A regular on the Club's calendar, the Oberon Dam trip has proven popular and successful. With each year our understanding of the dam and it's trout improves and our catches increase. This year was our most successful yet.

With five club members booked for the trip I decided to bring my wife and daughter along (as family members) and make it a long weekend, following Bob and Anne up on Friday to make the most of the fishing. And in true Fly Rodders form the weather was looking dubious. Leaving home with heavy showers all the way through Sydney, it wasn't until we descended from the Blue Mountains that the weather began to clear. By the time we booked into our cabin at Oberon there was more blue stuff above us than grey and we sat back to enjoy a coffee and wait for the Williams to arrive.

Once Bob and Anne had arrived we prepared ourselves for fishing deciding to fish the western side of the dam just near town. Rain was still threatening when we arrived so we donned wet weather gear and headed off around the lake. The water level was up from our visit last year and had recently covered fresh grass, so the conditions were looking promising. Bob started fishing with a floating line while I tried a deeper tact with an intermediate. This meant fewer suitable places to fish, but hopefully bigger returns. I left Bob to some nice looking water and moved further around the lake to where the water looked deeper. On my second cast a solid weight was felt and I lifted into a nice 1.5lb rainbow. As soon as it was hooked the fish went ballistic and spent more time in the air than the water, but it soon calmed down and I managed to land it without too much effort. A quick photo and it was off to grow bigger. A few more casts in this area provided no further action so I moved a bit further around and tried again. No sooner had I cast into this new area than I was on. This time it was a bigger fish and it stayed down. After several runs to deeper water it revealed itself to be a nice brown of 3lb. Not bad for a couple of hours fishing. By now it was getting dark and I decided to head back to see how Bob had fared. I found him fishing to numerous rises with stories of almost-caught fish, but none landed. We decided to call it quits and head back for some dinner.

The next morning we were up early and out on the water by 5.30am. It was already quite light and we saw a few rises. Once again we went to work, Bob with his floater, me trusting in my intermediate line. I headed back to where I had my success yesterday and cast into the same area. Yet again I was on. And yet again another nice 3lber brown. I couldn't believe my luck. But it soon ran out as the sun peeked over the hills and the fishing went dead. Bob also managed a small rainbow before the sun appeared and we persevered for an hour or two more before heading back to the car and back for breakfast by about 8.30.

The rest of the group arrived early afternoon and after hearing our reports were keen to get out there. The conditions were a little windier and this time we weren't so lucky with the rain, copping some heavy downpours together with a spectacular sunset. The fishing was still quite encouraging with many rises. Rob Harwood managed a nice fish soon after arriving while the rest of us spread out around the lake edge. I headed off to find new territory but had little luck, seeing no fish for the rest of the afternoon. Bob, Browny and Shayne all had better luck with Bob landing a nice 2lb rainbow, Browny landing it's little brother and Shayne hooking a nice fish but losing it after it jumped and threw the fly. We headed back about 7.30 to have our traditional dinner at the Chinese restaurant at Oberon RSL.

An early rise on Sunday saw us on the water before we could see it. A heavy fog had descended and it was noticeably colder this morning but the sound of fish rising could be heard on the water as we approached the lake. Once again we spread out and cast towards the enticing bloops and it was frustrating to hear fish so close but not be able to cast accurately at them. Still, we persevered past sunrise with little success. I spotted some rises and headed towards them, but then I spotted the fish and noted it was the size of an overgrown goldfish. Bob, Shayne and Browny were having some close calls but hookups weren't forthcoming. By 8am the sun was high in the sky, the fog had burnt off, and we could see why we weren't having any joy. The water's edge was awash with spent insects, obviously from hatches throughout the night. It's my guess the fish had gorged themselves on the insects and were no longer hungry (apart from the odd smaller one). In fact the whole bay was covered in a slick of spent insects. It was time to go.

A breakfast of bacon and eggs back at the caravan park and we headed off back to the Central Coast. Bob and I stopped at Lake Lyell en route to see if it was worth a fish, but even though the water level was up it didn't look encouraging and we continued our journey home.