Day 2 Harrietville trip

The morning dawned with clear sky and mild weather, perfect conditions for me. I walked down to Archie's bridge and began with a nymph. Got a few nice trout early and once i arrived at the deep hole where they measure the river depth I tied on a very heavy nymph to get down deep. No action for quite a while but its far to good not to hold fish. I had a massive hit on the fly and of course missed the take. Got a couple more on the way and decided to fish up to school bridge. Had a couple hit my indicator and one fish in particular displaced a lot of water. I cleared up the access to that hole as I walked past. I'll try for him again tomorrow. Got up near the road and took two more fish from the run below the bridge. Another cast and a big take saw me hook into the biggest fish I've had on a hook. A big brown trout, very very dark on top and a deep golden colour. I couldn't control him at all. He took me to the top of the pool many times and then back to his rocks. I fought him and kept him out. He took me into the reeds but I kept him out as well. I had big pressure on him for a long time between the rock, the reeds and the current that ran between both snags. Couldn't get him to come down stream into quieter water. I could see how big he was and I desperately wanted to put a tape on him, but the pressure was too much and one more time between snags and as he went across the current he flipped off and skulked away under the reeds. My heart was racing and I couldn't believe what I nearly managed to do. I know where he lives and I'll get him again one day. Gotta love nymphing. I walked up under the bridge and caught a couple of other trout but couldn't concentrate so walked back home for lunch. Lunch in Bright and a walk around is always nice. Decided to just fish the East branch from the junction up under school bridge in the afternoon. Tried hard to catch the two fish I missed but they were both sooking from this morning I think. Caught a beautiful rainbow above the bridge and had an audience while doing so. He was difficult to manage as bigger fish can be. After landing him and getting a couple of photos I released him and the lady that was watching gave me a clap.

Harrietville trip 24-28 November

Michele and I have regular trips to the North East. While I fish, Michele normally works on a scrapbooking project. This week was no exception. We arrived Monday afternoon and I prepared myself for a quick trip along the river before dark. As I walked to the door I heard a massive clap of thunder and down came the rain. No fishing Monday evening but 28 mm of rain to freshen things up. Up early Tuesday and a walk up from Howards Bridge to Archies bridge. Took 7 in that trip using a nymph and another 4 in the West branch on a red Humpy in the afternoon. Managed to foul hook 3 trout, one in the eye and 2 in the bum. a great start to the week. Photos are of the brown from west branch and Michele's Christmas boxes for this years guests.