Preparation for Wilderness Walks — Craig Rist

Western Lakes

Preparing for an overnighter

by Craig Rist

Nothing like being able to have a hot drink when the weather turns bad.

An overnight hiking/fishing trip into the Western Lakes is the ultimate combination of hiking, camping and trout fishing in a pristine wilderness environment. Staying one night or more if you have the time, really lets you experience the best fishing this magical place has to offer. There is nothing better than waking up to the sounds of the Black Currawong’s and looking out of the tent to see trout rising to a midge hatch or tailing trout in the shallow margins. An overnighter also allows you to fish the evening rise without having to worry about hiking out in the dark or worse when that fog rolls in at night. In this article, I’ll run through everything you need to prepare yourself for this upcoming season.

Preparation

Taking the right gear with you is something just can’t skimp on if you want to make it as safe and enjoyable as it should be. One of the biggest mistakes I made was to load my pack up with far too much gear. I carried way too much fishing tackle, clothes, cooking utensils and food. Then on top of that was my heavy SLR camera and tripod. Every little extra thing I used to throw into my pack was contributing to a pack weight well over 20 kilograms. These days there is such a wide range of lightweight hiking and camping gear available that it is not too hard to bring the pack weight below 20 kg. Combine that with a minimalist tackle approach, I now have my pack weight down to 12 to 15 kg for a one or two-night hiking trip.

Packs

Purchasing a quality backpack that is designed to carry the weight on your hips instead of your shoulders and back is an absolute must. I’m a big fan of the ONEPlanet backpacks, which have the exact fit adjustable harness and a big padded hip belt to take the entire load of the pack on my hips. I use the Ned model, which is a medium 70 ltr travel pack that opens like a suitcase. This model weighs 2.4 kg but you can buy lighter models. I purposely chose the 70 ltr capacity pack to force me to take only what I need. They also have a daypack available that clips onto the back of the pack for the times I want to take my pack raft in on a trip where I need a little more space.

A lightweight well set up tent is a must.

A good lightweight tent is another must-have item for this environment. They must be able to withstand wind, rain, hail and snow. I have a two-person tent that weighs 1.7 kg with pegs. It has two vestibules as part of the fly, which allows me to store wet gear outside of my dry sleeping area. A wide vestibule also gives me an area within my tents fly that is sheltered from the wind and rain to boil water for cooking a meal. A two-person tent is slightly heavier than a one-person tent, but for me, the extra space inside the tent is worth the few extra grams. There are many lightweight tents available to fit most people’s budget, so you should be able to choose one with large vestibules for storage and to provide some shelter for cooking. Believe me, when it’s raining or it’s so cold that your hiking boots have frozen overnight. There is nothing better than having the ability to fire up the gas cooker to boil some water for breakfast, without the need to get out of a warm sleeping bag. Of course, you do have to remember to fill up the boiler before you go to sleep.

Sleeping Mats and Bags

The days of the bulky foam sleeping mats are long gone for me. I now use a SEA TO SUMMIT Ultralight insulated inflatable mat. At 480 grams and its small pack size, it’s perfectly suited for my needs. They do come with a bag inflator but I usually just blow it up with my mouth as it only takes a few seconds to inflate. Choosing the right sleeping bag is a personal choice; I don’t feel the cold that much so I get away with my Kathmandu Pacesetter. This bag is a 700 loft mummystyle bag, which is perfect for the summer months. For the early and late season trips that are bitterly cold at night, I just wear fleece pants and tops to bed. I also carry a survival bag in the colder months. A survival bag is a very lightweight heat-reflective bag that can be used in an emergency to prevent hypothermia from setting in. I have only needed to use this once when the overnight temperature dropped to minus 7 degrees C and the wind was blowing straight through my tent.

Now, this is where you can really cut down on some weight. The majority of my cooking is done with boiling water, which simplifies things considerably. I use a Jet-Boil with a small-sized gas cylinder that packs neatly inside the Jet–Boil. I take one collapsible Sea To Summit bowl and one large collapsible cup and lastly one plastic fork-spoon and that’s all I need.

Food

My food list for a one-night stay is very basic and inexpensive. Dinner: 1 x pack of Mi Goreng Fried Noodles and 1 x 95gram tin of tuna.

Breakfast: 2 x 90-second sachets of Uncle Tobys Oats and a 15g cappuccino sachet, no milk required.

Lunch: on the first and second day, it’s always something I can take with me while I am fishing.

In the summer months, this might be some dried biscuits and a can of tuna. In the colder months, I’ll often take the Jet-Boil in my daypack with some soup, noodles and coffee. I also carry hiking snacks to keep my energy levels up and to keep me focused. They are usually muesli bars, oat bars and dried fruit and nuts.

