Trout Down Under

Casting call: knee-deep in angling heaven

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Drive a further three hour's southwest into the heart of "Man from Snowy River" country, the northeast region of the state of Victoria. One of Australia's most famous colonial poets, Banjo Patterson, wrote a poem after a legendary horseman of the district, evoking the distinct beauty of the area—and he did not exaggerate. Step into this world of quintessential Australian outback and yet more fly-fishing over-abundance.

There are no slow-moving streams here, just boisterous, unpolluted, and free-flowing courses of water. These include half a dozen tailraces, which vary in volume from wadeable, pleasant rivers when low, to massive blue-green torrents, levels fluctuating with the downriver demands of Sydney and Melbourne. Either way the trout love 'em—as will you in hot pursuit. The Murray River, Australia's answer to the Mississippi, begins in this region and is well populated with both browns and rainbows. But then, so too are the Mitta Mitta, the Kiewa, the Ovens, the King, the Delatite, and the Howqua, each of which have their origins in the alpine Snowy Mountains.