Another Carp-o-rama was upon us, and the rain we had copped over the past weeks had a few people nervous about the conditions at Liddell. There wasn't too much to worry about as Singleton and Liddell had received very little of the downpours we experienced on the coast. So the usual Friday and Saturday run around had us organized with about 10 folks ready to do battle with the old swamp trout.

We agreed to meet at 06:00 at the MacDonalds at Singleton so we could have some breakfast and show the folks that have never been to Liddell the way to the recreation area. As is usually the case the final group of fishos rolled in at about 6:30 and we sat down for a quick bite to eat, we would have had tea and coffee except they had run out! Uh oh this was not a good start. Even worse the wind was starting to howl from the South West. It was cold but the sun was starting to shine through.

We headed up the New England and took the turn into Liddell recreation area where we met up with Brett Aley. The wind was getting very gusty and there were some clouds starting to come into view. The lake was well down on the last time we were here with most of the boat ramp high and dry and just a thin strip of concrete down to the water.

I reversed the car down the ramp and slid the hornet into the water. Brett moved the boat away from the ramp to allow the others to launch. Problem with that was that I now had to walk to the boat which was about 3 metres from the shore. Not a big deal until I stepped into some mud that was about a foot deep, and was soaked up to my knees. Wait…. The day gets better!

We all headed off looking for some protection from the wind. Brett and I found a bay that looked to be out of the wind and proceeded to walk the banks to sight fish. Bugger me, more mud and the type that sticks to your boots and just gets thicker and thicker……. Back to plan B and into the boat. We used the electric to move slowly down the shoreline looking for fish. The wind had picked up and now to add salt to the wounds the clouds had started rolling in. It became almost impossible to see the fish and more often than not they'd be spooked before we got to see them.
We struggled on for about 30 minutes and noted an abundance of freshwater eels of about 4 - 5 feet in length, they wouldn't touch our flies though. We decided to go and see what the other guys were up to and found them setting up ready to berley with bread. We all anchored in a row and the berley trail was started.

Chris Bannerman wasted no time and landed and small swampie for a photo and a quick release. It was pretty quiet even with the berley so another move was attempted. We tried blind casting to the fish around the weedbeds nearer the boat ramp, but the wind was just too strong and had us drifting across the beds before you could even get a cast out. Bob, Chris, Brownie, Gordon and Matt, decided to berley up again in the protection of the power station and that produced a few more fish and a first fish on fly for John Cunningham.

Justin, Brett and I tried our luck again at sight fishing, but again the elements beat us. The rain started to fall, lightly at first, so Justin and I decided enough torture and headed back to the ramp. On the way back to the ramp my outboard decided it had done enough and just stopped dead. A bit of drifting and a few attempts to get it started and we were back at the ramp. Justin pulled his boat out and the heavens opened. Everyone headed back to the ramp and started packing up.

Not our best ever day at Liddell and the weather was less than helpful, but the fact that some of the guys got fish and in one case their first ever makes is still worthwhile. We'll be back again….. maybe in summer?