38km east of Bendigo. A pretty lake in an open valley. Saw plenty of Roos lying in roadsides paddocks on the way and at the Lake itself is a yacht club, a boat club, a kiosk, and lots of picnic areas with tables etc spread over this large park. Myriads of tracks lead off in all directions to boat ramps and launching spots. I drove down to one of the sheltered arms and started fishing near a big stump at the waters edge just off the wind line. Didn't take long before a feisty little rainbow trout grabbed the red woolly bugger (real name). I was using Grandad's flyrod reel and wet line, with one of my homemade lures. Not long after that another one slightly bigger took the lure and I landed her also. With a fishy tea assured, I moved around further to a rocky point but no more takes. The wind had started to come up and I changed rods to a threadline and veltic spinner. 3 retrieves later I hit a snag, only this one started to move away and I was attached to a strong fish. It was stubborn and refused to give up but I kept the pressure on and to my surpise a good-sized Redfin Perch came to the bank. It was just on a kilo in weight. The Rainbows were 500gms and 700gms respectively. They look different to the kiwi Rainbows, being hatchery bred and stocked into the lake as fingerlings.
There were several small boats out on the lake, and these started to trickle back in as the wind came up - time for me to leave. The fish are there, and I hope to get back and have some more fun - at least I've broken the duck and tonight I'll have the little 'uns on the BBQ with their tummies stuffed with butter, fresh mint, and wrapped in tin foil to keep the juices in. (SORRY GRANDAD)
The Jacaranda trees are out in flower - that lovely pale lilac colour - I'll post some pics during the week.
Petrol is $1.11 per litre at Caltex
TV: A new series of Red Dwarf starts on Monday ...... hooray
Supernatural also returns on Monday ......... spooky
All Blacks defeated France at Le Stade Velodrome Marseille 39 to 12 on Sunday morning. It wasn't just a defeat for the French, it was a rout on their home field. I listened to it on the internet via NZ Radio Sports feed.
BENDIGO Monday 30th
Raining and cool again. No complaints, it's good for the lovely state of Victoria. The Country Fire Authority (CFA) will be glad of the temporary respite.
Just a mention that the BBQ'd trout were very tasty done in tin foil, along with homemade potato wedges on the side. Porterhouse with vegs is on the menu for tonight.
Wednesday 2nd Dec
Did a tiki tour of the reservoirs around Bendigo. Primed the GPS for all the locations and let it take me there. First off was Crusoe reservoir, an amazing 7 mins drive from the caravan park. An attractive place with tree planting, tracks and seats, the water very low but not muddy so I threw a line in for half an hour. Nothing came to the hook but the water was low and warm. From there I went into town and then east to the suburb of Kennington. The lake there is quite lovely surrounded by native trees and well formed tracks. Rather than fish I went for a walk around the tracks. Lara the GPS then took me back to a small reservoir near Crusoe, called simply "No.7". This is a national park area with BBQ's, seats and formed tracks. The information board said that there was a colony of black parrots living in the local trees which apparently is quite rare for this part of the country, so we might go back one evening while in Bendigo and see if we can spot them. In the afternoon I joined the crowds at the shopping mall Kangaroo Flat.
