The friends we made along the way

EILDON Peter Burtchell

The below average temperatures during April created the right conditions to target trout earlier than expected. Additionally, grenade your newest rod.

In my case, the unexpected event was getting a phone call from a loved one asking me to leave Eildon and move closer to my family. I can’t really complain; I’ve spent seven years on this fishing trip, so I think I’ve done

I think it is the emersion into pure nature that has kept me at Eildon for so long. Observing a peregrine falcon divebombing into a mob of grass parrots, hitting its mark with an explosion of feathers, a pelican circling down from a great height and at speed is). What could go wrong?

The bar man saw me and said, “G’day, you’re the new fishing guide?”

“Yeah.” Straight away I sensed I was in for trouble here, but I kept my cool. “Just half a dozen Carltons please mate, I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“You alright mate?”

“Yeah, why?”

“What’s wrong with your arm?

“Oh, nothing…”

“A bit crook, is it?”

The jig was up. Well, you just don’t need days like that! I left sober, still with reports of a landed and released metre plus Murray cod from the Eildon Pondage, it sure is shaping up to be yet another year of ‘expecting the unexpected’ when fishing Eildon.

Kate and Brendan have been great contributors to the fishing report.

The unexpected can happen at any time. You may be transfixed to a screen, watching your targeted fish chase your lure, flicking around a foaming bait ball, a slight nudge on your floater… The anticipation can be intense, and then it happens: you’re crashing into a tree, or that metre cod has just spat your lure, or your mate just fell overboard, or the gunwale helps to quite well at avoiding the unavoidable. If it wasn’t for COVID, my stay would not have lasted as long. to dive in and scoop up a dead trout from the surface of the lake, or wild dogs hunting a kangaroo. Every day can produce a once-ina-lifetime event that will stay with you forever.

So, it’s time to turn the page, and back home to family I go.

My stay in Eildon has also been memorable for the new friends I have made along the way.

I first met some of the real locals when I was on my way to the hospital, after hooked to the bone, arse cheek throbbing from where the dorsal fins of the fish that caught me had been a couple of hours before, and locals laughing me out of the pub. I hadn’t even done one fishing tour yet!

Even worse, it was still Nurse Ratchet’s turn to get that barbed hook out of my bone. I never did ask her to check the dorsal fin holes in my cheek, I just felt she had scared me enough with the pliers.

My talent for mishap didn’t stop there – it also extended to a couple of appearances on fishing shows. My mother was viewing some shorts of me for a fishing show, and she asked me why I had a hangover when I knew we were filming that day.

I patiently explained that I had to go overboard in the middle of filming, and then I was nearly decapitated, and that’s why my face was red in the film.

“Whatever, son. Just next time, don’t drink before filming, alright?”

After my near- decapitation, my next show appearance nearly didn’t happen at all. An international fishing show booked boats, accommodation, and me for a few days so they could complete their filming. Then their manager pulled me aside and said, “These guys are famous anglers, they do not want to talk to you. All you need to do is show us where the fish are, so are you right to go? I’ll show them who needs to be in the film.”

“OK,” I agreed, “but I will need to see their tackle before we go.” having a fish bury a hook in my hand. With my arm well hidden behind my back, I decided that before I went to the hospital I would quickly duck into the pub for a 6-pack (that’s how far the hospital

Mick Caufield has always been on hand to answer any of the author’s questions.

As this is my final Lake Eildon report, I have taken the liberty of including some memories of my time at the lake, along with as many thank-you messages as I can, and provide an introduction to your future Lake Eildon reporter. I am sure he will continue the fine tradition of making the Lake Eildon Fishing Report the World’s Greatest Monthly Fishing Report for you.