Australian waters have no native trout. The three species in Australian waters are the brown, the rainbow and the brook trout. The brown was introduced from England, the rainbow and the brook trout from the United States via New Zealand.

Browns are hardy cannibals and are the most dominant species. The browns have an instinctive suspicion of lures and live longer than the rainbow and brook trout, which are both also cannibalistic.

The rainbow trout is the most pleasing of the three to look at and take lures easily. They give a fighting display, leaping from the water, taking mad dashes and exhaust themselves before beaching or netting. Brook trout are also easy to convince to take a lure and have a poor survival rate when liberated.

There is an art and a science to trout fishing. The artistic angler will pour his creativeness into the design of his fly while the analytical, scientific angler will convince himself of his intimate knowledge of the behavior of his quarry. The wary and selective feeding trout however, pose untold challenges for the artistic and scientific angler.

There are seasons closed to trout fishing in Australia and New Zealand, which usually cover the spawning period. The best times for trout fishing in Australia are from mid-October to mid-December and from the end of February to the end of April, covering spring till mid autumn.

Streams are most productive at the start of the season. The high rate of evaporation of Australian trout streams is lower in winter and the trout, which have been largely undisturbed for the previous 4 months are not yet wary. In the hotter months, the stream levels drop and the fish become lethargic, not inclined to feed during the daylight hours. The clear, clean water does not help as the fish can observe every action of the angler and they become skeptical feeders.

During the later months of the season the temperatures begin to fall, the autumn rains will have increased the flow of water in the streams and the clarity of the water is lower. Under these conditions trout will not be so aware of the presence of predators and have an increased weight due to spawning.

The sub aqueous insects or their larvae make up 90 per cent of the trout’s diet however the angler does not have to catch this bait, the art of fly tying and creating an artificial lure to resemble the larvae is a very skillful one. The dry fly is the easiest type to fish with but the other type is the nymph or wet flies.

The wind plays an important role in trout fishing and can be used to an angler’s advantage. The food of the trout is often carried to the shore opposite that of which the wind is blowing and the trout soon learn that if they assemble along that shoreline their food will be ‘home-delivered’. The angler can use this knowledge and also use the wind to cast his fly further and carry the fly well beyond the normal casting range.

In the United States certain trout streams have regulations prohibiting the use of barbed hooks and also bag limits or ‘catch and release’ policies, which are all good for the longevity of the trout fisheries. These regulations are particularly useful in areas where the streams have a high pH level as the trout growth is high but spawning levels low.

Victoria and Tasmania were the first states in Australia to legalize trout farming followed by New South Wales in 1969. The first farm to begin operations in New South Wales was the Hume Weir Trout Farm near Albury, after much opposition from environmentalists who feared the release of disease from the close-living farm trout to the trout in the wild. Water is pumped to the farm from the Hume Reservoir where its constant temperature is ideal for the hatching and breeding of the trout. The water is then returned to the Murray River where it is available downstream for irrigation. The main objectives of the trout farm are to produce fingerlings for release and stocking the dams and larger rivers and to produce larger trout for home and restaurant consumption. The rainbow trout are the favoured species.

Brood fish are selected according to weight, shape, growth rate and colour and are used for egg harvesting at two years instead of three. The industry is now well established and large amounts of capital have been invested in it. Both live and processed trout are sold in Australia and overseas and various fishing bodies purchase eggs and young fish for release in trout water throughout Australia and so prolonging the health and vitality of the sport.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Fishing

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Everyone has thought about how they are going to propose at some point during their life. Usually the romantic dinner reservations at some fancy restaurant comes to mind. Well, that can be romantic but that does not mean it was very creative. Not very creative at all actually. A marriage proposal happens once so you want to make sure it is the best it can be.

Here is something that many people do not really think about. Outdoor proposals can be some great experiences. You can go to your favorite campgrounds and stay for the weekend. You want to make sure it is just you and your girl who are on the trip. A nice and quiet trip where you can lay under the stars at night.

