"This is a brief email to thank you for allowing us to fish on Highland Waters during the second round of the Tasmanian Fly Fishing Championships."

"The group I was in fished the lake in the morning of the second day. This was session three. I had heard from the anglers who had fished it on Saturday that large fish had been hooked, lost and caught on day one. Although conditions were very calm and quite bright (tough) during our three hour session from 8:00am - 11:00am, I used .20 Hanak flurocarbon tippet material for fear of encountering a large fish and losing it. I mostly fished out in front of the shacks and had three very good chances. One of the fish was too smart for me and made a get away after a brief fight while the other two came to the net. One ate a black woolly bugger and the other, a green one. I chopped and changed my fly line between a floater, intermediate and a Di 3. I also varied my retrieve but feel as though this was not very important. Two of my takes came soon after the fly hit the water, meaning that the fish which were high in the water were the aggressive ones."

"I landed a brown around 39cm and a very, very impressive rainbow of 68.5cm. This was by far my largest rainbow trout caught in Australia and put up a terrific fight. It almost managed to win its freedom on a few occsssions and wouldn't give up. I was surprised at the fighting quality and condition of the fish in the lake, considering how hot the weather was."

"Although this fish was impressive, my boat partner hooked and lost a gigantic fish a few minutes after I had landed mine. The fish took to the air a number of times and I could not believe the size of it. It certainly dwarfed mine. That fish ate a fluorescent pink blob on the top dropper. He was unlucky to lose it but the image of this behemoth leaping into the air will stay with us both for a very long time."

"While fish numbers landed during the competition on Highland Waters may not appear to be very high, most people will have stories of very large fish winning their freedom after brief encounters. I guess we are not used to hooking such large fish! Weather conditions were anything but favourable for quality fishing but I feel as though Highland Waters certainly delivered."

"Thank you again for allowing us onto this extraordinary waterway. I know that all who fished it enjoyed their experience very much and like me, are jealous of those fortunate enough to have it on their doorstep."

All the very best for the remainder of the season and the many to follow."

Christopher Bassano