The weekend started with some 20 odd members and some partners heading off to the picturesque surrounds of Lake Fyan’s in Victoria’s North West. All had arrived safely by Friday night and once prepared for what was to be a big day on the water, we settled in for a few refreshments to get the stories flowing and to discuss tactics for the next day’s fishing.
Saturday arrived and you could have thought I was back at Port Albert! The wind was blowing and it was not going to be comfortable fishing. After a coffee and a chat to Flash, Richard, Jason and I headed out to see if we could get onto some nice fish. We headed straight out from the ramp and once we had a bit of water under us out went the lures and we were away. It was hard work just keeping one of our four lure in the water weed was the killer this weekend. Perseverance was in order as it did not take long and I hooked into a beautiful Fyan’s brown that went over 1.5Kg cleaned (with more roe in it than any other this I had cleaned before) and for our new measured event it was 56 cm long.
We kept working hard changing lures but the weed got the better of us and it was back for lunch and a refreshment before it was back out for a late afternoon crack at it. The results did not show the work we put in. I got a redfin in the afternoon Jason donuts. New member Clinton and his mate were up early and had some success trolling soft plastics all three of their fish for day one were caught this way. Len Brown persisted and got himself a nice redfin that went 36cm & 0.630kg. Stu Taylor started off the longest fish comp with a photo brought back to the weigh in with his 36cm Redfin in it. One of the first of many photos the club will see when this new competition gets up and running.
Stu produced three photos over the weekend with fish on the new club brag mat with all fish being released WELL DONE Stu! Day one was hard work but most of us felt the fish would come on, results total of eight fish. 4 Brown Trout, 1 rainbow trout and 3 redfin. Next on the agenda was the Lake Fyan’s Restaurant/Bistro we had 18 for dinner across three table but it did not take long for our smooth talking President to have the place rearranged to produce one long table for the club to enjoy each other’s company, talk of the day’s events and work out tactics for the next day. The meals where great and all had an enjoyable evening.
Sunday was a bit better but the wind and weed was still there, most tried hard again but the big numbers did not emanate. Flash and Richard had a crack in the morning but decided to go have a look at Lake Wartook to see if it was any better over there. The fishing was not much better for them but they said they had a great afternoon. Again hard work with Jason King the main man on Sunday with 2 Browns 48cm/43cm and a Rainbow of 36cm J.Devo 1 Brown 39cm, Stu Taylor 1 brown 54cm (Catch Release Photo supplied), Andrew Barclay 1 Brown 41cm, Flash 1 brown 41cm and myself with 1 Brown 42cm, total again 8 fish.
Going into Monday it was still anyone’s trip, with the morning looking perfect no wind but we still had that weed, most were up early and on the water so they could get a fish in before we all had to check out. So it was a short sharp session on the Monday morning. Once we were all cleaned up we had our weigh in up at the boat parking area as normal. The fish were sparse with a total of only 5 fish weighed in with the main man on the Monday being new member Clinton Scott with a rainbow 39cm and a redfin of 31cm.
The end result was 17 fish for 10.845 kg and 4 fish being caught and released. All in all another fantastic weekend at Lake Fyan’s Caravan park, this trip on ANZAC weekend is really becoming the must go to trip for a lot of our Freshwater angler’s and I must say people would call me a saltwater bloke because of my ties with Port Albert but I have fished Fyan’s on four of our last 5 trips only missing out for a trip to NZ, it’s the first trip that Jason and myself mark down on the syllabus, we would not miss it for quids. So we hope to see even more members and their partners there in the coming years. Trip report by Rod King Rod King 1.5kg Fyan’s Brown, beautiful colours on these fish. The first fish on one of the clubs new brag mats. Andrew Barclay with a nice Lake Fyan’s Brown trout. Stu Taylor and a 54 cm Lake Fyan’s brown. Saturday Night Dinner at The lake Fyan’s Restaurant.