There are so many different techniques at your disposal while camping! For starters, you can hide the ring inside your sleeping bag. While laying down at night, before you turn off the small light inside the tent (but this would have an excellent dramatic effect if done under the stars on a clear night), complain to her that there is a small rock digging into your back. Reach inside the sleeping bag and pull out the ring. She will never have seen it coming.

Another camping proposal is to take apart a lantern. What you want to do is hang the ring inside the glass part where the flame usually burns. Wait until it begins to get dark out and tell her you are going to light some lanterns. If you are lighting more than one lantern, save the one with the ring in it for last. Now, as you get to the special lantern, tell her you are having trouble getting it lit and could use a hand. When she comes over, tell her there is something inside preventing it from being lit. Hand her the lantern (in a preferably dark area so she cannot see the ring just yet). Then take a flashlight and shine it right on the engagement ring. This is going to be one of the last places she would ever have guessed an engagement ring was hiding.

Get your girl to possibly go for a walk by herself, or get a friend to come by and keep her busy for a while just before it gets dark. Go inside the tent and hang the ring from the center point where all the bars for the tent cross. Let the ring hang down a little on a piece of string. Now, to add some great effects, position a small flashlight to point directly at the ring. The more focused the light, the better. So if you have a good alternative small, focused, light source, use that instead. Now, the sky is getting darker and setting the scene for us. Before your girl gets back, turn the flashlight on and close the tent. When she gets back she is bound to ask why the flashlight is on in the tent. Tell her you forgot to shut it off and ask her politely if she would turn it off for you. As soon as she opens the tent she will see the ring hanging at eye level reflecting those beams of light off of it in all directions.

Most campgrounds have access to a lake. Hide the ring in a belt pouch, fishing kit, flashlight - anywhere that it will fit. Take this item with you when you two go on the boat for a nice little time on the water. There is nothing like a sweet romantic time in a small boat on the water. If you can manage to get a row boat it is even better since it will remind her of all those romance movies in Italy. A small CD player or MP3 player can go a long way here as well. Play your song before breaking out the ring and asking her to marry you. The song, the boat, the water, the night sky, and especially the ring added together is a recipe for tears of joy.

There are even more ways to propose while camping, but here are just a few to get your brain thinking. The trick is to make it unique. This is a night she has been dreaming of since she was a little girl so it is your duty to make it the best occasion ever. Good luck lovers!

Fishing rods are a classic tool for catching fish, dating back at least to ancient Egypt, and possibly even further back than that. They can be easily made from all sorts of different things, ranging from plants like bamboo to modern man-made materials.

While fishing rods were once essential for catching food, today nets tend to be used instead, with fishing rods being used more often as a hobby or for sports fishing. Although the specifics are different depending on the kind of fish that is being fished for, the general idea is to put some kind of bait on the end of the line, throw it into the water, and then use a wheel to pull the line up again once a fish has been hooked. More sophisticated lines can float in the water for hours on end, waiting for a fish to come by, without having to be thrown down and pulled up again.

A fishing rod has more parts than you would expect, including the rod itself (the ‘stick’ part), a grip (where you hold it), a line, guides (to hold the line in position), a wheel (to pull the line back in), and finally a hook (to hook the fish). When you add the bait to this, you can either use live bait (for example, worms), or artificial bait, which is designed to resemble a small fish that the other fish will want to eat.

Having a good quality rod is important, as poor quality ones may snap (either on the rod or the line) if they are used to catch a large or particularly aggressive fish. The best modern rods have been tested over and over again to find the precise configuration that will best catch the fish - although skill still plays a part, it is not too difficult to master modern fishing. Eager to make the sport more challenging, many fishers have turned to fly fishing or ultra-thin rods to make competitions a little more difficult.

John Gibb is the owner of fishing rod resources For more information on fishing rods please check out http://www.fishingrod-sources.info