Illawarra Flyfishers Club

7th - 20th January 2002

Frying Pan, Lake Eucumbene

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Chris, Bevan and I spent 3 nights at Frying Pan with my daughters Sarah and Alicia. I towed my 4.5 metre Quintrex down to get us to the many rocky outcrops that the trout hide this time of the year. The weather was generally good with hot, still days with a strong breeze coming away late in the afternoons.

The word around the camp was that the grass hoppers were only just starting to work due to a cold start to summer in this area. Many fish taken over the past week or two were taken on black beetle patterns. We fished hopper patterns on all days with some success and Craig's Night-time fly in the evenings. Chris caught two healthy 2 lb and 2 ½ lb brown trout during the last day and lost a large rainbow on the second night. The fish struck hard and bolted taking a lot of line and then leapt into the faint moonlight and finally threw the hook. I knew he dropped a good fish, I was fishing 200 metres away in the dark and the "post match comments" were as clear and colourful as the fish he lost.

I had several good opportunities during the day but had trouble timing the strike. Way too early on most occasions. On the last afternoon I managed to catch a 4 ¼ lb brown (550cm long). I finally figured out the timing of the strike on this one. I simply waited until the fish finished eating all the naturals (that I threw out) as well as my own fly before I decided to lift the rod in readiness for another cast and bang he was on. This certainly made up for the lost opportunities. This fish jumped out of the water 5 or 6 times and was a heart stopper on 6lb tippet. I also caught a 2lb rainbow on one evening and had several strikes but did not manage to hook up.

Bevan had a couple of trout come to the fly but was unable to connect with the fish. We caught up with Paul Harvey who managed two very nice browns (around 2lb and 3lb) on hoppers on our last day.

Leo Harding