A few weeks ago my good friend Dave made the long drive down from Sydney and we met up on the Spirit of Tasmania for the overnight voyage to Devonport. After docking, we set off for the West Coast. The area’s reputation for wilderness and wild weather proved justified and our 4×4’s got a solid workout as the pictures show! The highlight of the trip was camping at the Henty River and trying for the legendary sea trout. The tannin-coloured river breaks out of scrub and rainforest to spend its last kilometre or so flowing through sand and dunes before meeting the crashing surf of the Southern Ocean. The whitebait were running in patches, and the trout – resident and sea run – were smashing them when they appeared. But despite the excitement of hits, misses and follows, I couldn’t convert. Finally I hooked a monster…and it broke me off a few seconds later. Then, on the very last cast on the last morning, the fishing gods smiled and I landed a good trout. I’ll be back!