While a lot of country north of the Goulburn Valley has been hit hard by the fire, the important trout waters have escaped largely unscathed.
It’s been a trying time in much of country Victoria. Rainfall deficits, followed by some extreme fire weather in summer, contributed to several large bushfires - including the Longwood fire which has been right at my back door here in Yea. I spent most of January and early February on a fire truck, fighting fires, and trying to keep new fires within the blacked out area.
Worrying times in January. (Luke McMaster pic.)
Though much of the farming land in my area has been impacted by this tragic event, our rivers and streams have been barely touched at all, and will be mostly safe from any ash runoff.
Unlike the Black Saturday and Black Summer fires where we saw landslides, rivers of sludge and fish kills, large portions of the affected area has been grassland and not in the major trout fishing catchments, with the majority of fires being on the north side of the Goulburn. Hughes Creek through to Home Creek being mostly affected, and the Goulburn River bank in patches from Homewood through to Alexandra. There are a few small creeks along this stretch of the Goulburn that are very marginal, and only flow in very wet parts of the year. I believe we will have some ash run off from these in heavy rain or a flood event, but given the Goulburn’s size and high flows, it should clear and disperse quickly.
Fortunately, the news on the fishing front is much better than following the high country fires last time. (James Norney pic,)
Now the main roads are open, and dangerous or fallen trees have been cleared, there’s nothing stopping you from traveling through the fire-affected area to get to your favourite stream. Every stream that has a year-round flow and is on the south side of the Goulburn River, from King Parrot Creek, all the way to upstream of Lake Eildon, has not been fire-affected at all.
Thanks to many weeks of effort from firefighters, the area has gone from 'please stay away', to 'please visit'. Local businesses will welcome visiting flyfishers with open arms.
There’s still plenty of the trout season left to make up for lost time, and the communities of Yea, Molesworth, Alexandra, Yarck and surrounding areas could do with your business after being isolated for most of the peak season. So grab a snack, coffee, visit a specialty store, fuel up, and get out there and catch some fish!
And don't forget the cod! The author enjoying a short break away from fires in late January. (Andrew Fuller pic.)
Drop into The Flyfisher Yea on your way through. We can help you with some directions, current river levels and fly selection.
Longwood Fire map from the Vic Emergency app.
PS: A donation to the CFA and/ or other registered bushfire recovery fundraisers would be most welcome. After the last 6 weeks, the local area and fire brigades could use all the help they can get! Choose Yea if you would like to donate to my local CFA.
