they are well worth the extra investment. Using a micro ring on the end means a single tapered leader will last you months, no matter how often you fish. Your tippet selection comes down to personal preference, as well as how well you strike and fight fish. The lighter the tippet, the less drag and shadow it creates on the water, so I like to fish as light as possible. At largest I would suggest 6x, but 8x would be my ideal tippet for a single dry fly to entice as many eats as possible. This is also the ideal leader to use for fishing a hopper on the edges.

Multiple Current Leader

In more complex water that has multiple currents, I use a leader that allows for a curve cast. A curve cast is just an underpowered cast that lands with slack throughout the leader. Basically, you want your leader to land in a pile on the water. It goes against everything we typically aim for in a cast, but it is by far the most effective way to fish over multiple currents. It allows your dry fly to drift uninhibited by the leader until the entire leader has stretched itself out straight. There are a few tricks to make your curve cast more effective. The first is to underline your rod, meaning if you are fishing with a four weight rod, you use a three weight line. The second is to under power your forward cast, which is done by either stopping your cast high or not coming to a sudden stop. The side you cast on also plays a big part on how your leader lands on the water, so if fishing to the right-hand bank, you should be casting over your right shoulder, and if casting to the left-hand bank you should be casting over your left shoulder. Whilst there are some exceptions to the rule, for the most part, this will give you far greater drifts. The leader itself is made from sections of monofilament. This is called a progressive leader because the sections go from short sections of thick mono to long sections of thin mono. A digressive leader is compiled in the opposite order with long sections of thick mono, and short sections of thin mono. For the progressive leader the sections are as follows, 45cm of 0.45mm, 50cm of 0.40mm, 55cm of 0.35mm, 60cm of 0.30mm, 65cm of 0.25mm and 70cm of 0.22mm. From the end of this leader, I still use a tippet ring, along with 1.5m of 0.10mm tippet. Casting this kind of leader can be very frustrating because of our preconceived notions that a leader must land straight on the water, but once you get used to seeing your leader land in a heap you can see the huge difference it makes to the drift of your

dry. I typically only take the one rod onto the river with me and have my two floating lines with different leaders on separate reels making it quick and easy to change over when I get to a certain type of water.

Fly Selection

Fly selection for the River Leven is mostly dependent on whether you are fishing to rising fish, or searching blind with your dry fly. Often rising fish in the slow pools may want a slightly smaller offering, whilst fishing a larger dry through the riffles and under the willows can help to find fish even when they aren’t rising. I have certainly found caddis patterns to be the most successful, but I have a few particulars that I wouldn’t fish it without! CDC Sedge is probably my favourite dry fly for this waterway. I tie them in size 14, 16 and 18 all in a natural colour. Often I will have a small tail of UV orange or pink, or sometimes a small amount of angel hair dubbing for the tail. I also have some of these sedge tied with a tuft of orange fibre at the front so that I can see them when casting into shadows under the willows or banks. Deer hair caddis is another must-have pattern, and unlike CDC they were often be chewed to bits before they start to sink. I tie them with a UV orange glo brite tail in size 14 for the most part. If I am fishing a river a won’t leave home without black Klinkhammer’s. They are ideal for both small spinner feeders and fish on emergers making them a very versatile fly to have in your arsenal.

Hopper Fishing

On warm windy days, hoppers are often blown from the grass onto the water making the perfect tasty snack of a trout. Hoppers don’t need to be cast to rising fish to be effective. I like to fish a hopper on my single current leader, with a slightly shorter tippet section that usual. While we often put a lot of emphasis on having our flies land delicately on the water, hoppers should be slapped down on the water with short casts against the bank. Often the plop of the hopper landing on the water will be what entices the fish, and hoppers just don’t tend to work as well unless you make a little noise with them. The hoppers I prefer are still relatively small, mostly size 14, with a foam cylinder body and deer hair wing, and a small hot spot of UV orange thread. I like to tie my hoppers on Klinkhammer hooks, as I find that I get a better hookset with these than typical dry fly hooks, and in the long run, that means more fish landed.

Sensational dry fly water on the River Leven

Hooked on Dries

While I have always enjoyed catching trout on fly no matter what the technique, there is something truly unique about watching a fish slurp down your dry off the surface, and nothing else can quite compare in my mind. Rising fish are feeding fish, which means there is a good chance of getting them to eat your fly, but by using these techniques and advances leaders, you can increase your chances of success.