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I arrived at Curleys to be greeted with a strong wind blowing towards the cafe. My first place to go was the dam wall. One casting would be easier and two it is one of my favourite places to fish at Curleys as I feel most anglers underrate it's potential and head straight for the pontoons. I set up with three flies on a leader of around 21ft with my flies 7ft apart made up of 8lb airflo sight free fluorocarbon. I chose a cat booby on the point a red holo cormorant in the middle and a small tequila blob on the top dropper. My line of choice was an airflo di3 sweep. I can not recommend the "sweep" lines highly enough and the di3 sweep has been my most productive line for the past season which gives me bags of confidence when fishing, something I find is key to success. I started around 8 pegs from the roadside. Casting a long line I would be able to reach fish further towards the middle of the lake as your back cast is not limited on the dam wall. I cast out and began my retrieve long pulls at a medium pace after around 10 casts my long pulls were met with solid resistance and after a flurry of energetic runs a rainbow of just over 3lb lay safely in my net. This fish had taken the cat booby on the point a fly I have complete confidence in. I continued this same retrieve and achieved good results with my line once again locking up from long range at the start of my retrieve. This shows the fish are higher up in the water. One thing to note when hooking fish at range is that you must always keep a tight line, one bit of slack and the fish will be gone. The fight is unreal with the fish making several powerful runs before I am able to bring it to the net. Once again a lovely rainbow of around 3lb nestles in my net again on the cat booby. After around 30mins of no action I decided to move to the pontoon outside the cafe. Here the wind was extremely strong which limited my casting as it would be blowing straight at my face, however I knew with the wind blowing onto this bank there would definitely be fish here. Punching a line into the powerful wind was not easy but the rewards were great I was soon into action as the line locked up and I was into my third fish of the day. Several attempts were made by the fish to throw the hook including going airborne and heading deep under the pontoon. Finally I manage to get the fish in the net and what a lovely fish it was a pristine Blue trout once again around the 3lb mark. The fish at Curley's are a remarkable size and they fight like demons. It really is amazing fun! This fish had also taken the cat booby on the point. This proved the fish were higher in the water however a switch to the fast glass saw a cease in action so the trusty di3 sweep was back on and had an immediate effect. Changing around with retrieves my fast figure of eight was greeted with a solid tug followed by everything locking up. Whilst retrieving lures if you feel a pluck, tug or pull do not lift the rod until everything is solid. If I fish is nipping the fly if you continue your retrieve that fish will most likely take the fly as you continue or on the hang. I see many anglers lift the rod and sigh in disbelief. All you do by lifting the rod after a tug is move the flies out of a trouts line of sight. Anyhow, once again the fight is surreal with the fish heading for deep water then ripping to the surface. With the extreme wind it reminded me of videos I have seen of wild trout fishing on Jurassic lake Argentina. After a thrilling fight another blue trout this time just over 2lb lays in my net again on the cat booby. I keep mobile and move to pontoon 5 on the roadside. The sun soon appears to add to the nightmare conditions, but I know the fish are still catch able I count the line down to 20 seconds before commencing my slow figure of eight retrieve. This keeps the flies deep which is where the trout will head during bright sunshine. I am soon rewarded with a quick tightening of the line and I'm into another fish. Soon after I've hooked the fish I notice something different. The fight is long with the fish heading for deep water again and again something I can only describe as what a brownie or pike would do. After a tense battle I'm proud to scoop my net under the fish. A magnificent Curleys resident rainbow of around 2 and a 1/2 pounds. No wonder I found it hard to turn as it had a tail like a shovel. This fish had taken the cormorant on the middle dropper. Resident fish will take bright flies but often pick out the most drab flies on your cast that's why it pays to fish at least three and give them variety. I now know the fish are deep and decide to switch tactics. I choose to fish a team of four buzzers. I use a leader length of 22ft 5ft between each fly but 7ft between top dropper and my fly line of choice a midge tip. On the point I use a size 8 grub hook black buzzer with yellow cheeks coupled with black, olive and claret buzzers on the droppers. When buzzer fishing it's important to keep the retrieve as slow as possible eliminating any slack line. I soon have an arm wrenching take typical with buzzer fishing and I'm into a fish this fights similar to the last one however it shows it's intelligence trying to dive underneath the pontoon. I am able to stop the fish and soon have another Curleys resident in the net once again around 2 and a 1/2 pounds. With bars of silver like this I just can't help but love buzzer fishing. The fish took the point fly indicating the sun has pushed the fish right down. I continue to fish my buzzers and my determined attitude is rewarded with another solid hook up. This fish bores deep with my line just going straight down through the water column I manage to bring it up but it has lots of fight left as it burst away for deep water. It's not long before my net cradles another bar of silver, this time around 3lbs of resident rainbow. Almost grilse like with it's pristine fins, huge tail and bullet like shape I couldn't ask for anything more. This also took the point fly and concluded my trip to Curleys a place where, if you put in the effort you can reap the rewards, BIG TIME!
