Gungarlin River Hut

Recently I had the pleasure of spending three wonderful days within Kosciuszko National Park guiding a French tourist, Jean-Daniel Gilles, a maritime pilot based in Dunkerque. It was a memorable trip and reminded me so much of why I like fly fishing, and why many of the reasons do not actually involve catching a trout – although that is an added bonus and we did plenty of that

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In our discussions prior to the trip, Jean-Daniel wanted to chase down wild trout with a fly rod in hand within KNP experiencing the best the region has to offer with respect to its natural splendor. Pender Lea was to be home base for the trip, fishing the majestic Thredbo River, with an overnight stay at a nearby cattleman’s hut the Crème de la crème.

Luck was on our side when it came to the weather. Sunny days and gentle breezes, with water levels falling quickly and insect activity steadily rising. We were able to land fish predominantly on dries and an assortment of mayflies accounting for the vast number of fish caught. Some large duns were often spotted so shooting size 14 and even 12’s parachute duns into many a bubble line brought fish up. The odd hopper was showing itself and there were often bouts of moth and to a lesser degree caddis activity. A quick change to a stimulator often resulted in more takes. Most of the fish that were spotted were often caught with Jean-Dean’s tightly looped casts and pin point accuracy.

 Jean-Dean had told me that his four year old daughter has recently fallen in love with horses and that a photo of a wild brumby would make for a great gift for her on his arrival. Accordingly I picked a cozy cattleman’s hut for the second night. It is nestled in a plain with a picture perfect backdrop and first class trout water on its doorstep. We must have seen close to 50 brumbies that evening.

 Unfortunately the very last pool on the last night we had lined up to fish hard on the evening rise had some unwelcome visitors – cormorants. Nonetheless, the happiness in Jean-Dean seeing a wild platypus in that pool as we sat on the bank and packed our rods away was far more rewarding than catching a trout.

By the end of the three days my client and I had become best of mates, I was semi fluent in French pub slang (most words if not all can’t be mentioned here!) and we had planned our next trip together which is to include his brother. And yes we did catch trout. Jean-Daniel probably landed around 20 trout, both rainbows and browns, and lost many others. He managed to catch his largest trout ever. He had a fantastic experience and all of this is only a stones throw away from Jindabyne.

In general the season is on the cusp of firing up big time. We just need one full week of sunshine. Turning the odd rock over shows good numbers of nymphs and greater numbers of beetles, cicadas and dragonflies can be seen almost on a daily basis. The hoppers are also starting to beef up. The higher waters levels and cooler temperatures also bode well for a great summer and autumn of fly fishing.

Au revoir