I blamed soft wire hooks, Mark blamed a leader that sank too easily. And we both blamed the inaccurate forecasts – supposed polaroiding days interrupted by cloud; promised dark dun days ruined by a bright sun. But of course a cold, hard analysis a day after the last cast suggests we might have actually made a few mistakes all on our own…

It was a great trip all the same, as much for catching up with two good mainlander friends turned locals, Lindsay and John, as for the fishing. There was also about the biggest eagle Mark and I have seen. It looked like a sitting kelpie from a distance as it jealously guarded a wallaby carcase.

On the purely fishing front, we watched an extraordinary dun hatch roll on for several hours at Woods Lake. Over the western half of the lake, there must have been about four duns a square metre the whole of that time. Woods is roughly 1500 hectares in size and I’d say the average dun lasted maybe a minute before taking off. You can do the math.

We also fished Little Pine (okay), Great Lake (good in some bays, tough in others), Arthurs (wrong weather), Augusta (promising but bad light) and Bronte Lagoon (should’ve been there last week!) Dee Lagoon offered a couple of hours of lovely fishing on the eastern shore. Only a few fish rose, but a Paradun fished along the steep edges brought several nice trout to the top, including a beauty that took Mark to the backing and then broke him off somewhere in the gloomy depths.

The last session was on the Macquarie near Cressy. Mark was already packing up his gear when the wind dropped out and almost immediately a good trout began sipping spinners right on the bank. Using my rod which was still set up (and equipped with a functional leader!), Mark made the first cast count and a lovely brown sipped down his parachute Red Spinner.

It was nice to end the trip with chance taken, not missed.