Great Few Hours At Loongana. ( Tasmania, Australia )

[meppstas]

    '' GREAT  FEW  HOURS  AT  LOONGANA.''                                 8-5-13

      After sitting around the house for the last few days and getting a little bored I decided enough was enough and headed on up to Loongana to have a spin in the Leven River. When I arrived there it was just great as there was low cloud cover and it was not one bit cold. Actually it was a strange sort of morning as it was quite mild for Loongana at this time of year. The river was at the perfect height and was a light tea color and looked the goods too. Started off right below the bridge flicking the little # 00 Mepps gold Black Fury across too the opposite bank at around 60 degrees and slowly worked it back towards me with the occasional light twitch of the rod. Even at 15 meters away I could see the spinner working in the tea colored river which was good. The first thirty meters of river didn't give up a sign of a fish which was a little disappointing as it looked like it would have held one or two at least.

The Leven River looking down from the Loongana Bridge.

First small brown for the day
   I had finally reached the top of the first section of fast water and this is where I picked up my first brown of the morning. This wasn't a big fish either, but it was a fish and that's a start. Well that was the only one for the next hour of spinning the next 600 meters of the Leven, though I did have a couple of follows in that time too. The sign of fish was there, and so it was just a matter of getting them to strike the lure in the icy cold water. I tried several different models and colors to no avail, they just weren't into it. Then some one on a nearby property started firing their rifle around and this made me feel very uncomfortable in the river, and so I decided it was time to head back to the car and move on to another spot further upstream.

Myself working the Leven River.

Great section of river.
   I headed on up to Taylor's Flats and started to work the river there and it wasn't too long before I had trout number two on the Gold Black Fury. It was another small (240gm)brown that took the spinner and so I was happy that I had decided to make the move further upstream. Over the next 400 meters of fast and medium flowing water I did pick up another two browns before calling it a day. This area of river at Taylor's Flats is a delightful place to have a spin, the beautiful surrounds makes it such a great place to fish. Had I not caught a fish in this area it wouldn't have bothered me too much as it was just such a relaxing place to be. The three browns here were just a bonus that came with the scenery really. So in the three and a half hours in the Leven River here  at Loongana I finished the session with four small browns with the best one going 320gms. Couldn't have thought of a better way to spend the day actually.

Tranquil water at Loongana.

The best brown of the trip.
Cheers  Adrian..

[wallacewt]

hi adrian
i showed god these pics and he said
he will add a day on instead of deducting one
you might consider spending more time there 

[Brian A]

That looks so relaxing, except the gun shots, though.  But the pictures are so tranquil.  Aloha

[meppstas]

Thanks for the replies and glad that you enjoyed them, and yes it is such a peaceful place to be. That's just one of good things about fishing rivers in Tasmania is the scenery, plus I rarely come across any other fisher's on them either. When the season is normally opened (Aug - end of April) I am on the rivers 4 to 5 days a week too.
cheers
Adrian

[Bryan Young]

So beautiful. And so are the browns. Thanks for letting us melt into your pictures.

[saltydog]

That looks like a great place to throw  fly.

[Bryan Young]

Noticed you are a Mepps Guru of Australia.  One of Alan and my mutual friends used to design color schemes for Mepps.  Dr. Colin Kageyama.  http://www.amazon.com/What-Fish-See-Colin-Kageyama/dp/1571881409

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

That looks like a great place to throw  fly.

x2 and thanks for sharing...

[meppstas]

Noticed you are a Mepps Guru of Australia.  One of Alan and my mutual friends used to design color schemes for Mepps.  Dr. Colin Kageyama.  http://www.amazon.com/What-Fish-See-Colin-Kageyama/dp/1571881409

Really, thankyou for helping to come up with some great color schemes for them. A good friend of mine is the General Manager of Mepps in France. He has helped me win the Ulverstone Angling Club Trophy for the past 6 years in a row and hopefully it will be 7 years this year. My trout season hasn't been as good this year due above average warmer and drier conditions here in Tasmania. I did manage to catch and release a mix of 370 brown and rainbow trout for the season in 75 trips to rivers here. Last season it was 516 trout in 82 trips. My best season was 1267 trout for a season back in 2009-10 season. Every fish has been taken on the Mepps # 00 (1.5gm) & # 0 (2.5gm) metal blade spinners in various models.
There are some very interesting contents in that book too, may have to get hold of it from Amazon.
cheers
Adrian

[alantani]

no crocs in the water, right? 

[meppstas]

No Alan there are no crocs down here in Tassie, Glad there isn't any too..
Cheers
Adrian

[alantani]

that rock in the water looked a little suspicious.   

[Alto Mare]

No Alan there are no crocs down here in Tassie, Glad there isn't any too..
Cheers
Adrian

I hear you, but I still wouldn't be standing there with a backpack full of fresh caught trout

Nice shots Adrian, thanks for sharing.
Sal

[meppstas]

That's where we are lucky down here with the rivers, nothing in them that's going to eat you..
The only thing we have to watch out for are Copper Head and Tiger snakes which can be a bit nasty from time to time. I have managed to step on a couple of Tiger snakes last season and they rear up and the neck flares out like a Cobra. Certainly makes the blood rush and makes you watch your every step after that...
Cheers
Adrian