If you know

We stalked up one of the branches, spotting rainbows as we went.  This offered a completely different experience to the morning session, with slow water, longer casts and a much higher degree of stealth required.  We had also switched from a New Zealand indicator rig to a classic dry dropper set up.  The dry flies were smaller than I would intuitively reach for, with a beaded nymph being happily held up by a size 14 parachute dry in the slack water.  This was inspected, though not taken, by our targets, as was the beetle pattern on Sam’s rod.  Thankfully the nymphs were not subjected to such scrutiny, and fish up to about a pound gladly accepted the offering. 

We caught plenty of fish on our guided day, and both left with boots adequately filled.  Not bad for an early spring day in seemingly unfishable river conditions.  The real value, I came to realise, wasn’t really in the experience of the day itself, great though it was.  I probably would have intuitively headed up the catchment to escape the bustling lower water, and may have even figured out for myself some of the spots that we were taken.  But we had 4 days in the Vic high country.  I would have burnt at least three trying to nut it out.  And whilst there is merit and enormous satisfaction in figuring out a fishery for the first time, holiday time is precious.  From the one day on the water with our guide, I learnt where to consider fishing with our limited time and where to look once at the river.  We were even pointed to a couple of locations to check out in our remaining days (which proved fruitful and diverse). 

This was what I took away from my first time being guided.  Being given an idea of what works and where to consider going.  I wouldn’t do it every time, but with days on the water being of the essence, and an expected further three unbroken months in the office ahead, I had no regrets whatsoever.  Needless to say, a day of exposure to both professional experience and local expertise also challenged a few of my preconceptions.  This was best summarised in one lesson from the start of the day: 

“People always think they need to get an hour out of town.  It sometimes pays to look a little closer.”

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