The New Season has rolled around after a couple of months break.
The Trout have been left alone to finish doing their thing and we have had time away from the streams and rivers to score Brownie Points and suffer mild Cabin Fever.
Winter in The Mitta Valley was cold and wet.
Not quite as much rain as other winters but enough to soak the ground and keep the streams running high and cold.
There is a snow base of over 2 meters at Falls Creek which will keep the flows high and cold leading right into summer.
Spring is traditionally the wet and stormy season, so I do expect to see more heavy rain events to flush the streams that bit more over the next few months.
At present we are still having cool days and cold nights which keep the terrestrial insects quiet till things warm up into those low 20 C days.
This generally means that Nymphs and Wets are The Go To Flies.
having a good mix of sizes, colours and weights in The Box is crucial to being successful this time of year.
A mix of different Tippet Materials will also assist in getting your fly into the correct water column so you are where the fish are feeding.
Mono and Flouro materials have different properties and dynamics.
Flouro does sink better and with the new finer diameters materials has the ability to cut through the faster water currents to get your Nymph or Wet down deeper.
Mono is still fine for this if you are limited in what you have but in general; has more stretch than Flouro.
What difference does this have?
I do prefer Mono in the construction of my leaders as it has nice stretch and suppleness which gives to a nicer layout when casting and also has more forgiveness  when getting your fly caught on a snag and when fighting fish.
The less stretchy Flouro suits the Nymph as it gives more feel and directness to the wet or nymph.
By that I mean: the link between the fly and indicator or leader has more feel giving you a better read as to what is happening with the fly below the water.
Bumping along the bottom stones can be seen on the indicator or felt better through to your hand so when a fish does take the fly it is noticed faster and you can strike sooner.
Fore those who think that it would not make that much difference to mono should watch a video of a trout feeding on nymphs under water.
They are so fast at picking if it is food and swallowing it or if it is not food and spitting it out.
It was an eye opener for me when I saw it for the first time.

It made me look at what I was doing and change my game.
As I have posted in an earlier Blog; Line management is crucial  to any form of flyfishing and fishing a nymph or wet is even more so than a dry.
Pick your line and take note of the current dynamics, depth and stream structure before making your cast.
Mend your line before it needs mending.
Get that perfect drift so you have the best chance for your fly to be where it should be and not too much slack that you will notice any difference to the line movement in the drift so you can detect any odd movements and strike.
So many people miss the subtle takes and think there are no fish down there when they have actually had a fish or two take the nymph and spit it back out.

If your fly keeps getting caught on the bottom; Change it for one a little lighter so it bounces along the tops of the stones instead of getting caught between them.
If it is trailing behind and too high in the water column; add a little weight so it gets down to where the fish are holding.
If the fish can be seen feeding on nymphs; look to where in the water column they are feeding and pick a fly that will hand at the right depth.
I have had trout feeding on nymphs just below the surface and would not touch a nymph along the bottom.  So changing to an unweighted nymph on a light hook and a Mono Tippet had my fly sitting just below the surface film and was smashed on the next drift.

Look, observe  and think before casting.
Don’t be afraid to change your fly or rig.
Be comfortable in your ability to tie knots.

Experiment.

Now get out and have some fun 🙂