Fishing and fish numbers have both come to a halt as the Victorian trout season closed on the long weekend in June.

During the past month the Victorian High Country has turned into winter mode. The days are short and the nights are long and cold.

Frosts are being experienced almost on a daily basis. If there was no official closure to the season, there would be a natural one.

Towards the end of the season the fishing slows down markedly. The rivers around Omeo were running well following good rains received all season.

Naturally the water temperatures were low and the fish had turned their minds to spawning rather than eating.

There were a few exceptions. The lower Mitta Mitta River fished quite well right up until the end.

Many brown trout move upstream from Dartmouth Dam to spawn in the system and therefore there was usually good numbers of trout entering the river.

Flyfishing using heavy bead headed nymphs, was the best method to bring these fish undone.

The old humble worm also worked quite well. These are quite good fish that range from about 500g-1kg with a few larger specimens thrown in to keep anglers on their toes.

The lower Gibbo River also sees some of these fish but they are far outweighed by the small resident rainbows.

Some of these browns make their way up the Gibbo River and end up in Morass Creek.

They seem to stay there for months and are often taken by the bait anglers in the spring.

Some of these fish are trophy specimens of 2-3kg or even more.

Once summer arrives the Morass heats up or sometimes even dries up and the fish drop back into the dam.

A flyfisher explores the lower Mitta River with a ‘bomb’. Note the high water mark way up the hill from when the dam was full.