(^46) FLYLIFE
with extensive rains in spring and a
dry hot summer, totally contrasting
to the last 15 years when local wine
makers were starting to wonder if
they’d have anywhere left to hide
from the increasing climate extremes.
Judy joins us for our fishing expe-
dition, quick to point out that Ross
is the wine man. Judy on the other
hand is a firecracker and her passion
for fly fishing is immediately evident.
I ask her if there is any competition
between them on the water. At first
she says no, but soon follows up with
“maybe a little.”
Judy started fishing bait and lures at
the age of three, taught by her father,
and later fell in love with fly fishing
in Canada where she worked for a
while. On returning to Australia she
moved to Wangaratta and promptly
met Ross. They shared a passion
for the outdoors and fishing, with
Judy eventually tutoring Ross in the
delights of fly fishing. The two of them
are inseparable on the river. It is clear
they have fished together for a long
time and love the sport — Ross with
his calculated focus and Judy with her
stalking, hunter’s instincts.
They have fly fished together all
over the world, from salmon runs
in Alaska and giant threadfin in the
Tiwis to winter rainbows in Jackson
Hole Wyoming. But they concur that
their favourite water is their back-
yard, right here in the King River, and
Victoria’s wider North East region
where they have fished and camped
all their lives.
The fishing at Pizzini’s on the lower
King is challenging, with the water
warm after several weeks of soaring
temperatures and no rain. Ross and
Judy harmoniously take turns calling
each other to leapfrog into the next
section of river. They meticulously
search every run, current seam and
undercut by the willow roots, but the
trout that clearly live here have their
minds on other things, like surviving
the heat.
We decide to move above the dam
where the water is likely to be cooler
in the higher freestone section of the
stream. I ask Ross on the way up if the
river has changed much in his life and
he tells a story of Judy losing her wed-
ding ring while swimming just near
their home. Ross’s brother promptly
brought down his skin-diving gear and
found the ring on the bottom of the
river, “that’s how clear it was.”
We are pleasantly greeted with ris-
ing trout in the first pool we approach
further up the river.
Ross and Judy know this water
like the back of their hands, describ-
ing every pool and run ahead as we
draw near. “Yes, Ross caught a nice
First fish to Ross.
The Browns
... continued
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