Fishing and art competitions will feature and a bunch of local producers will be on show during Saturday’s Market Day in Guyra.

It was held for the first time last year on the October long weekend.

The Tourism Committee of the former Guyra Shire Council had been planning a festival to coincide with the opening of the Trout season over the long weekend.

Then in May last year the council was sacked and amalgtamated with Armidale Dumaresq Council.

With the demise of all committees of council, many of the former members, plus other Guyra groups, decided to continue with the event and organised to the event underway in earnest. 

The aim of the event was to bring business to the small town and to promote the Guyra district as a trout fishing destination in the New England region.

Guyra already has several businesses dedicated to trout fishing, including Deano’s Spring Water Smoked Trout, where Deano Williams has been growing trout for almost 18 years.

In that time, the Black Mountain producer has gained interest from big names, including Sydney-based celebrity chef Kylie Kwong, and supplies to restaurants and co-ops in Brisbane and Coffs Harbour. 

“I put them through a drying process and then I smoke them (in a big oven) for about 3.5 hours with beech wood and oak wood,” Mr Williams told Fairfax Media.

“It gives them a nice smokey flavour and keeps moisture in the fish.”

Mr Williams said the New England was a prime area for trout, due to the cooler climate.

The local producer has eight grow-out ponds and produces around a tonne of yabbies each year. 

“I grow anywhere between 10,000 to 15,000 (trout) out there per year,” he said.

Mr Williams has a recreational dam for visitors to enjoy a barbecue and fish. 

“I’m working on building a cafe in here (next to the recreational dam),” he said. “The builders are also doing toilets and showers so the caravans can pull up and stay for the night.”

The former shearer said he got into the fish business after working on prawn boats up north for a couple of years. 

“I came back here as a full-time shearer for 18 years and this was just a bit of a hobby on the weekends,” he said.

“Now I’ve turned it into a full-time job.”

An average day at the farm can start pretty early, he said. “When I do cook days I’m down here around 4.30am to put the cook on so it finishes about 8.30am ready to process,” he said.

“I’ve also got to fillet the fish and we smoke them whole. “Sometimes we put a bit of flavour on them like dill or bush lemon.” 

Mr Williams can process around 140 fish at a cook.

“During busy times I’m probably smoking three or four times a week,” he said.

Mr Williams will have a stall at Trout Fest.

But the weekend is not all about fishing – despite the name of the festival.

To get a glimpse of time gone by, the Guyra Antique Machinery Museum houses some of the oldest farming equipment in our nation’s history, and it will be open for all to see at Trout Fest.

Dozens of tourists on a bus tour from Brisbane got a taste of the action last Monday afternoon, with Guyra’s famous trike carving up the track.

It’s one of only 12 made in Australia and only a few in operation.

“Only 12 were made down at Parramatta and we’ve got three,” Ron Lockyer told Fairfax Media.

“We’re the only ones in NSW that are allowed to give rides with this set-up at this stage.

“None of the others are accredited to do rides.”

Mr Lockyer said there are a few other trikes around the state, including one at Tenterfield. 

The museum also houses a piece of the first railway line ever laid in Australia.

A cross-section of barlow rail was salvaged in 2005 from a crane base built in 1884 in Guyra.

“It’s very scarce, very hard to come by,” Graeme Healey said.

“They stumbled on it by accident.”

It has wide flaring feet and was designed to be laid direct on the ballast, without requiring sleepers.

The museum building is the original railway station, which was converted when the trains ceased operating, and it will be open today between 9am and 2pm.

The three-day festival will also feature a fishing clinic for the kids (which was already underway on Friday), fishing competitions, an art exhibition, music, open gardens, district tours and a Market Day to showcase the region’s best produce and craft.

Market Day Coordinator Beth Williams said organisers have already locked in more than 30 stalls for the day.

“It will be similar to last year but a lot bigger,” Ms Williams said. “We’ve had a great response from local producers.”

The street will be closed off to make way for the best in food, fishing and entertainment, and local eateries will all be open serving fish-related dishes.

“There will be tasting plates … trout, eggs, mushrooms, geese and there will be a jumping castle for the kids and a fish care van.”

Gabe Staats will have a stall at TroutFest. He is one of the few people in Australia who grows his mushrooms from scratch, right down to the spore, at his Glenore Cottage Farm near Guyra.

The father-of-two, who travelled around the world as a chef for 16 years before moving to the area, dived into the mushroom trade in 2013.

“At the time I had the dream of a family-run business but after the first year I quickly realised my kids weren’t too interested,” he joked.

“It could have gone much bigger but I didn’t want to become a slave … I still wanted to be a father and have balance.”

Each week Mr Staats has one day of lab work, two days of transferring the spores to sugar cane, one day transferring to sawdust and another day of harvesting. 

“We moved up here initially because I always liked living out in the bush,” he said.

“We wanted to start up a family business and have a farm.

“I was a chef for 20 years and always enjoyed working with food and I wanted to try and grow a specialty product.”

If you’re feeling a little bit adventurous, a tank full of fish will be available to touch – similar to the tanks for tourists in Bali and Thailand.

“The fly fishing man will be doing his fly casting demonstration,” Ms Williams said.

“This year there will also be a stage with tables and chairs and the producers gazebos will be in close proximity to that.”

North of Guyra, Uncle Billy’s Retreat, tapped into trout fishing market more than 20 years ago. 

Starting off with one cabin and an irrigation dam, the business grew and has been featured on television programs, The Great Outdoors and Getaway, and actor Garry McDonald has been a regular visitor to the retreat.

“He loved trout fishing and came with fishing guru, Steve Starling,” owner Sue Atkin said.

“They came a few times and wrote a brilliant article. It gave us a real boost.”

Each year Mrs Atkin purchases trout from Ebor’s Trout Hatchery to stock the lakes – with 1000 put in recently.

The main dam has a row boat and Mrs Atkin said only fly-fishing is permitted.