I suppose it is true that in recent years I have tended more and more towards dry-fly and haven't used wets much at all. When you struggle to find a decent wet-fly among the rusty and chewed looking rejects in the fly pouch, it is time to admit that you haven't tied any for a few years and any respectable ones have long since been given away.

Yes, I have become a bit of a lazy 'polaroider', waiting for a nice patch of sun or a decent hatch or fall of insects to entice me out on the water during the 'civilized' hours of the day. This business of getting up at some ungodly hour to chase 'tailers' in the first of the light, or waiting until after dark to tempt a big percheating brown out of the logs, doesn't seem to have the appeal it did as a teenager. But something else has been missing about my wet fly fishing, and it was only last season that I realised what it was. Simply, rainfall. For years the Tasmanian lake country hasn't been getting quite the rainfall that it should.

Looking back to when I started fly fishing, springtime flood-fishing was something that I took for granted. Rising lake levels pushed water right back into the tussocks and tea-trees, and the trout gorged on earthworms, grubs, caterpillars and spawning frogs.

Last October there was plenty of rain and snow in the high country, and things were pretty much back to normal. With the rising water levels, spring-time wet fly fishing quickly regained its appeal. Bronte and Pine Tier were back in the tussocks, Echo was up in the tea-trees, the Western Lakes flooded beyond recognition and even Great Lake sprawled out over new ground. There I was again, reliving my flyfishing apprenticeship, crouching knee-deep among the tea-trees and hiding behind the trunks of flooded swamp-gums, dibbling the Fur Fly in front of unsuspecting trout.

KNOWING WHAT TO LOOK FOR - When the trout are actively feeding they aren't that difficult to findÑ though you won't see them if you're up to your waist in the water fishing out beyond the flooded vegetation! They fossick about in the extreme shallows, tailing and finning about, charging from here to there, bowwaving and swirling as they go. Frog feeders tend to hold-up in a likely spot, then dash headlong and splash as they ambush frogs in the tussocks. Later in the season, tadpole feeders swim quickly through the shallows, often bow-waving as they go, and at times will make smash-and-grab raids into narrow gutters where tadpoles are cornered. On the other hand, worm feeders are slow and sneaky and creep about, just stirring and bumping the surface now and then. Keep an eye out for rising fish too, particularly subtle sippers. If water levels are still on the way up, plenty of marooned grubs, beetles, caterpillars, spiders and the like will be flushed out of the scrub to join a smorgasbord of struggling goodies on the surface film. Unscrupulous fly fishers have been known to trample the odd tussock or push a bush under to flush out more insects so as to add to the feast. Tut, tut!

WHERE TO LOOK When the lakes are really high it is not just the ready availability of food that causes trout to venture in so close. There is so much cover under bushes and logs that they shift home completely and don't even bother retreating into the deep. Even when they are not feeding, trout will hide in knee-deep water among the teatree thickets right through the middle of the day.

It pays to look for individual fish rather than casting blind, but it does not hurt to prospect the odd deeper hole as you go. As the water rises, wheel ruts, foot tracks and game trails become convenient passages for trout; along with small clearings, deeper hollows, and gutters formed by inflowing creeks and runnels, these are all prime places to search for fish.

At times trout distribution can be patchy, so it makes sense to cover plenty of water until a fish is located - even if it's spookedÑthen look carefully thereabouts for more. I suspect that this patchy distribution is more food and cover related than due to some sort of social interaction, but it is worth noting in any case.

Good places are grassy bays as opposed to rock or clay shores, and thick patches of flooded vegetation as opposed to areas with sparse cover. Also, be guided by your ears and concentrate on areas where the frogs are making the most racket. If there are plenty of frogs in the water and they are making a din, it is a safe bet that the trout know they are there, whether they can hear them or not, and I certainly suspect that they can!

SHORT-LINING - If the fish are right up in the sticks, casting can be quite a challenge. There won't be much room for a backcast and the target may be a clear patch of water not much bigger than the seat of a kitchen chair. The secret is to get right up close and to blend in with the surroundingsÑif necessary hide behind a bush or make like a tree. Shortlining is the name of the game, and improvisation is the order of the day. Steeple casts, side casts, roll casts, back-hand casts and bow-and-arrow casts are all useful here, but at times it is sufficient just to flip, poke or dibble the fly in front of a likely candidate at close range.

Fishing a short line makes senseÑ not only does it give a better chance of presenting the fly correctly first time and, if necessary, lifting it back off the water again cleanly to recast without snagging a tussock, but it also offers the best possible chance of actually seeing a trout and interpreting its actions correctly. The ideal is to be able to polaroid a fish and watch exactly what it is doing and where it is going. Even in overcast conditions, provided the water is sufficiently clear, it is possible to look into the reflections and polaroid trout through calm windows in the lee of bushes and tussocks. The idea is to sneak about slowly, use any available cover, wade smoothly without shaking the water, and peer discreetly over bushes and around tree trunks. Camouflage clothing, dyed fly lines and matt finished rods all help to shift the odds in favour of the accomplished floodfisher.

One of the most captivating aspects of fishing in the sticks is that trout will come so close. The other day I had one glide out from under a bush, swim right into my shadow and take the fly literally at my feet. I barely had the fly line out through the tip ring. A friend standing nearby commented that all he could see was me standing rigid in the middle of a tea-tree thicket, water nowhere in sight, dangling the line under my rod tip. It wasn't until I struck and the fish went berserk, that he realised what I was doing in there!

SUITABLE FLIES - A floating nymph or nondescript dry fly, such as a Red Tag or Zulu, can be handy if there is plenty of food on the surface. The trouble is that there is usually plenty of non-edible rubbish rafted-up on the surface too, so if a particular trout isn't actively taking off the top and/or it doesn't happen to see the fly land, it is just as likely to swim right underneath and just keep going. I would rather set a trap with a wet fly and know that the trout can't ignore it, whether it takes or refuses.

