On Friday 31 October 2003, Ray Ellis, Ron Williams, Stephen Chatterton, Chris Harding and I went bass fishing for a long weekend to the Shoalhaven River. We headed out in fine weather with canoes and camping gear in tow using Ray and Stephen’s 4 wheel drives. We had a few single bass canoes, Ray brought along his catamaran (two 15 foot Coleman canoes fixed together) and Ron brought his port-a-boat. The port-a-boat has really changed my opinion of these craft. Not only are they portable, they are sturdy, can be dragged up rapids easily and two men can comfortably fish out of the boat with ease.
By the time we set up camp and ready to hit the water, the wind came up and got stronger in the afternoon, and did not let up all week end. There were a few exceptions when the conditions eased or we found a protected section of the river to fish. Rain, yes we didn’t escape that either, but that’s all part of the great experience of camping and fishing.
We still manage to catch around 16 bass using surface flies and we generally caught the fish when the conditions eased or found a protected section of the river. Most of us used Ray’s beetle pattern but Stephen found success using his Booby fly on a floating rig. Trust Stephen to catch fish on something different! Ray and Stephen caught a bass each going a whopping 44cm and Chris manage to catch his first bass on fly going 33cm on a fly that I tied.
Despite the weather, the trip to me was a great experience and I learnt many new aspects of fly fishing and camping. Many thanks to Ray and Ron for giving the rest of us the opportunity to enjoy what the Shoalhaven River has to offer.
Leo
Harding