For me, 2013 fishing began with blue skies in Tasmania, the Snowys and then Murchison in the South Island, moved through a misty mountain river autumn in north-east Victoria, shivered through rainy winter days and frosty mornings on the lakes of central Victorian lakes and Grampians, peaked in a Montana August, turned to the lakes again through much of spring and finished on the mountain rivers.

I’ve just returned from what will be the last of these trips for the year, this time to the rivers and streams draining into the upper Murray, and the upper Murray (or Indi) itself. All the waters we fished (big & small) were in great shape – clear and relatively cold. The trout were plentiful with some real beauties about. And in contrast to those rivers a little further south which I reported on a couple of weeks back, this time the fish were often happy to eat a dry; especially size 12-14 Red Spinners  – although on one backcountry river that yielded the fastest fishing, only a nymph would do. Really be aware of the nymph factor this season – I can’t think of another summer in recent times when seemingly ideal dry fly conditions have been gazumped so often by the nymph.  Apparently barren half-metre deep runs have been transformed into trout factories after swapping Wulffs and Stimulators for a pair of tungsten-beaded nymphs.

So 2013 has finished much as it began, with a bang. I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather have spent the last few days (well, maybe Montana, but it’s minus 20 C over there now!)