Moorabool frustration

[Sebb]

Went to morabool couple days ago on my fly gear, took a mate for his first time lake fly fishing.

No trout. Couldn't get past these little guys. Pretty frustrating. They were everywhere!
They took pretty much everything I put in the water.

https://youtu.be/Qq4GOLBIhWE

[happyfriggincamper]

What were you throwing/stripping?

[Sebb]

What were you throwing/stripping?

Streamers and nymphs, various sizes, various colours.
Mayfly/dun hatches everywhere but not a single trout rose to them. My guess is because those baby reddies were eating them aggressively.

[happyfriggincamper]

Never fished there but always got the impression moorabool was a solid trout lake and it gets good mentions in books. Perhaps moreso in winter - cold might tone down the mirco reddies and bring out the trout

[Sebb]

Never fished there but always got the impression moorabool was a solid trout lake and it gets good mentions in books. Perhaps moreso in winter - cold might tone down the mirco reddies and bring out the trout

Yeah I think so too. Winter be good to look for smelting trout. Use big wet fly kind of fishing. Or spoon/tassie devil with spin gear.

Was overcast day and I fished the sunset, was hoping dun hatches and some dry fly action. Despite the hatches did happen, the trout didn't rise.

[Longbombs]

When they're like that, try fishing the smallest buzzer or weightless nymph you have. Barely move it with a figure-8 retrieve.

Emerger patterns work well too - something like a Klinkhammer #14-20 (just make sure you don't put floatant on the body, only on the sticky-uppy part)

In winter, use smaller smelt imitations for Moorabool and other western lakes... like a #14 Tom Jones or BMS usually works well.