Just one of the Dry Fly eaters from a Blue Mountains stream.

We grew up fishing rivers like the Duckmaloi and the Fish river. Trudging around in hand-me-down fishing gear, rods we'd grabbed from garage sales and fly's we found in the shed. We'd stroll along, casting to browns sipping off the surface, it was the glory days!

But let us tell you something! The Glory Days ARE BACK! After a few years of tough conditions, we barely got back out to fish the Central West and Blue Mountains. Firstly, if there's a drought the fishing is tough.. which means the fish are doing it tough. So giving them a break is probably good for them we figured. Secondly, the rivers were so dried up they look like a pair feet after 12 hours of wading on a 40+ degree day. Gross.

As the rains had been coming down over the last few months, we'd gone out to Oberon and the Central West region just to drive by over the closed part of the season. The rivers were flowing hard, but still no fish to be seen.

This all changed last weekend. We headed out to the Central West.. you can do your own research here on what that might mean, to explore some of our favourite areas. Let us tell you, every river we checked was like gold. I was spotting fish as I was driving through rivers. Rise, another rise, rising again, you get the point.

It was a nice change site casting to fish rather than hoping for an indicator to sink.

So we finally settled on a nice spot, and as i'm setting up my Swag for the night, Tim was landing his first hefty rainbow. I don't need to harp on here and images do more than words.

Get out there, support these small towns after what has been a crazy year. Book a hotel, motel, cabin, campsite. Eat and shop locally, buy your flys and gear locally. Hire a guide.. not that they seem to need it they're so booked up!

Enjoy the season, it sure looks like it's going to be a good one!

 The Norfolk Crew