Meet Our Fly Fishing Guides
Nathan Vernon
Nathan was introduced to trout fishing at a very young age by his father, Johnny Hopper. When he was ten years old his dad took him fishing in the Victorian High Country and he caught his first trout on a fly, which took a scrappy mayfly nymph Nathan had tied himself. Since that day his passion for fly fishing has driven many of his decisions. Twenty three years later, Nathan now lives in his own off-grid cabin in the Victorian High Country, where he can hear the burbling sounds of a trout-filled river from the balcony.
Although Nathan’s home waters are within Victoria, he has also fished many places throughout Australia and overseas. For the last seven years he has not missed the opportunity to fly fish in New Zealand multiple times each year.
There is little that Nathan enjoys more than sharing the pure experience of fly fishing in a remote location with others and his passion for these moments motivated him to found High Country Guiding.
Johnny Hopper
John Vernon was given the name of Johnny Hopper due to the terrific grasshopper flies he ties.
His first job at the age of 16 was repairing split cane fly rods at an iconic fly fishing shop in Melbourne called JM Turvals. Turvals is long gone now, but back in 1966 when Johnny worked there, it was a pioneer of fly fishing in Australia and it helped sow the seeds for the fly fishing community today.
In more recent years, Johnny has worked at the Compleat Angler and now spends his days walking trout rivers, sharing a lifetime of wisdom with those he guides.
His passion for fly fishing has only grown over the years and when he is walking a High Country stream, there is nowhere he would rather be.