Team Tuesday - James and the Giant Trout

Well folks it's that time again in Victoria, trout season! Our mates James Norney (Mountain Fly Vic) and Ollie van Kalken from Aussie Angler went out and wrangled a few horses. James thought he would write us a little story.

James and the Giant Trout

"Once upon a time in 2018 2000 4kg plus rainbow trout were released into the Goulburn River for trout opening and what an opening it was! We arrived in Eildon the Friday night eager for the clock to hit midnight. After an egg and bacon roll in the morning we were off for a sneaky smash and dash on the Goulburn to get the day started. Half an hour later, the hordes began to arrive with their white buckets and their Hi-Vis to Thornton Beach, so we thought it best to retreat to the trenches of the Eildon Community Centre. The ladies from the Girls Gone Fly Fishing team were giving fly casting lessons for women and kids. It was awesome to see kids as young as 7 getting involved and throwing some mean loops.

After a long day of teaching and learning we found ourselves hitting the Rubicon Hotel in Thornton for a feed retreating to the tying bench to knock a few trout cheeseburgers out. In keeping with tradition Sunday morning also started with another egg and bacon roll before gathering the troops and heading to the rendezvous point with a pocket full of game changers, gold sparkler minnows and 20lb tippet. The 6wt Scott Radian was well and truly broken in with a few 8-10 pounders on the board. It wasn’t until the big boy decided he’d have a tasty gold sparkler minnow snack that the Radian truly got a workout. This dude, even though he was a stocky put up a serious fight and after 15 minutes he eventually gave in to my good looks and charm and willingly entered the net. Unfortunately, the net scales maxed out at 14lb, so we’ll never really know how big ‘big boy’ was.

Amidst the fun and games of slaying big trout on fly, it was great to see just how many people had been brought to the region by the VFA initiative of the biggest ever stocking. For these local towns along the Goulburn, it’s a massive draw card and a tourism boost that is incredibly positive."

If you're into catching big fish and having a ripping time doing it, book a day out with James over at Wilderness Fly Fishing