Trout Fishing in Australia
By Michael Russell

Australian waters have no native trout. The three species in Australian waters are the brown, the rainbow and the brook trout. The brown was introduced from England, the rainbow and the brook trout from the United States via New Zealand.

Browns are hardy cannibals and are the most dominant species. The browns have an instinctive suspicion of lures and live longer than the rainbow and brook trout, which are both also cannibalistic.

The rainbow trout is the most pleasing of the three to look at and take lures easily. They give a fighting display, leaping from the water, taking mad dashes and exhaust themselves before beaching or netting. Brook trout are also easy to convince to take a lure and have a poor survival rate when liberated.

There is an art and a science to trout fishing. The artistic angler will pour his creativeness into the design of his fly while the analytical, scientific angler will convince himself of his intimate knowledge of the behavior of his quarry. The wary and selective feeding trout however, pose untold challenges for the artistic and scientific angler.

There are seasons closed to trout fishing in Australia and New Zealand, which usually cover the spawning period. The best times for trout fishing in Australia are from mid-October to mid-December and from the end of February to the end of April, covering spring till mid autumn.

Streams are most productive at the start of the season. The high rate of evaporation of Australian trout streams is lower in winter and the trout, which have been largely undisturbed for the previous 4 months are not yet wary. In the hotter months, the stream levels drop and the fish become lethargic, not inclined to feed during the daylight hours. The clear, clean water does not help as the fish can observe every action of the angler and they become skeptical feeders.

During the later months of the season the temperatures begin to fall, the autumn rains will have increased the flow of water in the streams and the clarity of the water is lower. Under these conditions trout will not be so aware of the presence of predators and have an increased weight due to spawning.

The sub aqueous insects or their larvae make up 90 per cent of the trout's diet however the angler does not have to catch this bait, the art of fly tying and creating an artificial lure to resemble the larvae is a very skillful one. The dry fly is the easiest type to fish with but the other type is the nymph or wet flies.

The wind plays an important role in trout fishing and can be used to an angler's advantage. The food of the trout is often carried to the shore opposite that of which the wind is blowing and the trout soon learn that if they assemble along that shoreline their food will be 'home-delivered'. The angler can use this knowledge and also use the wind to cast his fly further and carry the fly well beyond the normal casting range.

In the United States certain trout streams have regulations prohibiting the use of barbed hooks and also bag limits or 'catch and release' policies, which are all good for the longevity of the trout fisheries. These regulations are particularly useful in areas where the streams have a high pH level as the trout growth is high but spawning levels low.

Victoria and Tasmania were the first states in Australia to legalize trout farming followed by New South Wales in 1969. The first farm to begin operations in New South Wales was the Hume Weir Trout Farm near Albury, after much opposition from environmentalists who feared the release of disease from the close-living farm trout to the trout in the wild. Water is pumped to the farm from the Hume Reservoir where its constant temperature is ideal for the hatching and breeding of the trout. The water is then returned to the Murray River where it is available downstream for irrigation. The main objectives of the trout farm are to produce fingerlings for release and stocking the dams and larger rivers and to produce larger trout for home and restaurant consumption. The rainbow trout are the favoured species.

Brood fish are selected according to weight, shape, growth rate and colour and are used for egg harvesting at two years instead of three. The industry is now well established and large amounts of capital have been invested in it. Both live and processed trout are sold in Australia and overseas and various fishing bodies purchase eggs and young fish for release in trout water throughout Australia and so prolonging the health and vitality of the sport.