Over the past month we have enjoyed some of the best autumn weather that you can imagine. Mild balmy nights and glorious sunny windless days. The first frosts are just starting to appear in the high country. With the onset of late autumn, the fishing is starting to shut down. The rivers around Omeo and Dargo are quite low as we have had little rain over the past month.

As a result, the browns in Lake Dartmouth that normally run up the Gibbo River, Mitta Mitta and other rivers have been conspicuous by their absence. They’ll be schooled up in the lake, ready to run but it will require a good downpour and preferably a dark stormy night to get them in the mood. I have just listened to the weather forecast for the next 10 days and another big high-pressure system is moving into our area with little prospect of any worthwhile rain so I do not hold out much hope of the fishing picking up.

The lower Gibbo River has fished well over the past few months but now that the hoppers have finished, the action has slowed down considerably. A few small fish are being caught but until we receive some rain expect the fishing to be poor.

The Mitta River has continued to fish quite well particularly in the Hinnomunjie area, but again it’s quite low and needs rain.

All the Dargo rivers are in the same boat; low, clear and offering just fair fishing.

A small brown trout, typical of Victorian high country streams.