I arrived at Curleys to be greeted with a strong wind blowing towards the cafe. My first place to go was the dam wall. One casting would be easier and two it is one of my favourite places to fish at Curleys as I feel most anglers underrate it's potential and head straight for the pontoons. I set up with three flies on a leader of around 21ft with my flies 7ft apart made up of 8lb airflo sight free fluorocarbon. I chose a cat booby on the point a red holo cormorant in the middle and a small tequila blob on the top dropper. My line of choice was an airflo di3 sweep. I can not recommend the "sweep" lines highly enough and the di3 sweep has been my most productive line for the past season which gives me bags of confidence when fishing, something I find is key to success. I started around 8 pegs from the roadside. Casting a long line I would be able to reach fish further towards the middle of the lake as your back cast is not limited on the dam wall. I cast out and began my retrieve long pulls at a medium pace after around 10 casts my long pulls were met with solid resistance and after a flurry of energetic runs a rainbow of just over 3lb lay safely in my net. This fish had taken the cat booby on the point a fly I have complete confidence in. I continued this same retrieve and achieved good results with my line once again locking up from long range at the start of my retrieve. This shows the fish are higher up in the water. One thing to note when hooking fish at range is that you must always keep a tight line, one bit of slack and the fish will be gone. The fight is unreal with the fish making several powerful runs before I am able to bring it to the net. Once again a lovely rainbow of around 3lb nestles in my net again on the cat booby. After around 30mins of no action I decided to move to the pontoon outside the cafe. Here the wind was extremely strong which limited my casting as it would be blowing straight at my face, however I knew with the wind blowing onto this bank there would definitely be fish here. Punching a line into the powerful wind was not easy but the rewards were great I was soon into action as the line locked up and I was into my third fish of the day. Several attempts were made by the fish to throw the hook including going airborne and heading deep under the pontoon. Finally I manage to get the fish in the net and what a lovely fish it was a pristine Blue trout once again around the 3lb mark. The fish at Curley's are a remarkable size and they fight like demons. It really is amazing fun! This fish had also taken the cat booby on the point. This proved the fish were higher in the water however a switch to the fast glass saw a cease in action so the trusty di3 sweep was back on and had an immediate effect. Changing around with retrieves my fast figure of eight was greeted with a solid tug followed by everything locking up. Whilst retrieving lures if you feel a pluck, tug or pull do not lift the rod until everything is solid. If I fish is nipping the fly if you continue your retrieve that fish will most likely take the fly as you continue or on the hang. I see many anglers lift the rod and sigh in disbelief. All you do by lifting the rod after a tug is move the flies out of a trouts line of sight. Anyhow, once again the fight is surreal with the fish heading for deep water then ripping to the surface. With the extreme wind it reminded me of videos I have seen of wild trout fishing on Jurassic lake Argentina. After a thrilling fight another blue trout this time just over 2lb lays in my net again on the cat booby. I keep mobile and move to pontoon 5 on the roadside. The sun soon appears to add to the nightmare conditions, but I know the fish are still catch able I count the line down to 20 seconds before commencing my slow figure of eight retrieve. This keeps the flies deep which is where the trout will head during bright sunshine. I am soon rewarded with a quick tightening of the line and I'm into another fish. Soon after I've hooked the fish I notice something different. The fight is long with the fish heading for deep water again and again something I can only describe as what a brownie or pike would do. After a tense battle I'm proud to scoop my net under the fish. A magnificent Curleys resident rainbow of around 2 and a 1/2 pounds. No wonder I found it hard to turn as it had a tail like a shovel. This fish had taken the cormorant on the middle dropper. Resident fish will take bright flies but often pick out the most drab flies on your cast that's why it pays to fish at least three and give them variety. I now know the fish are deep and decide to switch tactics. I choose to fish a team of four buzzers. I use a leader length of 22ft 5ft between each fly but 7ft between top dropper and my fly line of choice a midge tip. On the point I use a size 8 grub hook black buzzer with yellow cheeks coupled with black, olive and claret buzzers on the droppers. When buzzer fishing it's important to keep the retrieve as slow as possible eliminating any slack line. I soon have an arm wrenching take typical with buzzer fishing and I'm into a fish this fights similar to the last one however it shows it's intelligence trying to dive underneath the pontoon. I am able to stop the fish and soon have another Curleys resident in the net once again around 2 and a 1/2 pounds. With bars of silver like this I just can't help but love buzzer fishing. The fish took the point fly indicating the sun has pushed the fish right down. I continue to fish my buzzers and my determined attitude is rewarded with another solid hook up. This fish bores deep with my line just going straight down through the water column I manage to bring it up but it has lots of fight left as it burst away for deep water. It's not long before my net cradles another bar of silver, this time around 3lbs of resident rainbow. Almost grilse like with it's pristine fins, huge tail and bullet like shape I couldn't ask for anything more. This also took the point fly and concluded my trip to Curleys a place where, if you put in the effort you can reap the rewards, BIG TIME!
Thank you for reading.
Oliver
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