Trout and Redfin can both be found in South Australia in river, stream and lake/dam environments. In South Australia we have Brown and Rainbow Trout with the Rainbow's being the Steelhead strain from North America. The fish grow large with the state record Brown being 7.96kg and the record Rainbow being 7.4kg. Redfin don't grow quite as big but have been caught to about 2.6kg and seen to about 3.5kg. Most Trout caught in our waters are between 1 and 3 pounds with bait, lure and fly fishing all finding popularity but bait fishing perhaps outfishing the other two methods.
This Redfin came from the Murray River in South Australia and took a shrimp being wound in just before home time.
Now to look at the various methods used for catching the fish in South Australian waters.
Bait fishing is probably the most popular and effective way of catching trout in South Australia. Certainly it is the method I prefer to catch them, because it is relaxing and rewarding. I believe that light line is better for the catch rate and while I fish 1kg primarily the optimum classes would be 2 - 3kg. Baits are many and varied certainly but good standbys to use are Earth/Tiger worms, small Yabbies, Frogs, Maggots and Sweetcorn. Techniques vary upon the area to be fished. If you are fishing a stagnant or slow moving pool then waggler or leger fishing is a good method. In this situation berley consisting of breadcrumbs, coconut and some chopped up hook bait moistened and rolled into golf ball sized clumps is relatively effective in attracting the wandering fish. Fishing light floats or bottom baits will catch you many fish out of the pool. This method also accounts for some good Reddies. In the faster stretches of the rivers or creeks the technique used is different. I find the most effective way to fish these regions is with unweighted size 8 or 9 hooks and 2 or 3 worms for casting weight. Casting upstream and allowing the bait to naturally drift down is a deadly practice but the fish must not be hit too early. Perhaps an even better technique for big fish is polaroiding them, casting ahead and letting the bait drift back 5 to 10 metres right to the waiting fish.
Lures can be used in South Australia and are an enjoyable way to catch fish, even if you require a lot of patience to continually cast and retrieve all day for very little result on the majority of occasions. Small deep diving lures work well in the deeper pools to be found in many northern streams and patterns like the Rebel Crawdad and Rapala CD3 and 5 work in these situations. In the deep stretches of flowing river effective lures vary between the above mentioned ones and things that are shallower divers like Attack lures, BeeDee 40mm Scud and Baby Merlins, also in this type of water small spinners like the Rublex Celta's and Mepps Black Fury's take fish.
Steele Whyte with a Victorian lure caught Brown of 1.75kg.
In the shallow creeks that are clear and fast flowing lure fishing is not really all that successful. Lures 'worth trying' in these creeks are the very smallest Mepps and Celta's with red flash on the blade. Very Shallow diving minnows like the Shallow BeeDee 40mm Scud can also prove effective in some areas but if lure fishing these shallow creeks it is important that casts are placed well forward of any visible fish because they will spook easily if lures land too close to them.
Fly fishing is popular amongst a small band of South Australians. I think it is fair to say that most South Aussie fly fishers are members of one of the fly fishing clubs, and I think I will say it now....I enjoy all methods of fishing that is bait, lure and fly. True I don't fly fish a whole lot and this is my choice, it is my choice what I feel like doing and shall always remain so. Now in past instances I have met others who are fly fishing on the same day as I choose to fish bait or lures, now a number of these are great blokes who are easy to talk to when you meet and usually a fair whack of your fishing day is spent talking. However, recently there has been an increase in the number of, how shall I say......Asshole's, that happen to be around. Just the other day I was confronted by a god's gift to the world fly fisher who happened to be better than me, my fishing partner and just about anyone else who fishes. I do not appreciate someone telling me that bait fishing is wrong, immoral or anything else and being told that fly fishing is the "purest" form of trout fishing. The way I look at it nothing is more natural than a live bait! please forgive me if I'm wrong but i don't believe I am. If the wand waver who I'm talking about reads this, and I hope he does, you can shove your "long wand" where the sun don't shine. That said I can now get on and talk about the pleasureable aspects of fly fishing and some of the successful methods on local waters.
Outfit weight in South Australia normally ranges between 4 and 6 weight. Tippets are best being 7-9 feet long and fly patterns that work in the majority of cases are things such as small Brown Nymphs, Bead headed nymphs, Red Tags, Stonefly nymphs and Black/Brown beetle patterns. On the larger waters and pools larger flys like Mrs Simpson's, Woolly Worms and Muddler Minnows have all accounted for good sized fish. Hopefully this brief information will help the travelling angler.
Redfin are a very, very easy fish to catch on bait or lures in South Australia. They are prolific and aggressive by nature. I suppose the most simple way to catch a Reddie is to chuck out an unweighted bunch of worms and slowly bounce it back to you. This technique is known as 'sink and draw' and is deadly on Redfin and also picks up the odd Trout. My best catch of Reddies in a 4 hour session from a short stretch of river was 31. All these fish took worms on size 12 hook and 1kg line. Other baits work well but are generally employed only when seeking the larger trophy sized fish. These baits are such things as Galaxids, Yabbies and Shrimps. The best rigs are either unweighted baits or waggler rigs with the bait suspended about 1/2 - 1 foot above the bottom. Really there is not much more to say apart from the best regions are the still waters like dams, lakes and slow pools or slow stretches of river. They really do not like the fast water to be found in some rivers.
The Redfin being as aggressive as it is lends itself well to the technique of lure fishing. Although you still wouldn't want to go to heavy in your line (maybe 3kg) the Redfin is not as wary as the Trout in S.A. My biggest Reddie is only a 1 1/2 lber but this fish took a small Rebel minnow Float lure in Rainbow Trout colour. I find this lure and also the same model in Brown Trout colour to be the most effective lure I have ever used to catch Redfin. In fact all of my Redfin over 1 pound have taken a lure and not bait. I find another excellent lure to use in our rivers and dams is the Rublex Celta range in the smallest size with either Red flash or a black/yellow flash on the blade. The one thing I believe is necessary for lure fishing for Reddies is the retrieve speed. I ALWAYS use a retrieve speed such that the lure is only just swimming properly, of course with a bladed lure this is slightly faster but it is still best to keep this lure only just above the bottom on the retrieve. When the strike comes it is a slow bending of the rod and there is usually sufficient time to strike gently into the fish. most fish caught in S.A are a pound or less.
Onkaparinga River (Clarendon - Mylor) , Light River (Above Kapunda), Wakefield River (Auburn - Saddleworth), Broughton River (Yacka - Spalding), Torrens River (Birdwood - Athelstone), Finniss River (Goolwa/Strathalbyn Road), Para rivers, Deep Creek, Fifth Creek, Meadows Creek, Bull Creek, Tookayerta Creek, Gawler River, Rocky River and the Burra Creek.
Part of the lovely Burra Creek showing a set of narrows leaving from the base of a long deep pool.
There are many more streams, creeks, rivers and dams that the fish can be found in but fishing the already mentioned areas is a good choice. Unfortunately many areas are on private property and cannot be fished without permission but there are also many good public areas like the Onkaparinga Gorge and Clarendon Oval, the Riverton Reserve on the Gilbert River and the Burra Creek Gorge.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FISHING!
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