I don’t usually carry a water bottle with me; instead, I carry my collapsible cup and drink the lake or river water. I have never been sick from drinking the water in the Western Lakes but I am always very careful of where I fill up my cup. It’s always from running water or from the lakes and tarns and never from small ponds that can be stagnant. I also check several metres upstream or along a lake to make sure there are no dead animals in the water. If I do need to take a drink bottle for those longer hikes it will just be a light disposable plastic bottle. With that said, I do know people who have had a nasty experience drinking unfiltered water in the Western Lakes. If you would prefer not to take the risk, many water filtration devices are readily available to reduce the likelihood of becoming sick from unintentionally consuming contaminated water.

Clothing

Taking the right clothing for the predicted weather forecast is also a hard decision to make sometimes. The weight of spare clothing can quickly add up, so I only take the bare minimum.

Without exception, I always take a Simms wading jacket with me, even in summer. They are light breathable and take up very little room in a pack. There is nothing worse than becoming cold to the bone from the wind or rain. The urge to fish is quickly taken away from you when you are cold and that really defeats the purpose of the whole trip. I also take a lightweight puffer jacket, fleece pants and two fleece tops so I have dry clothes to change into when I get back to camp or as additional layers to keep warm overnight. Waterproof socks are another must-have for me these days; I carry two pairs of Dexshell breathable - waterproof wading socks so I have a fresh pair for the following day. These socks are great for walking wet tracks, crossing streams, and wading up to just below my knees. My feet do feel damp at the end of the day but they are still warm and free of blisters. I could never walk into water over my boots if I was wearing my normal socks, so I’m happy to have slightly damp feet instead of the cold wet feet that I have had in the past.

Hand made in USA — $845

SONIC

TECHNOLOGY

GRAPHITE IIIE GENERATION 5 KONNETIC KONNETIC HD

SONIC

Whether laying down dry flies with finesse or delivering streamers to distant reaches, the SONIC family of rods provides uncompromised versatility, with a balance of feel and power. Delightfully crisp and lightweight, the SONIC has a level of performance that stands out from the crowd with a fast action taper designed to cover a wide range of fishing applications from dry fly, streamers, to nymphing - floating lines to sinking. Built on Konnetic Technology blanks, casts with the SONIC are as intuitive as they are natural - responsive in hand with excellent tracking qualities. Ready for any application the day has instore.

RANGE

CLOSE

TIP ACTION

SOFT

MID ACTION

SOFT

LOWER ACTION

SOFT

FLIES

MIDGE

POWER

SOFT

LINE SPEED MID LONG EXTRA LONG

DRY MEDIUM

MEDIUM

MEDIUM

NYMPHS POWERFUL

POWERFUL

POWERFUL

STREAMERS XL FLIES

MEDIUM POWERFUL

SOFT PRESENTATION

LINE PICK UP SHOOT LINE ALL-AROUND WIND CUTTING MAX LINE CARRY

SHORT MEDIUM

LONG / DEEP Fishing News - Page 18 www.tasfish.com - Get the knowledge - Get the fish. INTENTION GENTLE / HIGH TIPPET PROTECTION ALL-AROUND

XL / DEEP

Finding the right hiking boot that is best suited to the shape of your foot, ankle and Achilles can be a painful exercise. I have walked out of the Western Lakes with blisters the size of golf balls trying out a new brand and style of hiking boot. I was happy to throw those boots straight into the bin as soon as I got home that night. Fortunately, the next pair of boots I purchased were a pair of 5.11 A.T.A.C Shield Boots with side zip. These are ultra-lightweight waterproof, breathable and fit my feet perfectly, straight out of the box. There was no wearing them in and blisters are now a thing of the past. There are many quality boots available and there is sure to be one that suits your feet. It just may take a while to find the right pair. This is one piece of hiking apparel that you just have to get right.

First Aid and Safety Gear

As mentioned a survival bag or blanket is lightweight, compact and cheap and it could just save your life. During the colder months when I plan to hike and fish a long way from camp, I will throw one of these survival bags in my daypack just in case I get into trouble. A small first aid kit with a compression bandage to treat snake bite is also worthwhile. Tiger Snakes in the Western Lakes are really very docile and they will usually get out of your way as soon as they sense you walking their way. Tripping over and falling onto a snake is what I fear the most. I always wear gaiters to protect my legs from accidental snake bites and to push through those spiky leaves of the flowering Scoparia that are so common in the Western Lakes. I also carry a Garmin satellite messenger, which is such a great communication tool to call for help via text using your mobile phone or the unit itself. It will also send your exact GPS coordinates to the emergency services or to any one of your contacts you have stored on your phone. Not all emergencies require a helicopter rescue and sometimes it’s good to be able to let your family and friends know that you are going to be late home so they don’t think something bad has happened to you and call the emergency services unnecessarily.

