There’s an oft-quoted line about fishing time being an allotted bonus to your life total – whatever that may be. If that’s so, I like to come up with a scheme to slow the pace with which a typical Tassie trip flies by. Maybe there’s a trade with the fishing gods which could be negotiated?

It feels like Justin, Kiel, Mark and I only arrived in the highlands a blink ago, yet I’m already half way through my six day trip. In one sense, it seems a lot has happened, but in another, where has the time gone?

Day one (really a half day once supplies were bought and we drove up to the shack) was spent polaroiding Great Lake – Justin and I wade-polaroiding, Mark and Kiel chasing the ‘sharks’ out wide in the boat. The shore was very good, with the browns preferring big flies over small. The report from the boat was, “It’s okay out here, but sounds like you’re better off on the bank.”

Day two was spent at the beautiful but fickle Dee Lagoon. Despite the changeable wind (neither up the lake nor down), the blue sky compensated, and we were able to polaroid good numbers of browns and rainbows, mainly on the edges. Gum beetles and cinnamon jassids were on the menu, with spinner feeders kicking in late.

Then today – a Jim Allen ‘here for three months, stay indoors and catch up on chores’ day – we time-poor mainlanders braved the cloud and 50 km/h winds, and headed to Arthurs in the hope of at least a bit shelter from the howling westerlies. We found some – and a few nice browns on the shore feeding on a mix of windfall terrestrials and mayfly.

Our Arthurs action wasn’t anywhere near as good as the crazy cinnamon jassid fishing last year, but we caught enough to make it more than worthwhile – even with the wind and cloud.

So here I am in wind-rocked cabin at half-time with steaks being expertly cooked on the barbie by Mark. What the next few days hold will be anyone’s guess, but already, it’s been another trip to remember.