Angling Report: Dec 2001 Lake Brunner Fly Fishing Report
The rain set in in mid November, and continued unabated for a month. During this period, all rivers were in flood every day, and the lake sustained extremely high levels, with total of 900mm of rain in the period.
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The Crooked River in peak flood is a sobering sight!
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Air temperatures were consistently high at around 18-20C, so whilst it was wet, being outdoors was not totally unpleasant. These are the times when we give thanks for the chest waders... the rain coats, and the broad-brimmed hats!!! My guest for this period was Jean Paul Malla, from the Complete Angler Lodge in Tasmania. Fortunately, he'd just come from the rainy season in Papua New Guinea, and as a 20yr resident of Tassie, was quite at home in our delinquent weather. The fishing, under such conditions, is challenging Rivers are out of the question, and the lake shore has disappeared into the rain forest. The only option for us was forays along the mountain shores of Lakes Brunner & Poerua, where the edge rises steeply and trout do not have the opportunity to spread out over the low-lying farmlands as in the case on opposite shores.
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| High lake levels, the beach is under 6ft of water! |
But the trout are plentiful, & in great condition |
We caught fish on every expedition, and had several exciting sessions. Jean had a nice new St Croix rod purchased especially for this expedition - and it snapped in half part way through battle with a particularly savage trout!!! We were able to land it, but that was the end of the rod for the duration of his visit. On another day, calm but steady drizzle falling, we landed thirteen trout for the day!!! One of those days when you don't want to go home, with fish rising steadily all day, and obligingly taking any properly presented streamer fly. For every one we landed, we lost another - and even got broken off 3 times!!!
December 16 - 23 2001
An improvement in the weather for a much anticipated return visit by Mr K C Mueller, from Hawaii. Still not very summer-like, but at least we got a few days in without chest waders on, such luxury! :-) Lake levels dropped appreciably, and rivers were clear and fishable. The excellent condition of trout has been a striking factor throughout this year. Fish are predominantly short and fat, and full of fight. On two of the days Mr Mueller was here, we landed 5 trout in sessions of 4-5 hours.
December 30 2001
Back to the rain... guests from Minnesota, Bob Blanchette and Ben Held, having just left temperatures of 0'F enroute for Antartica, found our windy weather to be quite tropical... With flooded rivers again, the Arnold River (outlet from Lake Brunner) seemed our best option and we set off downstream from Moana around 8:30am. The falling barometer, stiff breeze, and occasional showers were all against us, but the visitors were positive, enthusiastic, and appreciative of the scenery. We were rewarded by several strikes, landing a couple of nice fish, and even had a bust-off on a good fish before lunch. The day got progressively harder as the wind speed increased, making casting a 5 weight line a difficult task.
Angling Report: Dec 2001 Lake Brunner Fly Fishing Report
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