Fishing Gear

For me using a fly rod to catch trout in the Western Lakes is such a rewarding form of fishing that it is hard to do anything else. Over the years I have trimmed down my fly gear considerably. I now only take one or two small fly boxes, one tube of dry fly floatant, one spool of 5-pound tippet for dry flies and one spool of 6-pound tippet for wet flies. I usually only take one rod and reel for short trips and a second back up rod on multi-day trips, just in case my rod or someone else’s rod is accidentally broken. My go-to back up rod is the 5 weight Primal Stash, which is a 9 foot six piece rod that is lightweight and easily packed. I usually take a 4 or 6 weight Scott rod for my primary rod and I find the 5 weight Primal Stash will cast both line weights with ease. When casting the Stash you would never know it was a six-piece rod and I would have no hesitation fishing this rod as my only rod if something was to happen to one of my Scott’s. A lightweight day pack like the Simms flyweight access pack or a vest with a large rear storage pocket is a must to carry a wading jacket, camera gear, headlamp, food and somewhere to store layers of clothing as the day goes from cold to hot and then cold again. Landing nets are not essential if you are fishing with a second person who can help you quickly land a fish and take a photo of that trophy fish for you. Inevitably, there will always be times when you will be fishing apart and that is often when you catch that larger fish. This is where a landing net comes into its own, not only to shorten the fight to help the fish recover quickly but also to keep the fish in the water in the upright position while you set up your camera for a quick time-lapse photo. Trying to do this without a net can lead to disaster as a fish left lying on its side in the shallows while you get a camera set up, can suddenly recover and take off back out into the lake breaking leaders or worse a rod tip. The best landing net I have found for this style of fishing is the McLEAN Spring Foldable Weigh Net. But the net that comes with this net is too small for the larger fish so I replace it with a knotless net that is three times as long. Now it is more than capable of landing that double figure fish, just remember there is no need to lift a fish out of the water when it’s in a net of this size. They are not going anywhere. Another thing I do to my net is to install a drawstring below the frame of the net. I do this so I can close up the net and tie it off to the bank holding the fish upright and above and silt to recover, while I am set up the camera. Buy the time I have taken a few shots the fish is usually fully recovered and swims off strong above that deadly silt bottom that can quickly clog the gills of a released fish if it is released too early and is not strong enough to swim above the soft layer of silt.

A small day pack is a great option for your fishing gear Blue sky days equal great fishing

Night Preparation for Animals

There are a few things to consider when you are sharing the Western Lakes with the local critters. Storing my assembled rod is not something I thought too much about until one morning after leaving it leaning against a bush overnight I found the cork handle had been chewed by some toothy critter. I quickly realised that some animal could smell the fishy residue left on the cork handle and decided it was worth a chew. Since that day, I now always store my assembled rod up on top of a bush and never on the ground. I have also had my fork-spoon stolen from under the vestibule of my tent. I went searching for it and I eventually found it several metres away from camp. If it wasn’t bright orange I don’t think I would have ever found it. These critters have a very good sense of smell so any food or utensils’ with the smell of food on them, may just vanish overnight. Tasmanian Devils, Quoll’s, mice and rats all sneak around your tent at night looking for food so it’s best to make sure you keep your tent zipped up and your rod and landing nets up off the ground or in your tent with you overnight, just to be sure. Deep grassy edges will most often hold big brown trout. A McLean weigh net is perfect for out west. www.tasfish.com - Get the knowledge - Get the fish.

A successful pre-fish day is welcome before a competition.

Bream

Fishing Tournaments in Tasmania

by Jack Gillespie

Bream Fishing Tournaments have become hugely popular in Tasmania over the years. In this article, I will cover what it takes to get into the sport and how to fish a successful tournament. I will also share what I have learnt so far in the last couple of years during my tournament journey and provide a simple break down of how the events are run. I hope that by sharing this information and my personal experience I can help people that may be interested in entering one of the many tournaments held throughout the state and offer some insight to the guys and girls that are already involved in the light tackle scene in Tasmania!

