Goodradigbee River a perfect Tenkara stream

[Tony Beasley]

Dave and I set off early Saturday morning on the weekend of 27-28th February, we where driving up to the mountains just west of Canberra and we planned to walk to a remote fishing spot on the Goodradigbee River that we have had our eyes on for a while now, this was my first trip with my new Tenkara Yamame rod.

We parked our vehicle at the Mt Franklin car park on top of the Brindabella Range, put our packs on and headed west, our target was only 3.2k away but it had a decent of 750 meters, the problem was there was no trail and the area is recovering from bushfires that went through the area in 2003 and the re-growth was very thick, this was not too bad just after the fires but a lot of the re-growth is now above head high and the weaker plants have not started to die off yet, in places it is not possible to see past your nose.

The 3.2k walk down to the river took us 4 hours and as it was still hot, we where quite exhausted when we arrived at our destination, in places it was very tough walking, whoever was leading spent a bit of time getting up from falls as fallen timber was hard to see, the scrub was easier on some of the steep ridges but the steepness was hard on our knees.

After a rest and lunch we pulled out our rods and I was first to tie up, I put my line in right next to our camp site and on my third cast I got my first fish a nice little Rainbow, a few seconds later my second and then a third, Dave, in between tying his fly on took some photos for his next article and by the time he put his fly in the water I had six small rainbows and from the 10 meter stretch of water next to the camp site I pulled out 10 fish, wow what a start.

Dave soon caught up and we where pulling in fish at will, after a while we lost count, we estimate in the afternoon we caught 50 or so rainbows each, this fishing spot is very special and is protected by some of the most rugged country in the region, it is only a few madmen like Dave and me who are brave or stupid enough to venture into it.

As it turned out the Goodradigbee was a perfect river for a Tenkara rod.

Well for the walk out that is another story, in the morning it started to rain, we left camp early, some 7 hours later we made it back to the car.

Tony

A few photo’s from the trip

<center>

</center>

<center>

</center>

[t.darrah]

Tony what Tenkara rods were the two of you using? Thanks for sharing the adventure.

[Tony Beasley]

Hi Thom,

We where both using Tenkara Yamame's, my BPL Hane did not arrive until 3 days after my Easter trip, as the season is coming to an end here in Australia it could be next season before I can use it.

Tony

[Craig]

hey Tony

Good to see that you are putting that Yamame to good use, glad it has found a good home. Love the pics. I've been doing similar down south of you, but mixing it up between conventional chzech and tenkara.

all the best,
craig

[Tony Beasley]

Hi Craig,

I love using the Yamame that you sold me, though I nearly carelessly lost it at Easter.

I have my Hane now, it turned up just after Easter, but I will probably not be able to use it this season.

I hope your NZ trip went well and you caught lots of big fish.

Tony

[Eugene Smith]

What an effort getting to the river, though the fruits of your labor seem well worth it. Thanks for sharing.

[Craig]

Tah. NZ was as usual brilliant. I fished several streams that were prefect for tenkara. Very affirming, if I could put it that way – a fish in every spot there should have been one, eager to jump at a cicada pattern (yup, they was on). THere are monsters in even the small creeks that will blow a tenkara away, but you can still use one for the rest.

craig

[Author]

Posts