When you think of Australia, what comes to mind? White sand beaches? Maybe some Kangaroos jumping through a field, or the Sydney Opera-House smack in the middle of a beautiful harbor.
What doesn’t come to mind for me, is trout fishing… For the longest time, I didn’t even realize Australia had trout fishing… Until we finally had a chance to link up with our friend Josh from Aussie Fly Fisher. Josh has been a long-time friend, and we have been following his Australian adventures for a long time now. He continues to push the boundaries of Australia’s fisheries, from Monster Murray cod, world-class saltwater flats, to trout on Mainland Australia… And beyond.
This story will be starting in the Snowy’s our first stop on this Australian rollercoaster.
On 4 May 1864, the first brown trout eggs ever successfully shipped to Australia hatched in the cool waters of Plenty River, Tasmania – causing a ripple effect for both fishing and conservation that endures to this day. These baby trout became the primary stock for the waters of Australia and New Zealand – and eventually made their way into the water of the Snowy Mountains. Brown trout and rainbow trout have thrived here for over 150 years! And we had the pleasure of being able to fish for them.
Our first day on the water was floating a beautiful meandering river at the base of the Snowy’s. It was here we met our guide Mickey Finn, a hilarious character who has fish blood running through his veins.
Mickey helped assemble our raft for the day while Josh prepared the rods, and we pushed off for an early afternoon float that leads into the evening.
As we pushed down the river the scenery only became more beautiful. Cow pastures, wild horses, kangaroos, old-growth trees, and… trout! At this point, the trout were just a bonus, but they were there. We were throwing a 5 weight rod and targeting these fish on dry droppers for the main part. As the sun began to set fish were sipping like a western trout stream. No monster fish were caught, but we had an amazing day, and we would highly recommend planning a day float trip with the Aussie Fly Fisher crew.
That night we headed up to Micky’s cabin high in the snowy’s. It was a cold night, comforted by a few beverages and Micky plucking his guitar…. We hit the water early the next morning and hiked into a beautiful snow gum forest.
We were the only anglers on the water, and site fished to some monster brown trout! This morning was definitely the highlight of our Snowy’s trip, we accomplished exactly what we came for, and had a great taste for what this area offered.
Next Stop Sydney Harbor!!
Thanks to Tourism Australia for helping make this possible.
