We set off in the direction of Grampians after business hours on Friday. Battling the Westgate Freeway traffic got us thinking ahead of the weekend to come, catching a trophy trout seemed an easier proposition at the time. We arrived at Lake Fyans Holiday Park after dark, and the dropping temperature had us quickly on the job of setting up Glen's camper trailer. I was looking forward to a warm cup of coffee once it was all set up, but the little bit of sweat I worked up had me reaching for a beer instead (any excuse will do!). Daryl and John soon joined us with fresh reports from their first session. One rainbow and a missed take, an encouraging outcome for a short first session. I toyed with the idea of a night session, but a good fishing DVD and a couple more beers quickly put that idea to rest.
In the morning we eased ourselves into the weekend, quite a change from a busy week in Melbourne. We didn't start fishing till mid morning, once the fog had lifted and the day developed into a beautiful blue skied winter day. Glen and I fished from our float tubes, while Daryl and John used John's port-a-bote. The fishing was a bit slow, with not many signs of fish, but the option to cover likely looking water from the float tubes and knowing that the next take could be a good one kept us motivated. I came across a spot that looked like it just had to hold fish. The first cast was a foot too long, the fly landing in the reeds and hooking up, instead of just in front. This is when you wish you turned to more of Daryl's casting practice classes. The next cast was just where I wanted it, right in front of the reeds. After waiting for the fly to sink, I started my figure of eight retrieve. About a meter from the reeds my weighted Mrs. Simpson was hit hard. It was my first solid fish from the float tube so I made the most of it and let the fish go for its runs and jumps. Soon enough I netted a silver rainbow of about a pound and a half, not a trophy, but it definitely put a smile on my face.After not being able to reach me on my mobile, Glen made his way towards me to check how I was going. He got three rainbows up to 10 inches and was having some fun following a school of similar sized fish that were holding up near the surface. While we were chatting and contemplating what time to go for lunch I got another hit. This time it was a darker and a slightly bigger rainbow. I was lucky enough to have Glen in close proximity to capture it all on his camera...
The weekend continued to be a memorable one, with great weather, good company and fishing making it all worthwhile. Even though none of us got a real trophy the fishing was good enough to entice me for a return trip to one of the favourite lakes that has been overlooked in recent years due to the drought and poor management. In fact, I have my cabin booked for a return trip in two weeks time. Till then...
