Lilydale report back

[core fly]

My friend and I made a day trip to Lilydale yesterday despite warnings of rain.Well no rain fell,a breezie day met us and plenty of fish.Vizibility is around the 1m which is nice for sight fishing although it usually runs much clearer.There is more river grass than i have ever seen at this venue which makes landing the fish extremely difficult.There are alot of fish around,and in prime condition.Some in the deeper waters,others in tiny pockets of water that are only 30cm deep.The first fish i managed to land was a beautiful largie of just over 3kg.I was at one of my favourite boulders below the lodge,with my friend standing behind me watching the largie sip a no.14 stimulator off the surface.Really awesome.We managed to land around 16 fish for the few hours we were there,with many lost to the grass and reeds.The river is really in need of a good flush.Despite this the fishing is really good,with all fish falling for stimulators,not one being enticed by nymphs or buggers.I worked the glides between the grass beds with great success.I tried to find areas where the grass in the river was minimal and water depth was not too deep, in order for a better chance at successfully landing them.If the fish was stuck,I would simply wade to it and release the fish.So if anyone is going in that direction its worth the effort,just stock up on stimulators and elk hair caddis.For newbies to the area,use the bank side cover for camouflage as once they are spooked you can forget them taking a fly.They are in the most unlikely lies so cover the water thouroughly,even quiet,dead looking water on the edges.They lie close to the bank especially where there are creases in the rock bed.ENJOY

[gazzarowan]

great report!!!
where is Lilydale?
glad you guys got into the fish!!!

[core fly]

Lilydale is on the Riet river about 40km south of Kimberley.It has about 8km of fishable waters.The river in general is very rocky,shallow with some nice deeper pools aswell.Sight fishing is the norm as the river is fed via a cannal from the orange river so flows are relatively constant.

[gazzarowan]

awesome!!! so you dont have to worry about them opening the gates cos that dam is used for hydroelec power hey?

cool stuff...pity its so far away!!!grrrr

[core fly]

Check out the thread Lilydale lodge(mokala),some nice pics of the water there.

[ArkEyes]

Does anyone know if the recent rains have had an influence on the flows here? Its a pretty long trek for me. Thinking of heading down early Jan.

[CTHOMAS]

I just spent a fantastic week at Lilydale and want to know why the fish I saw rising were not interested in anything dry we threw at them? The water temp was 3-5 degs and very cloudy colour. They were definitely there but could not see what they were taking. The flow was strong, having been scoured out in the recent floods. Hookups in the rocks were frequent in an attempt to find the bottom which of course we could not see.
Made me a little sick to have blanked in such an amazing place with so much promise.
Any ideas anyone?????
I would certainly go back.
Charles.

[Circus]

How small did you go in terms of flies, leader, tippet?
How varied were the flies you threw at them?
Were the fish ignoring your morsels, or were you spooking them?
Was your casting accurate enough?
Maybe they were taking emergers?
Maybe the amount of drag you had was incorrect?

Eliminate from the above the bits you're happy with and what's left will be the likely reason.

Alternatively: animals don't read books, so they don't know the rules.

[core fly]

Does the river look clean?I heard an obsurd amount of water went through there.
Lilydale is not very productive when nymphing and i have posted somewhere here my experiences.In those conditions i would have used something bulkier like dragons,buggers and even strip leeches,either dead drifted with the occasional twitch or stripped.Its also easier when you know how at certain areas the fish behave differently and feed differently.In one area they only take a dry in others a nymph etc.If you were fishing below the lodge I would have gone emerger,but as i said something large that isnt weighted too much.Gl;ad to hear you enjoyed it there though,I am up for a trip in the next few weeks,just waiting for the clarity to improve.

[core fly]

Can you perhaps post some pics,i am dying to see what it looks like there.