Wartook Reservoir is one of Victoria’s most scenic trout waters, set against the Grampians sandstone escarpments, and you go for brown and rainbow trout on fly. The water carries a tea-coloured tannin stain that still leaves enough visibility for trout to feed confidently in the shallows.

In light wind, loch-style tactics are highly effective. In autumn and winter, trout cruise rocky shores and flooded margins after baitfish, mudeyes and invertebrates, so a streamer is the fly to start with. In spring the midge, mayfly and caddis pick up and trout take dry flies readily in calm weather. Read the Victorian Fisheries Authority guide before you fish.