I’m in the fortunate position that I have a husband in the guiding business, and a team of excellent guides at my disposal. So, as a treat, I organised to hit the Macquarie with one of our guides, and one of our customers–as Josh is one of our best customers, and now friend, this was easy. Besides, I told him it was a competition, and he’s never said no to a competition! We were both excited. After picking him up at the airport and swinging by the shop, Josh shouted me coffee and cake whilst waiting for our guide, Jimmy.

The date was Monday 4th February, a terrific time to be on the Mac’. The temperature was cool, yet the sun was about to crank up, and most importantly there was no wind. It was a ripper day to be fishing. Jimmy pulled up as eager about the day as Josh and I were. The destination was Cressy to launch the raft. Mal, a good friend of ours was rigging up his rod by the river, he too had visions of a terrific day. We all jabbered about the awesome day ahead of us, Mal set off on foot, then Josh took the front seat of the raft, and I took back seat.

The river-edge was coloured with red spinners, making us even more excited at the prospects of our trip. Yet 3kms in...nothing. What the? How can this be? Josh was casting well, Jimmy had the raft in the right position, the flies we were using were all tried and tested, yet nothing! Oh well, chin up, it would surely be only a matter of time. Both Josh and I used different flies for maximum effect: dries, nymphs, and I even called Dan to give me some pointers, much to Jimmy’s disgust! ‘Well babe, work harder’ he said. That day we drifted the entire section between Cressy and Longford. We cast to every ‘good looking’ bank, and worked the water really hard. And as always we laughed lots, stirred each other, ate and drank well. Jimmy did a good job of looking after us. Still, nothing.

Dark clouds rolled by at 3pm, the sun was blocked for less than one minute, and fish began to rise. We finally got that feeling back that we had at the beginning of the day. As Josh chased a fish close by, I’m looking for the one that’s going to be mine. Josh’s fish denied him, and the river began to go silent again. We knew that this was going to be the one and only shot at a fish, and that it was about to pass us by. There’s that feeling again, loss of hope. More swearwords erupt (from me), I’m pretty mad at the river, my casting, and the fish.

The day eventually ended as it had started: perfect conditions with clear water, lots of spinners, and an afternoon sun. But still no fish. For many anglers, this summed up the season. Whether it was the weird weather, too many cormorants, or the wrong flows, who knows. The river won that day and many others this season. But what is important was the fun that we had on the river, and the fact that I’ve got a bone to pick with the Macquarie, and come the October mayfly hatches, that’s where you’ll find me. I can’t wait!

This coming season we are offering Limited Edition Trips’, beginning October 2013.

They include four offerings:

• October sea-trout camp (2 spaces left), chasing migratory sea trout as they run the rivers;
• Women’s wilderness hut trip planned for November, which will be a great opportunity for like-minded female fly fishers to experience the Western Lakes (hosted by Simone Hackett);
• Generation X fly fisher’s hut trip, a chance for some young fly fishers to get together a chase wild trout; and finally,
• Trophy trout trip, targeting 5lb+ trout in the Tasmanian rivers and Western Lakes over four days.

We are booking these trips now, so send us an Email to enquire.

Brendan is a mate of ours, full of infectious energy and light-hearted humour. (Apologies for the Aussie occa). The full story of this monster trout can be found on his blog

We joke about them all the time but I finally spotted one: a ‘Fence-Post’. A fish that looked pretty big in the water and almost made me shit right there in my underpants. It was sitting up against the bank cruising ever so slowly. Somehow it hadn’t seen me. I knew of its rough whereabouts and poked my eyes above the heath to gauge its intention. It started to swim up the bank some more…. There was now a boulder in front of me and we were both obscured from each other so I set a trap in the form of a black spinner. This beast of a fish casually nosed up to my fly and…. sipped. The pause at this time felt like an eternity. BANG! He’s got it and I’ve got him!

Yeeeeoooowwww!!!

I immediately hooted to Andy who raised an arm as if to say ‘good one mate’. I hooted with more emphasis and he stopped walking and looked up. ‘I’m gonna need your help landing this one mate’ I yelled as the fish was taking me into my backing. What a feeling that was!! Yapper (Andy) could sense my excitement by now and was racing around the lake to my aid.

Tense moments followed as the fish neared numerous times before retreating to the safety of deeper water. At one point the fish took my line under a rock and we both thought the worst. Thankfully, he came out and we battled it out until Andy jumped in the drink to lay him on the bank. There it was, the biggest trout I have ever caught on fly!!

Needless to say I was absolutely stoked. Yarns and high-fives continued until we cross-country hiked back to the larger system to fish our way back to camp.

We’ve just received a bunch of beautiful, handmade, Tasmanian nets. Crafted nearby, these nets feature the iconic Tasmanian timbers: Huon pine, King Billy pine, myrtle and blackwood. The inclusion of salvaged Huon pine ensures that your net will float, and is naturally weather resistant.

I’ve also been busy at the vice, creating a number of 1/2 dozen fly packs. Mk2 Fuzzle Bugger packs, Stick Caddis packs, and Whitebait packs are now available for $24, and are great early-season flies.

On the entertainment front, Nick Reygeart's newest dvd 'Predator' is now in stock. if you are into watching barra, trout, queenfish and taimen smashing flies, then this is the dvd for you!

Also new to FlyShop1864.com.au is our Used and Abused gear reviews. This new web page is developing as a catalogue of product reviews with a difference: rather than reviewing new gear out of the box, our reviews only feature gear that we’ve used and abused for a minimum of 12 months. Check it out, and keep an eye on new reviews as we add to the catalogue over the next few weeks.

Found something on the Orvis.com website that you like? Remember that as an accredited Orvis dealer, we are able to source all of this gear direct, saving you money. Email us with any Orvis gear requests today.

That's all from this month's RiverFly and FlyShop1864 newsletter. Thank you for your support, and please pass this newsletter on to your fly fishing friends, or connect with us on Facebook. Word-of-mouth is the foundation of our success.