I am avoiding posting at the moment based on the philosophy that most people <23 subscribe these days of only do what you feel like doing and only if it's entirely in your own self-interest! To be honest I cannot wait for the return of our other guides from NZ in a couple of weeks as we are flat out here and the extra man-power will be a great help at this point in time.
The fishing has been good but you wouldn't know it as there has been very few people on the rivers fishing outside of the long weekends. This is great for us as we are very busy with guide jobs and other work; hence the perfect balance of cashflow and no crowds to contend with. Thank whatever higher power you believe in for the breaking of the drought which has seen fisherman spread out across the state and not just head for the only place with water i.e. below Lake Eildon.
Things are going to be crazy here until Easter or thereabouts with a film crew coming into town and booking out every able bodied man and every hotel/cottage/room available. Without giving anything away, they are shooting a pilot for SONY-NBC called 'Frontier' or 'The Frontier' and will be turning parts of the Thornton area into the Oregon trail; complete with Indian villages, grade 5 whitewater in the Goulburn and a host of actors from TV Shows like Brotherhood and films like the underrated 'In the Valley of Elah'.
This is about all I can say about it but if you are in the area fishing in the next 6 weeks it would be worth dropping by for a mud map of which areas to avoid, as some sections of river will be very busy with shooting scheduled for several locations on the Goulburn here at Thornton/Breakaway.
Geoff has been working with this crew for about 2-3 weeks now and as such has done very little guiding. Werner has stepped in to pick up the slack and I have been getting babysitters and getting out more myself. We have found some good fishing with lots of options for those that like big rivers and small creeks alike.
The Goulburn has been at around 2000 Meg for about 5 days now. This has improved hatches out of sight with the return of the morning caenids the biggest surprise. It is almost as good as the November hatches. Grey and rusty duns are coming off through the day along with a smaller olive species; but evening has been about the grey and kossies. Parachute ties are working best as are emergers.
Small attractors continue to fish well. Drop by for more info. Don't forget the smallest of the Yellow Sally's which we now have in stock once again. The 18's really work well even in the heaviest, fastest water. Their two wings, one vertical and one swept back, are highly visible as long as there is some sunlight.
Hoppers in the smaller sizes are working well. #12 Miss Knobby X's will take a lot of fish but it must be stressed for the umpteenth time that this is not a normal hopper year. We are not getting masses of larger hoppers along the rivers and most flies should be smaller in size to more accurately match what is going on.
I have gotten out a few times in recent days and have caught fish in all but one terrible session. How do you not catch a fish in 2-3 hours when the river has just gone from 4000 to 2000? That is the question I am asking myself and just as people have a lucky hat or rod, being more likely to dwell on the negative I believe the reverse is also true. Hence the new Ex-Officio shirt I wore for that session will be ceremoniously thrown into the bonfire as an offering to the gods that I have no doubt offended somewhere along the way.
FYI we are putting together our list for Patagonia this December and it looks like the tentative dates are Dec 1-8. Sing out if you are interested. I should also mention that we once again have in stock the following:
- CDC emergers (caddis) # 14-16
- Bushys Duns Chocolate and grey # 12-18
- Miss Knobby X Hoppers # 8-14)
- Black foam beetles with hi vis sighter #16-18
The willow grubs on the Goulburn are all but done for the moment with most trees now denuded and the fish vacating some of the backwaters to sit in the slower bubble lines; the river being at 2000 MLD now. There are some spots along it and also on smaller streams that will offer some good grubbing but by and large if you haven't been up yet you have just about missed it for this season.
The smaller rivers are all fishing well. Too many to mention and too fragile to expose. Drop by if you need a push in the right direction.
Hope this finds you well. Interesting times up here with film crews, guides returning from NZ and the start of the run into the closed season. Then it's off to Montana and BC. Yay. Roll on September and we start it all over again.....
Many clients comment that it's a guide's life; I would agree unless we are taking pay cheques into consideration! In which case we would be better off managing a McDonalds somewhere in the burbs.
Cheers
Antony
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