Andrew Wheeler and I headed down to try out a big backwater that has been formed as a result of the new breakwall that has been put in at the lake mouth in a bid to keep it permanently open to the sea. It’s not really working – the lake mouth is open constantly, it’s only a few metres wide and about 4ft deep – but the backwater is nice and clear and has some good sandy dropoffs and weedbeds. The water was not too cold, which I thought was a surprise for this time of the year, though we have had a warm last few days. We were using Clouser minnows and clear camo intermediate lines – excellent lines for estuary work. Andrew went down towards the backwater’s mouth but I worked my way up along the dropoff towards the top end of the backwater.
After about 40 minutes without a touch, I had a small flattie grab the clouser, but it got off after a few decent headshakes. Not a big fish, but enough to get our confidence levels up. We walked along the breakwall on the other side and up to the far corner of the backwater where the water was actually quite deep (~5-7ft) and very clear. The bottom up here was rocks and weed, so we walked back down towards the sandy section before resuming our fishing. After another 20 odd minutes, I hooked another small flattie on the 3rd strip of the fly. This one stayed connected, and after a few head shakes and a brief struggle, I released our first flattie of the season.
Overall it looks like a great habitat for fish, but the fact that it is right next to one of the most heavily fished estuaries in the world probably isn’t a good sign. Access is very simple (carpark right next to the water) and I reckon there would be millions of danglers congregated there on the weekends.
Andrew Susani