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Christopher Bassano
Rainbow Lodge’s Co-owner and Lead Guide
Christopher has fished practically every piece of water that Tasmania has to offer and there are few people with greater knowledge of the fishing opportunities on offer.
As a guide with over 10 years’ experience on the island, Christopher has a quite extraordinary knack of finding fish – even on days when everyone else has packed up and gone home. An invaluable quality when you only have a few days to spare.
Whether it’s fishing from our fully-equipped boat, polaroiding fish from the shore, walking into the beautiful wilderness of the Western Lakes or fishing the delightful rivers and streams of the lowlands, Christopher will always ensure that you have the best possible chance of catching fish – and perhaps even making it the fish of a lifetime.
When he’s not up in the highlands, Christopher has a home on the banks of the St. Patrick’s River in Tasmania’s North East. This pristine freestone stream also offers wonderful fly fishing opportunities, and is well worth adding to your itinerary on your trip.
Lane Olding
Lane Olding grew up on the South Esk town of Hadspen. He was a student of St Patrick’s college and always had a love for sport, playing cricket from a young age with the Launceston cricket club and being involved in A grade premiership teams.
When a passion for fly-fishing developed, a love for the Central highlands grew with it – especially the Western lakes, where walks into the isolated back country became a favourite pastime.
A natural progression to fly tying then took hold and his ability behind the vice is evident in the success of his patterns.
Wanting a taste for saltwater fly-fishing, Lane moved to the Whitsunday’s in Northern Queensland and started work on a reef and light tackle game fishing boat. While fishing the Great Barrier Reef and chasing Marlin and Sailfish during the season, his days off were dedicated to catching species such as Tuna, Queenfish, Trevally and other tropical fish on the fly.
During 2007 Lane made the journey abroad and caught Bonefish, Permit and Snook in The Bahamas, Mexico and Belize. Other overseas experiences include trout in England and France.
Lane’s easygoing personality, patience and enthusiasm are just a few traits that have made clients request his services on future visits. He’s been a very welcome edition to the Rainbow Lodge guiding team, quickly establishing himself as one of the State’s leading guides.
Craig Coltman
An experienced angler, Craig has travelled to a number of diverse locations across the world, mastering his skills and techniques in his pursuit of the “perfect fish”. Whilst trout are Craig’s favourite sport fish, he has also chased and landed Golden Trevally in Western Australian waters, Kingfish offshore from Narooma, Bonefish on the Christmas Island flats, Bream in the Mallacoota estuary and most recently Giant Tarpon, exceeding 150lbs, off the Florida Keys.
Craig’s fishing obsession first became apparent as a child when he continuously fell into his grandparents gold fish pond. Growing up in Ballarat, Craig had easy access to some of Victoria’s premier fly fishing lakes and rivers, including Lake Wendouree where he perfected loch style fishing techniques. Mentored by his uncle, Mike Spry, Craig honed his stream-craft skills on the Swampy Plains, Thredbo, Eucumbene, and Nariel Rivers of Victoria and NSW.
In his first attempt at competition fishing, Craig finished 3rd in the National Fly Fishing Championships held in Tasmania in 1994 and has since gone on to represent the Ballarat Fly Fishers’ Club, Victoria and Australia in many competitions. As a member of the Australian team, Craig competed in the World Fly Fishing Championships in Ireland (1995), New Zealand (2008), and is a current member of the team to compete in Scotland (2009). Captain of the Australian teams in the Swedish (2001) and French (2002) Australian World teams and Australian (1999), English (2000) and Welsh (2002) Commonwealth teams he is well respected amongst his peers for his experience, commitment and extensive knowledge.
Craig takes every opportunity to grow and improve his knowledge, skills and techniques and is happy to share his experiences with other fisherman. He is a proactive contributor of the fishing community and a member of several groups concerned with fisheries and environmental issues, including the Ballarat and District Angling Association, Ballarat Fly Fishers’ Club and Ballarat Acclimatisation Society.
In 1981, Craig made his first visit to Tasmania, captivated by its beauty and the high quality of Tasmanian fishing, Craig purchased a property in Miena and regularly spends a large part of each trout season fishing the Tasmanian rivers and lakes. Since selling his business Craig plans to fish in as many fabulous locations as possible, including spending more time in Tasmania.
In 2007, Craig used his long service leave to guide for Neil Grose. Based in Tasmania, this first guiding experience taught him the importance of adaptability and the guiding skills necessary to ensure his client’s experience a successful and satisfying day on the water. He now regularly guides in local waters for Millbrook Lakes and is looking forward to once again guiding the Tasmanian waters. “Tasmania is the most interesting and exciting location to guide, as there is always fish moving somewhere. You just need to know where to look!”
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