Who is Gus? What are you doing now?

Originally, I am from the southern Highlands, but have now found a home here in Tumut and loving it. It's a pretty cool place to be. I am a fly fishing guide on the Tumut river, Snowy Valleys region. My business is Haul Fly fishing. My focus has been the Tumut river, which has fished spectacularly well over recent years. When the country dried out in the last drought 2019/20, the Tumut river was pretty much bulletproof. Considering we could be heading back into an El Nino and drought, it is good to have that Tumut river bulletproof vest handy!

How did you start off guiding? How did you find your way on that journey?

I suppose the first time I'd experienced guiding as a profession and seeing it in all its glory was when I was working on a fly-fishing mother ship in the Seychelles around 2013. I was seeing these guys treated like rock stars and flown out to this 60-meter private fly-fishing yacht, paid a motza, and put into unreal accommodation to fish the best locations for a couple of weeks. This boat we were on was able to get into remote and inaccessible places because the owner would strike deals with the agencies and officials where he would donate the boat equal parts for scientific research if he could fish there as well. He had this huge yacht that he would put teams of researchers on, and they could then go to these really remote places and fish. I was just a deckhand on the boat, basically washing the boat and doing a bit of driving of toys and things like that, but it was here that I started to get right into fly fishing and got to witness some epic guiding work. Before then, fly fishing to me was a thing that I did as a hobby alongside other forms of fishing.

It was on the boat I started to think, "I can't wait to get home and fly fish trout again." Because all I was seeing out there were huge permit and all these saltwater trophies and I think a lot of that discovery of high end fly fishing made me homesick for some Australian fly fishing so I moved back to Moss Vale and sunk my teeth into fly fishing there.

What happened when you did get back Moss Vale? You eventually made your way down to Tumut and in the Snowy Mountains, but you were already guiding by then correct?

Yep. Josh Hutchins of Aussie Fly Fisher gave me my first start into guiding and took me on as a guide when he first started to take on extra guides, and the Southern Highlands was a region that had potential. Things matched up well there and I started guiding in the Southern Highlands region From there the chance came up to guide the drift boat scene on the Tumut. I came down here and have loved every minute. I am very glad I took that opportunity.

You have met some other incredible people along the journey, including some well-known figures in the industry. How is it having worked with someone like Jeremy Wade?

Working with Jeremy was amazing. Through Josh, we were tasked with showing Jeremy Wade and his film crew around a large area to showcase Murray Cod for his TV show, River Monsters. It is a great show where he builds  the story and the journey and the adventure into each episode as he's trying to get to the bottom of myths and mysteries of incredible fish species.

We got on really well with Jeremy and his film crew. It was the sort of situation where we would go for lunch or dinner at any stage, and I'd end up sitting next to Jeremy, and we'd just chat about random fishing topics, carp fishing for example - a couple of young fishing ratbags constantly talking fishing.

The prospect of a fishing trip to NZ came up I mentioned id love to take him on a trip one time, and I'd keep him posted when the next big season is in New Zealand. The next season the chance came. There was an explosion of the beech seeds, and the mouse plague occurred. I contacted Jeremy and said, “Let’s book two weeks to NZ, nothing fancy, no big ticketing, we’re going over as a boys’ trip, bring your sleeping bag, we’ll use them.” So we got over there, and sure enough, he was all game for it. We slept on the floor of our mate Sammy Hallington’s house in Twizel. We ended up doing 10 days on a mission around New Zealand’s South Island. It was an awesome trip. We did it the proper way, just fish bum mode fishing hard.

Jeremy was good fun as well. He was interested in the trout and fished hard, but every now and then we would turn around he would be there with his head over an undercut bank of a river  trying to wrestle out of an eel with his bare hands. He got one or two up which was pretty wild!

Back to the Murray Cod, those weeks doing the filming sounded fun. Was it a pretty big deal when Jeremy managed to land a cod on fly while on film?

Yeh pretty big moment. We had a tussle or two with a couple of big boys but it took us a while to crack the code. To his credit, Jeremy was having a red hot go the whole time and didn’t give up. When we did land one it was pretty awesome. Cod on fly is hard work, and to travel across the globe to work out a fish he had never seen before is pretty impressive. That his show though and he is a very professional operator. We never got the 1-meter benchmark, but we got some high 80s.

Looping back to New Zealand, what about any epic trips up in the North Island?

The North Island is so good. We did this trip up there with some great clients, just fishing nutcases. The fishiest guys who live for these kind of trips. We did a helicopter mission into the backcountry and went up a remote river known for solid wild rainbows. During that day we caught some crazy fish. I've never seen more circular, football-shaped fish. Absolute submarines. Perfect, wild, fish and plenty of them. Having jumped out of the chopper, and rounded on the first pool we were net with an absolute scene. That first pool was full of fish, it was mind-boggling how many were in there.  One of the guys steps up first cast, whales on one. It was like a seven half-pound rainbow. It was great, but I am now thinking how are we going to top that? I needn’t have worried. From then on, we went onhopping pool to pool and continued bettering or equalling the last one. All the fish continued as same calibre or bigger. I think they were all in that 7 to 9.5 pound range. We didn't crack the 10, but massive rainbows in gin clear water is something you can never complain about no matter what happens.

