As
Dan has already mentioned, the 2019/20 winter fishing in the UK was dire. Fortunately,
I had the opportunity to travel to the Southern hemisphere and swap seasons for
just shy of a month, spending most of my time camping and fishing in Tasmania’s
vast wilderness.
With
the season comparable to early June in the UK, I planned to spend most of my fishing time targeting trout and
leave marine species till the last week of my stay. Unfortunately, after an
early heatwave in October, the weeks leading up to my arrival in Tassie were
characterised by unseasonal storms, snow and sub-Antarctic wind. I secretly
hoped this lull in spring would pass by the time I arrived, but sadly this wish
did not materialise. Despite passing through smoke-ridden Sydney, I touched
down in a windy, 9°C Hobart. The walk to the terminal building got me questioning
whether I’d packed enough warm clothes, as I had intended on spending a
considerable amount of time in the west and central highlands.
All
negative thoughts soon disappeared; no sooner had I stepped into ‘Spot On – the
fishing connection’, Hobart's legendary tackle shop, I was eager to cast a line.
I must have spent a good hour discussing different lakes and rivers to try over
the coming weeks but did eventually head off with a license and selection of
new lures to try.
The
first session was an urban trip in South Hobart, working my way upstream from
the CBD, fishing the creek that supplies Australia’s oldest brewery. It was a
pleasant trip, I caught about half a dozen pristine trout from the minute creek
in the company of numerous wallabies, cockatoos and pademelons. Although I
enjoy fishing tiny urban streams, I had my sights set on exploring some of the
more remote areas where the trout have often never seen an angler.
Cascade Brewery and Mt.Wellington in the distance |
An urban trout |
After an evening pouring over maps, a plan was
hatched with Jon to climb mount Anne and fish the mighty Tyenna river on the
return to Hobart, hoping the water levels would have dropped by then as no more
rain was forecast. The Tyenna has been somewhere I’ve wanted to fish for some
time, this small river is renowned for being incredibly productive; every year
double figure fish are pulled from its idyllic waters.
Sadly,
we heard the following morning that the Mt Anne region was closed due to bushfire
damage so quickly came up with a plan B. We elected to head north-west to Mount
Field national park, hike the Tarn Shelf circuit and fish the Tyenna over the
long weekend.
The
weather was glorious in Mt Field, I distinctly remember applying copious amounts
of sun cream before we shouldered our bags. Fishing rod in hand, we began a steep
ascent through mixed forest dominated by the endemic and charismatic Richea
pandanifolia, the giant grass tree. A few patches of slushy snow were
scattered through the forest, but we thought little of it. As we climbed higher,
the pandani grove morphed into a thicket of snow gum and the patches of slushy snow
became more prevalent.
Jon beneath a towering 'Pandani' |
First signs of snow |
Rather alarmingly, at perhaps 1050m altitude, there was
a good 5 inches of snow on the track. This did not bode well as the track would
climb several hundred metres more before levelling out and following the tarn shelf.
We spotted a couple walking towards us, which sent alarm bells ringing. It was still
early in the morning; surely no one would have managed to already complete the
circuit anti-clockwise? My fears were confirmed, we were told they lost the
trail above the treeline in deep snow. Eager to carry on, we ignored their
advice to turn back and sought an alternative route to the plateau. We hoped it
would be possible to at least make it out if the trees and get glimpse of Lake
Seal. Thankfully we did find the track and managed to join up with another set
of footprints which followed the route we were following on the map for several
kilometres. We were blessed with blue skies and stunning views; a white blanket
coated the peaks and cols above us, in stark contrast to the dark, tannin
stained waters of Lake Seal below.
A surreal scene for Australian summertime |
Our
hearts soon sank again as we saw the two figures who had been walking ahead of us
approaching. A quick chat revealed that making any progress through the waist
deep snow and icy bogs which lay ahead was unpleasantly arduous, so they had chosen
to turn back. We decided to carry on regardless, following their footprints to
a hut in the distance where we could stop for a bite to eat and assess the situation
– it was almost midday and we hadn’t even seen the lakes I planned on fishing!
From the hut I could see the Mackenzie tarn, the first of a series of 8 small
lakes which the trail follows. It appeared to be frozen over, not something you
often come across in Australia!
We
decided to make our way slowly down to the tarn, we still had ten hours of
daylight and no other plans. It was quite entertaining, trudging through deep
snow whilst probing for rocks and pools, every now and then coming across the
top of a trail marker confirming we were still on the right track. After a few
obligatory pictures by the frozen tarn, we decided to venture onwards to the
next one (which was only half frozen) so I could finally cast a line. I wasn’t surprised
that nothing was interested in my lures, but nonetheless felt some sense of achievement
for attempting to fish in this surreal location.
Not a bad spot for lunch! |
We
made the decision to have lunch then turn back to go and fish one of the lower lakes
below the snowline. Whilst sitting by the lake, a German girl who was running
the route showed up and exclaimed “Oh, I guess the footprints end here then!”.
We had a chat and explained how we were turning back; it had taken five hours
to walk little more than a quarter of the circuit. She tried to persuade us to
continue as she didn’t have a proper map, only a small pamphlet with a sketch
of the route. We decided against it and wished her good luck before finishing lunch.
Feeling slightly worried for her, I climbed a small crag to see if I could spot
her bright blue jacket in the snow. I caught sight of her, however she appeared to be
lost, stuck on the wrong side of the next tarn, penned in by a braided creek
and boggy ground hidden by snow. We decided to continue to show her the correct
route, crossing the stream on the other side of the lake. She thankfully saw us
and re-joined the right track. We decided to try and reach the next tarn and
have a few more casts before heading back, however in the distance ahead of us
we could see a group of brightly clothed hikers! This signalled that we’d reach
the halfway point if we met, assuming they had started at a similar time to us
that morning. We decided to put fishing on hold and meet the group. It turned
out that the snow was a lot sparser ahead and progress a lot quicker.
This
meant we could finally justify an hour or two fishing the tarns and streams that
abound the high plateau. We caught numerous pristine trout from this magical
place before heading off at pace to complete the circuit before darkness fell. Reaching
the Tyenna valley in twilight, we pitched our tent and cooked two trout surrounded
by a plethora of endemic Tasmanian fauna emerging to graze on the lush floodplain.
We ended the monumental day by hunting for glow worms amongst tree ferns in the
nearby forest before setting pre-dawn alarms for the next fishing trip, in
total awe of the experience we had just been through.
An immaculate brownie, note the vivid red spots on the adipose fin |