From The Beginning

Bream tournaments were first introduced to Tasmanian waters in 2005 and have been successfully run on an annual basis since. The very first series held in Tasmania was on three arenas - the Derwent River, the Scamander River and the Swan River – and was won by Tasmania anglers Steve Steer and Leigh McKenzie. Steve is the founder of Cranka Lures and a highly regarded light tackle angler in Tasmania. Leigh McKenzie, who is still very active in the Tasmanian tournament scene, is currently sitting on top in the Tasmanian Bream Classic Series Hall of Fame. Competitor numbers have risen and fallen over the years but the Tasmanian tournaments continue to produce some of the biggest five fish bag weights in Australia. The state is renowned for its larger than average bream and attracts anglers from across the country to its waters with the hope of landing the elusive giants that lurk beneath the surface. Tournament fishing has a reputation for being an incredibly serious sport that is only for the elite angler. This could not be further from the truth! Tournament fishing can be as serious or as laid back as you choose to make it. You can spend a lot of time fishing each arena in the lead up to the event before pre-fish bans come in to play, or you can simply turn up on the first day of the event and start fishing. Don’t be fooled, if you are led to believe that you need a top-of-the-line

Ben and Zane Wyatt from team CJ Marine with a handful of bream ready to be released.

bass boat with fancy electronics and full of top-end tackle you have been led astray! The tournament scene in Tasmania allows for anglers to take part in a large variety of boats, from bass boats, aluminium dinghies, fibreglass runabouts and bay boats running all matter of live well setups and fishing tackle. Many successful anglers have achieved great results in past competitions simply fishing from an aluminium dinghy with a homemade live well, a couple of rods and a hand full of lures.

Ready For Anything

Tournament fishing does differ from social fishing in a couple of ways. Tournaments are a scheduled event and, in many cases, do not take in to account the weather patterns. This can mean that competitors often have to deal with fishing in inclement weather such as strong winds, rain and hail on top of already tough conditions that are often a result of glassed out waterways, low tides and waterways flooded with fresh water. Fishing pressure is something that can play a part in the quality of the fishing in an event. A few hours of thirty-something boats racing around an arena and peppering several spots with lures can soon send the fish running for the refuge of a deep hole or hard to access areas, adding another challenge to it all. This is something that smart anglers can use to their advantage. Slowing things down, targeting fish deeper and moving away from the more “popular” spots are some of the things that can overcome the issue of lure shy fish and ultimately lead them to victory.

The typical bream Tournament in Australia will run over three days. Day one is practice or “pre-fish day” which is traditionally the day before day one of the two competitive fishing days. The pre-fish day allows all competing anglers to get on the water for a day as generally, most tournaments will have what is known as a “pre-fish ban” placed over the arena for two weeks before the competition being held. The pre-fish ban levels the playing field ensuring that anglers that are local to the area do not have the unfair advantage of being able to know the location of the fish schools before the event. Another reason for the ban is to ensure that the arena has as little fishing pressure leading up to the event as possible, helping to ensure that competitors have quality fishing time on the water during the competition with as much chance as possible to present a bag at the end of each day. Jack Gillespie and team mate Andrew Lethborg weighing in at Geogre’s Bay, St Helens

Fighting a fish out of the oysters racks is always a tense moment!

My Game Plan

My approach to pre-fish day has somewhat changed throughout my time fishing tournaments. When I first began fishing tournaments I would go into the day with a preconceived plan on how I wanted my competition days to go and I would hit the water on the pre-fish day and do exactly what I had in my head. Launch the boat at 7 am and fish the way I thought I would in the competition. Experience has now taught me that this is not the ideal way to approach the pre-fish. I would fish areas that had proven successful on other trips to arenas and spend too much time on them, if the fish were not there, I would have burnt my pre-fish day and be left trying to work out what I was going to do on day one of competition. I now take a more methodical approach to pre-fishing. I read the conditions, factor in the tides and always try to fish some new areas in addition to my old ones - you never know what you may find. If I am fortunate enough to find a good area, I try not to harass the fish too much, that is what the next two days are for!

Following pre-fish, we head back to camp, re-rig our tackle and discuss our approach for day one of the competition before heading to the briefing. The briefing covers everything that you need to know for the specific event being held. This includes rules that might apply to the arena being fished, start and finish times, starting order and weigh-in locations. The event briefing is a great opportunity to catch up with other teams and chat about how pre-fish went. Fishing is a social sport after all!

Competition Day

Normal competition hours are between 7 am and 2 pm each day. The goal is to weigh in a bag of your 5 heaviest fish at the end of competition time each day. Being a catch and release competition the fish must be released following the weigh-in. All competing boats must have a live well system and the better your system the better the condition your fish will be in at the end of the day. Keeping water circulating throughout the day will ensure that the fish can be released to be caught another day. If your fish don’t survive they are deducted from a team’s weight so it is in everyone’s best interest to look after them. Many tactics can be brought in to play when fishing tournaments. Play the numbers game and hope to upgrade throughout the day or specifically target the bigger fish being a couple of tactics that many use. I prefer to take the latter approach, go hard or go home! Fishing to the conditions that are presented on the day and knowing when to make a move is also key to success, which comes with experience. Following the completion of day one, it is time to assess the day, re-rig and plan for day two. Reflecting on day one you can make the changes necessary or, should a plan have worked perfectly you can go into the evening with the confidence to tackle day two. www.tasfish.com - Get the knowledge - Get the fish.