Lake Bullen Merri on the 22/7-23/7

Count me in. Would prefer to do Saturday if possible - leaves Sunday to recover.

Went out to grab the minnows but found the labels have come off in the salt. See pics anyway. The black and white one on the bottom did most of the damage. I'll try find the names and post again.

Flies -
> Olive woolley variant - I tie it with about 8 turns of lead under. Black marabou tail, mix of amber/ olive seals fur to the body with a touch of red seals fur to the head, copper ribbing, olive cape hackle - size 8-12 (pic is a 12 - its just over an inch)
> Trusty BMS in white with a flash of red
> tom jones in the darker colours
> I also do a matuka style smelt with a grey body and a pair of olive grizzly hackles for the wing
(sorry, I only have pic of the first and it's too cold to run out to the shed again)

use fast sink line

Squid, Bullen Merri beats me up mostly but I get the odd good punch in...so I'm keen to see how a Mango cover of fly/Sp/Hb's all go. A lot of guys also catch bigger stock at night with lake netted gudgeon/minnows. Opera style nets with cat food seem the go. For the trolling work, I'd probably start near the surface early on flatlining a spoon (Black and Gold Toby style or Pegron minnow in Bullfrog pattern) or ya Pink/Black Tassie as well as a larger bibbed minnow (9cm Rapala or 9cm Storm Thunderstick). Once the suns a bit higher on the lake I'd start to use my paravanes to get deeper..if ya yet to buy one go a Fishseeker by Davis. The chart will show the settings needed to get down to specific depths, but don't be afraid to try variations down to even 60ft out a little wider later in the day. The banks contours give a good indication of how the water drops away beneath ya. A fav trolling run of mine around Potters Point to the 2nd boat ramp and especially the sections where the lip is around Potters Point to the 2nd string of trees on the left as ya work ya way around. Another option is in front of the clubhouse, accross the front of the main boat ramp, as far as the grassed area which will probably have a tent or two on it. A bit of wind chop seems to assist bringin em on. If it's not happening at the Bull, it's only 15 mins to Purrumbete...although more weed there for a troller. A request for Mr Hoit, could ya get a few action shots of PhillipL weaving some fly casts if ya get a chance...akff needs some more fly fishing piccies. Good luck gents, I can almost smell the big one in ya take...oh hang on that's me feet again .