Jim Allen has lived a life consumed by flyfishing. His stories are legendary and after his first episode with us, we couldn’t wait to get him back in for more.

Before listening to this episode, have a listen to episode 2. We chat more broadly about Jim’s life in flyfishing and it’s the perfect prelude to this episode.

Jim has been fishing Tasmania since 1960 and few people could claim to have had as many days on the water in Tassie as Jim has.

While building a small empire in mainland Australian fishing, Jim saw potential in fishing tourism being attracted to the central highlands of Tasmania. What eventuated was Jim owning the Central Highlands Lodge, the Great Lake Hotel, and Bridges Brother’s in Hobart.

In this part one chat with Jim, we talk about his love affair with Tasmania, and extract some hilarious stories. Jim’s vivid memories reveal how the fishing used to be in Tasmania; and as we got going, we realised this had to be a two-part interview.

In part two we’ll be dusting off Jim’s detailed fishing diaries to discuss some of the more memorable entries. So stay tuned after giving this one a listen.