So, we have been asking for it for months now, with so many rivers and lakes getting dangerously low. Well, this week it came with a vengeance, the rain that we have all been waiting for. Plus, a whole lot of wind too that brought trees down all over the place.

And, as all of you headed for Eucumbene at this time of year know, when the rain starts to fall it sets off that trigger in trout’s brains and sends them on their journey to spawn. Because of this, we see certain locations getting decimated by the crowds in the hope of catching a giant spawning monster and so much of what we hold dear in the way of trickery and tactics seems to go out the window as the glow bugs come out. I declined the offer to head up to Eucumbene this year and swing eggs, but that didn’t mean I had to miss out on the great fishing that comes with the first solid rains of the season.

With an early start this morning, I wasn’t expecting there to be many options as I spent half the night listening to howling winds and driving rain from the southern side of the ranges. A quick look in at the Steavenson river confirmed this as it was breaching its banks. The Rubicon was the same, a turbid flow of coffee coloured muck washing over the banks and into surrounding paddocks. But the Goulburn was a different story as it always bucks the trends at this time of year, with the flow rate pulled down to just 130 ML/day on Monday, it was running low and in certain sections wasn’t too discoloured from inflow of the smaller streams. And it was raining!

I only managed three short hours on the water before it got too blown out with the runoff, but they were very much worth the drive as today was the first real sign of spawn run fishing in a river that is not necessarily known for such activity. A few nice browns came to the net early, but it was a shock to see my indicator dash sideways across a ripple run when the above rainbow took a nymph and charged on me. I didn’t even have time to set the hook properly before he had taken all the slack line and was peeling more from my reel. This is what wet weather fishing in Autumn is all about. Big, coloured fish that are aggressive and unexpected. I have only caught two decent rainbows in the Goulburn this season, with the majority of the fish coming to the net being good sized browns. To manage this kyped up brute of a buck today was just brilliant, coming in as the best rainbow for the season. And look at that face, only a mother could love that mug!