Trip Reports
Local Dam Perch
Date:
May 2005

This was to be our first Autumn trip to the local “private” dam that we fish for golden and silver perch, so the interest level was high. The lead up to the date had some warm 23 degree days followed by a bit of rain. So we weren’t too sure what to expect.

We all met at the nominated spot at 06:30 and car pooled before heading off. We arrived at the dam about 7:30 all geared up in anticipation of some piscatorial adventure. The water was very murky and higher than we have seen it on previous visits, thanks to the previous week’s rain. The weather was absolutely perfect. No wind, nice and sunny just a little chilly at 9 degrees, but it soon warmed once the sun got up a bit.

The water temp was cool at only 15 degrees which was a potential problem for us, but as usual we soldiered on.

It didn’t take too long for flies to hit the water and the scream of “I’m on” to echo across the dam from Brownie’s direction. He was hooked into what looked to be a reasonable solid fish, which he soon had under control and up on the bank ready for a photo and release.

We all continued on fishing with enthusiasm after Brownie’s quick capture and flogged the water for quite a while for zero result. We all moved around the dam trying different flies, different retrieves and different locations but only scored a few feeble hits. Just as we were about to call it a day and get the Barbie warmed up, Jimmy, who had been fishing the same spot for a while yelled as he came up tight on a nice yellow. A quick release saw us all heading back for a nice BBQ lunch before heading home think of what might have been if we didn’t get all the rain prior to the outing. Yet another lesson we have learnt along the way.