The day was so good I was actually given a shot a fish. After lunch the boys, having filled their boots already, turned to me and said “how about you have a go at this fish”. It was too good a chance to pass up, but I was feeling pretty awkward and a bit shocked when they said I could have a go. As a result, I completely butchered a straight up first cast and spooked the fish! I thought “oh that is my chance gone”. Lucky for me, said  have another go, and then thankfully I made the second cast and managed to get it right. That next fish came up and whacked the dry fly. It was the deepest football shaped fish I've ever caught and probably ever seen.

What about closer to home on some of the greener pastures back here? I know you've had some momentarily nerve-wracking moments up in the high country, do any stand above the rest?

So one of my favourite clients, who is also just a great friend and great person, Sean Seamer former CEO of V8 supercars, and I did a Snowy Mountains high country mission a few years back that stands out. He's from New Zealand and he grew up fishing the Tongariro so he's got plenty of experience but wanted thet Aussie back country trip.

Morning of, I go to pick him up in Tumut in my car at the time, a back up car the trusty Toyota Camry and he takes one look at says “nup”. Directs me over to his Porsche Carrera 9/11 GT3, which of course he has being CEO of the V8s and we proceed to high tail it up the mountains in that. I am not going to incriminate him but I’m not sure I have ever got up the climb from Talbingo quicker than I did that day!

On the walk in it had a real ‘snakey’ feel – already warm temperatures, long grass, very ominous. But we treaded carefully and tried to put it out of our minds. Approaching the first pool, the water looked absolutely prime time, and we are creeping along a bit of rocky, crag face trying to get into position, when from behind me I hear this ‘WHACK’. A tiger snake has emerged from a crevice at about knee height and struck at Sean around his hip region. In the process of trying to whack him it was caught up in his ultralight little Patagonia pants and it was all a bit of a palaver before the snake retreated back into the rock.

Catching our breath, recuperating we debriefed. Sean said he felt that snake had hit his pants near the groin but wasn’t sure it actually hit his body. From what we could see there were two distinct fang marks in in his pants. Upon closer inspection there was no visible marks on his skin, and he was pretty confident it had hit the section of his pants hanging loosely and therefore didn’t bite him. Adrenaline was high so we took stock for a moment, ensuring our thinking was rational. We went through all the appropriate procedures, taking heart rates every min, checking for nausea etc. I was pretty inclined to hit the EPRIB button but Sean insisted to sit tight and see if there was actually a reason to, he wasn’t convinced the snake got him. We sat still down in this river valley, waiting and checking his state periodically, for at least an hour. Sean insisted that he felt 100% fine, his heart rate reflected that – steady state the whole time. Cool as New Zealanders!

We decided that after such time, Seans observations must have been right. The snake didn’t actually get him. Onwards and upwards. We started fishing, still checking vitals and his state throughout the morning, all indicating he was fine, and got stuck into the day. Crazy whirlwind start to the morning.

Anyway, we managed to net so many great fish throughout the day, and in the closing moments of the day Sean hooked and landed the 5lb back country brown trout we came for. An epic fish, sight cast using a special ‘Convertible’ fly that he loves using. A fly that has notable features from all the hallmark dry flys, a post from a parachute fly, elk hair wings, peacock herl and red threaded body from a Royal Wulff, rubber legs etc. The burger with the lot. The idea is you can trim the fly down to match whatever fly type is needed. It originated in Montana US and it is a pretty cool concept. The hunt for this fish was awesome as well. I remember spotting it sitting high in the column, under a distinct bubble line but hugging right up against an undercut, right where he should be. Sean nailed the cast. We watched the trout dispatch from the bank moving out towards the fly and it came over and delivered a beautiful slow sip and turns back towards the bank dry fly in its mouth. The strike stuck and the fight was well played navigating a couple sticks, and we got the fish in pretty quickly. We were both over the moon. The trout was returned after getting a couple of quick photos and just we sat back in the long grass totally not thinking about snakes laughing and reflecting on what was an absolute whirlwind day. Sean told me there that this was the best back country fish he had ever caught. It was a pretty good feeling walking out of there.

The climb out of that spot is tough at the best of times, but on a hot day it is a killer. We were spent when we got back to the car, but a few beers leaning up against the 9/11 made for a very special setting to close out the day.

Epic – how does Sean reflect on that day now?

He still considers it one of the best, and craziest days fishing he has had. He had his 40th birthday not long afterwards and his wife reached out getting him a rod for his birthday. What we did was reach out to Jason Baird of Limnology Fly Rod to build this rod with a tiger snake skin that had been shedded, wrapped into the handle, and the ‘Convertible’ fly epoxied into the butt of the rod. Sean loved it. He was in awe when he received it. He doesn’t even use it, it is mounted in his office! We christened the rod the V8 tiger snake. An epic memento from an epic day.

Thanks Gus – I knew you had some crazy stories in your back pocket but wasn’t expecting anything like this.

No dramas mate, some great times but that is fly fishing hey!