A double-figure trout on fly is an exciting catch under most circumstances, but when it’s a wild Victorian brown trout from a stream in October, it’s an extraordinary achievement. No fish farms, no power stations, no spawn runs.

David just sent me a pic of his son Tristan holding the best Victorian river trout I’ve seen for a very long time, and he told me the story. As it happens, David and I have been in touch every day since father and son headed off on a north-east Victorian road trip a few days ago. Not surprisingly, they’ve been challenged by high flows, but even before today’s destination, they’d managed to hunt down fishable water and some very good trout up to 3 pounds.

Anyway, the simple story is, Tristan was nymphing a nice run this afternoon when he hooked a virtually immovable object. Then somehow, an unknown time later (but long enough for David to jog to the car for the net and back again), he landed the trout of a lifetime. The fact the nymph, which David had tied, was barbless, apparently added to the drama!

David says Tristan didn’t hesitate to release his fish, and the fact it’s still out there is one good reason not to detail the destination. But we can say it’s an accessible stream in the north-east which anyone can fish. Just unbelievable Tristan, well done!