The Mrs Simpson, Hamills Killer, Woolly Worm and a variety of Matukas will all take trout among the sticks, but my first choice is always a Fur Fly. The epitome of simplicity and functional design, this fly works where other wets fail. It is little more than a tuft of fur tied to a bare hook, but its semi-buoyancy, natural colour and lifelike action make it a deadly pattern for fishing flooded lake margins. It lands with an attractive 'splat', flares out and barely sinks in the water; when it is drawn with the merest twitch of the rod tip it pulses and rides up nicely, then expands again and settles slowly when left inert. The use of natural fur also gives the fly a positive scent and flavour, which may be far more important than most of us care to admit.

INERT PRESENTATION - Even more important than the actual fly, is the way it is fished. At times they will grab just about any wet, just tossed in and retrieved, but more often than not they won't. People often bemoan the fact that these trout can be very difficult to catch, especially when they are feeding on worms. The 'inert fly' is undoubtedly the secret to this sort of fishing. Put the fly down with firm conviction, letting the trout know that it has arrived, then only move it if the fish doesn't a react spontaneously. Twitch it a little if you must, but the instant the trout shows any interest, just let the fly settle in the water and allow the fish to do the rest. I know just how tempting it is to keep drawing the fly, especially if the trout is right on its hammer, but, believe me, no matter how excited the trout may appear, if it's in one of those peculiar moods the odds are that it won't grab the fly cleanly unless it has come to a complete standstill.

TABLE MANNERS - I have long known how to fool these trout, but it wasn't until a recent outing that I developed a theory to explain exactly why it works. The water was nice and clear, and right up amongst the tea-trees. The Fur Fly I was using was black with a bright yellow head and both fly and trout were easy to see through the polaroids at close range. It was fascinating to watch. A fish would come right up to the fly, then stop, fins flared, before opening its mouth and actually sucking the fly back inÑperhaps this is how they pick up worms. Any forward movement of the fly meant that the trout would fail to suck it in properly, resulting in a near miss or a pricked fish at best. It is hard to imagine why a trout would play around with a #8 Fur Fly, trying to suck it in like a vacuum cleaner rather than just engulfing it, but that is how it was.

I have had other occasions to notice that trout seem to get locked in to a particular method of eating, as opposed to the conventional wisdom about selective feeding on a particular type of food. Table manners, if you like, as opposed to choice of food. Sub-surface mudeye feeders are a classic example that comes to mind. Perhaps this propensity to eat in a particular way explains why trout can be difficult to hook at times, or show an extraordinary amount of interest in a fly but fail to actually take it properly. I've seen a lot written about how flies should look and how they should sit or swim in the water, but not too much about how trout go about eating them! Getting back to the success of the Fur Fly in this particular instance, even though it is pretty bulky it is semi-buoyant and the trout were able to suck it in quite happily. A heavier fly or one with fur dubbed more tightiy, may well have failed the test.

THE OLD RULES -When forced to fish blind, the old rules hold true for this type of fishing as much as for any other lake work. Keep out of the water if possible and pay close attention to the shallows first. If wading is unavoidable take great care and use available cover to best advantage. Fish the water systematically and prospect all the likely gaps, gutters and cavities with a short manageable lineÑcasting too far in front is likely to send trout scurrying.

Pay special attention to overhanging bushes and to logs, wherever a trout might find shelter. Deeper gutters and hollows, clear pockets and pathways, and the mouths of inflowing creeks and runnels are all worth a cast or two. The secret when casting blind is to retrieve in short pulls with long pauses in between, and to watch the retrieve intently for any sign of a fish. If there is a lunge or bow-wave after the fly, then stop the retrieve and give the fish plenty of opportunity to pick it up. Often there will be a conspicuous swirl, a glimpse of white as the trout opens its mouth, or a flash or 'wink' under water as it turns on the fly. Then tighten, with confidence.

TACKLE - Leaders for this sort of fishing need to be short and manageable, no more than rod length. It doesn't matter if the fly goes in with a bit of a splatÑmore often a crash landing is a plus rather than a minus. Sixpound tippet is about as light as it pays to go when the water is full of bushes and logs. As soon as the hook is set it is a matter of taking the fight right up to the fishÑholding them if necessary and steering them forcefully away from danger.

The high-modulus 5-weight that I have adopted for sight fishing really is a bit light for this sort of workÑa 6 or 7-weight would be betterÑin fact, it is worth getting out the old rod for bashing around in the trees and tussocks. Be warned, when fishing heavy tippet don't try snatching the fly back out of a bush or tussock by giving a good yank with your best rod. That might have worked with the old fibreglass 8-weights, but I wouldn't punish a feather-weight high-modulus rod that way.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY - Perhaps what I have described is not classic fly fishing, having more in common with jungle warfare than a suitable recreation for gentlemen, but poking about in the sticks and hoodwinking trout at close range can be a great deal of fun. I hope I haven't made it sound too straight-forward, because, as usual, it is not that simple. After all, it is pretty easy to spook trout under these conditions, or not to see too many at all. If you don't look behind like-as-not the fly will end up in a tree, and if the cast is a foot off target the fly will catch in a tussock.

If you do manage to hook one there is every chance it will tie knots around every obstacle in sightÑand around a few you don't see as well! For that matter, it is not too difficult to trip over a hidden log or fall into a hole yourselfÑwet waders are par for the course.
In the world of fly fishing I would certainly rate fishing in the sticks with a high degree of difficulty. But isn't that what good fly fishing is all about?