MARK CLOUTIER BEST SEASON TO DATE (Lot 39)

After a long angling life there comes a point in that journey where you find a way of fishing that brings the greatest reward. It's a personal thing, neither right nor wrong, it's just what in the end makes you happy. Highland Waters has allowed me to fish the way I want to fish, sight fishing the edges with a small dry fly looking for big cruising browns. It's unhurried, challenging, sophisticated fishing that demands your best. The fish get in very close and when on the cruise are looking for food, but you need to keep low, cast quickly and get the fly in front of the fish before it’s too late. My favourite fly is the Kelly Tag, but add a stick caddis, grey nymph and a march brown emerger and I'm just about ready for most days. The season just passed has been my best to date with plenty of big browns and some thumping rainbows adding to the mix.

CLEVER CAENID FEEDERS WITH TONY CHRISTIE (Lot 6)

One of my favourite days on Highland Waters is when the caenids are hatching. Most years they appear late November for a month or so but they can continue to hatch through until March as they did this year. Best days are warm sunny days with little or no breeze. You will see towering columns of them along the shore and little black and white dots on the water if a hatch is underway.
And you will see Browns... lots of them. And you will hear them... distinctive clicking sounds as they gobble them down. Most anglers use an iron blue dun or a black hackled dry with a white raffia wing similar to Laurie Matchamʼs pattern. Size 1a or larger if you canʼt see it in a ripple.
But the secret is not to be seen because the fish are close in and the water is shallow and clear. Kneeling down back a bit from the bank is good and you must get the fly exactly on the fishʼs path to stand any chance. Often I catch a couple before they see me and then I just sit in the sun and watch them feed, thinking how good life is at Highland Waters.

"This is a brief email to thank you for allowing us to fish on Highland Waters during the second round of the Tasmanian Fly Fishing Championships."

"The group I was in fished the lake in the morning of the second day. This was session three. I had heard from the anglers who had fished it on Saturday that large fish had been hooked, lost and caught on day one. Although conditions were very calm and quite bright (tough) during our three hour session from 8:00am - 11:00am, I used .20 Hanak flurocarbon tippet material for fear of encountering a large fish and losing it. I mostly fished out in front of the shacks and had three very good chances. One of the fish was too smart for me and made a get away after a brief fight while the other two came to the net. One ate a black woolly bugger and the other, a green one. I chopped and changed my fly line between a floater, intermediate and a Di 3. I also varied my retrieve but feel as though this was not very important. Two of my takes came soon after the fly hit the water, meaning that the fish which were high in the water were the aggressive ones."

"I landed a brown around 39cm and a very, very impressive rainbow of 68.5cm. This was by far my largest rainbow trout caught in Australia and put up a terrific fight. It almost managed to win its freedom on a few occsssions and wouldn't give up. I was surprised at the fighting quality and condition of the fish in the lake, considering how hot the weather was."

"Although this fish was impressive, my boat partner hooked and lost a gigantic fish a few minutes after I had landed mine. The fish took to the air a number of times and I could not believe the size of it. It certainly dwarfed mine. That fish ate a fluorescent pink blob on the top dropper. He was unlucky to lose it but the image of this behemoth leaping into the air will stay with us both for a very long time."

"While fish numbers landed during the competition on Highland Waters may not appear to be very high, most people will have stories of very large fish winning their freedom after brief encounters. I guess we are not used to hooking such large fish! Weather conditions were anything but favourable for quality fishing but I feel as though Highland Waters certainly delivered."

"Thank you again for allowing us onto this extraordinary waterway. I know that all who fished it enjoyed their experience very much and like me, are jealous of those fortunate enough to have it on their doorstep."

All the very best for the remainder of the season and the many to follow."

Christopher Bassano

Set back from the road between Bronte and Dee Lagoon, the 142 hectare Lake Highland Waters is a registered private fishery, established in the 1990s. Adjacent to London Lakes, and with Bronte, Bradys, Echo and Dee within a few minutes drive, the location speaks for itself. It’s a beautiful lake in a beautiful part of Tasmania, and the modest residential development that now overlooks it is rightly regarded as the best address in the Central Highlands. To complete the vision, developer Jason Garrett has recently reduced prices on the remaining blocks of his final land release. View full article as pdf file

I first heard of Jason Garrett in the early 1980s. My law firm partner James Halliday, of wine fame, praised Jason as a host and fishing guide and recounted tales of many happy fishing holidays at London Lakes Lodge. He urged me not only to stay there, but to buy a block of land at Highland Waters.

At the time I was guided regularly by Noel Jetson, and wedded to fishing the Western Lakes and lowland streams. But as the years took their toll on Noel’s health, I realised that I needed to establish my own fishing base. In 1998 I wrote to Jason and arranged to view the blocks of land he had for sale at Highland Waters.

I recall my first meeting with Jason that winter. Dressed like a country squire in tweed cap and fine wool jumper embossed with trout fly, he was accompanied by a dachshund and a certain air of superiority. It was the easiest sale of a block of land he ever made. Highland Waters was perfectly located for my fishing, offering security and a milder climate than more elevated land at Great Lake and Little Pine Lagoon. The Lodge fitted perfectly into its surroundings and I decided to build a mini version as our shack. Jason recommended an architect and by the end of 1999 it was ready for us to occupy. View full article as pdf file