RV fishing trip in Victoria's Yarra Ranges: mates, memories and riverside angling.
An RV fishing trip by two old mates might not have led to much in the way of catch, but the time on the road proves a great way to recall old memories.
RV Fishing Trip with Old Mates
It was one of those typical days when Melbourne unveils its whole repertoire of weather – a wintery chill, fog and mist, drizzle, and smatterings of sunshine just to reassure us, to warm the soul.
But as puffer-jacketed Melburnians we were both used to it … our biggest concern was how this motorhome would perform up and over the notorious Black Spur in the Yarra Ranges.
RV Travel Through the Yarra Ranges
Undoubtedly one of Victoria's most scenic drives through soaring hardwood forests with fern-fringed gullies, it had been upgraded over the years. But it still had some gradients and tight turns ready to catch an unwary driver.
The mist settled in to add another degree of difficulty in the form of a greasy bitumen surface and single-digit road temperature. Thankfully, no sign of the dangerous 'black ice'.
My friend and journalistic colleague over many decades, Dermot O'Brien, was at the wheel. I was navigating, despite the inbuilt GPS and my smartphone sometimes disagreeing on the speed limit.
BLACK SPUR © ROBERT BLACKBURN
Fishing Holidays in Motorhomes
We are both fishermen and journos, but our paths had diverged after both reporting for The Melbourne Herald in the '70s – he went into television, I became a technology editor/writer; he liked freshwater fly-fishing while I loved saltwater angling.
This trip was a chance to catch up on old times, but more importantly, I wanted to see how the genteel art of casting a fly worked in practice.
Dermot had loaned me a fascinating book a year earlier – The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson. It features the true story of Edwin Rist, who in 2009 broke into England's natural history museum and stole hundreds of stuffed birds so he could use their feathers for salmon fly-tying.
It was a great piece of reporting and fuelled my fascination about this unusual hobby and the broader issue of illegal birds smuggled to provide feathers for coarse fishing.
Dermot had been refining his angling over the decades, venturing to New Zealand and parts of Tasmania to catch and release trout, and photographing and noting all relevant details, including the fly used, in an exercise book.
I spent 20 years trolling lures 20 centimetres long and 20 times bigger than his trout fly, deep into the indigo waters off Dampier in West Australia's Pilbara. As a light game fisherman, I also practised catch and release for all billfish caught … but Spanish mackerel, wahoo, emperor and coral trout were such good eating that we kept and cooked those of legal size.
As we drove into the Black Spur, fresh off the Maroondah Highway, we noted how smooth the vehicle was – how a 21-foot (6.6-metre) motorhome was coping so well with the hills and the corners 'like a large car'.
Truth is, this compact four-berth motorhome is not built on a truck or bus chassis – but rather the popular Mercedes Sprinter platform. And it's powered by the German 2.0-litre diesel engine.
The seven-speed automatic gearbox provided smooth changes up and down, matched by solid brakes, such that we pulled over only twice, more out of courtesy than obligation (since we were driving at the signed speed limit).
Emerging from 30 kilometres of the Black Spur, delighted with our progress, Dermot was excitedly pointing out streams he had fished along the way. We navigated to a spot he had picked out, where the motorhome could be our mobile fishing platform. Not that we were only fair-weather fishers, but life's too short for a couple of seniors to stay wet and chilled to the bone when we could be warm and dry.
We spent the two-hour drive recalling where we'd been sent to cover stories – bushfires, floods, the odd murder or a fatal crash – as young reporters covering 'police rounds'.
I recalled being shown a paddock in the 1970s by a Victorian Fisheries Department expert who shook some powder into a very narrow 'drain' running down the property. In a few minutes, plate-sized fish began appearing from the mud. They were European carp, a pest fish that could survive where other fish could not (because it stirred up the water, which starved other species of oxygen).
Few people knew anything about these carp, so it made a great story and photo for The Herald, with the warning that carp had to be killed on the spot to protect our native species.
But the dreaded carp that are now in almost every waterway were farthest from our minds as we turned off the highway towards Marysville.
Suddenly, Dermot enthusiastically pointed out a potential location and a few minutes later, we arrived. It was the confluence of the Steavenson and Taggerty Rivers. There was an old riverside campfire as we positioned the motorhome a few feet from the water, to serve as both a fishing platform and a refuge.
Casting Lessons on an RV Fishing Trip
I walked around taking photos as Dermot donned the angler's vest, his favourite fishing Akubra and a simple-looking rod and fly reel. I later learned this costs north of $1,500 and I had thought $1,250 was a lot of money for a game rod and reel (however the salesman told me it was machined out of solid aluminium, had two-speed gears, a special adjustable drag, held 1,000 metres of line and the rod was carbon fibre with roller guides, machined reel seat … I could go on).
Dermot's simple rod and centre-pin reel were a lesson in simplicity, with his left hand controlling line tension; not some piece of high-tech friction brake.
The next lesson was how to cast. First, drag a few metres of the medium-weight fly line off the reel with the left hand and hold it. Then think of the action as a clock face, he said, lifting the rod to about 12 o'clock. The rod tip bends backwards, dragging the line into a loop in the air behind you. Then bring the rod down to nine o'clock and point the rod towards the spot in the river where you want it to land. Aim for a pool, not the rapids, he told me – because trout always face upstream to catch the food coming towards them. Noted.
Dermot displayed incredible accuracy in placing the line. However, for the record, there was no fly or hook attached as we were officially out of trout season, but the drive here is worth the trip.
FAMILY VIEWING STEAVENSON FALLS FROM BRIDGE © MARK CHEW
Family-Friendly RV Fishing Near Marysville
Fishing in the region:
The Steavenson River is said to be one of the best fly fishing rivers in Victoria and has a large population of wild brown trout and rainbow trout.
Beautiful surrounds and ease of accessibility in the lower stretches of the Steavenson River mean it is easy to access for those venturing out on weekends or public holidays.
If you have a family with you, young kids will love the Buxton Trout & Salmon Farm. At the farm, they hatch all their own fish, ready to be caught. Nestled in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, the gravity-fed water supply originates from the snowfields of Lake Mountain before cascading down Stevensons Falls. No antibiotic chemicals or growth hormones are used on the farm.
