Straight from the Pros - Mark Bulley's Three Hot Tips
Mark started fishing the creeks and rivers of the Monaro as a boy with his uncle. Mark developed a passion for flyfishing as a teenager and especially loved the places that it took him. Over the years Mark has enjoyed fishing all over Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe. Always trying to discover new methods to trick the trout, Mark started competition fishing in 2009. Lots of time fishing and practicing has led to success at the State, National and International levels of competition.
Mark first represented Australia in 2011 at the Oceania competition (Adaminaby NSW) where he finished with an Individual Silver and was part of the team that was also placed 2nd overall. Since that first time representing Australia, Mark has since been part of the 2013 Oceania team (New Zealand) and 3 world teams in 2013 (Norway), 2017 (Slovakia) & this year (Australia). Mark’s highest World result to date was an Individual 29th and team 5th (both in Slovakia).
Since commencing competition fishing Mark has developed invaluable skills and friendships.
Marks hot tips on becoming a better fly angler are;
1. SPEED: In fast heavy water, look for the softer, smooth patches in between the main currents or the edges. Fish like fast food coming to them, but don’t like to work hard for it. If you are wading this type of water and find a spot where you feel comfortable in, and the water is not pushing you too hard, you are probably in the middle of the trout’s kitchen.
2. DEPTH: In rivers or lakes, try to work out how deep the river or lake bed is and adjust your fly depth to suit. Each time you drift on the river, let your fly drop a little deeper, building up a mental picture of the river-bed below. In a lake, observe the lay of the land that surrounds you and predict how the lake-bed Is configured. Count your flies down each time you cast, let them sink a little longer each time until you hit the bottom, or find the level the fish are active.
3. LOCATION: Remember the type of water you catch a fish in and look for similar locations. In lakes it could be deep water or the shallow, grassy banks, muddy edges or rocky points. Use the knowledge you gain from catching a fish to help catch the next one. Similarly with rivers, if you catch a fish on the edge his mates are probably in a similar location. Think about its position in the runs or pools:
· Are they in the head or tail of the pool?
· What amount of current are the fish comfortable with?
· What type of bottom structure are they on?
Soon a pattern will appear about the fish’s preferred location.
