Most of the Gippsland high country towns, Omeo, Swifts Creek, Harrietville, Ensay, Dargo, Crooked River, Bullumwaal to name a few of many were founded on goldfields. I am surprised that you would not be able to at least pan for gold in the renowned oriental workings at Omeo, so i would check with the relevent Govt Dept (I think they have now called themselves Earth Resources). There are many wonderful rivers and streams passing through these locations carrying gold. Even so gold will sink out of easy reach so unless you know where to find where the gold has been trapped in a stream you are likely to come up empty panned.
Concentrate on panning for your first gold. Detecting is more for the Western goldfields rather than Gippsland where the gold was generally finer although there are places where gold can be detected.
Research for an area within reach where gold has definitely been found before. Find a stream in the middle of this field and look at the stream for bedrock. Gold will be found in the cracks and crevices of this bedrock and the more to the middle of the channel generally the better. You'll need tools like screwdrivers to scrape out the contents of these crevices. Often you may need to dig out overlying gravel to uncover the crevices. Be prepared to move regularly move your panning site until you strike gold, that is what prospecting is about.
Understand that often the gold found can be miniscule and almost unnoticeable in the pan so examine each pan residue in great detail even with a hand lens. It will take a bit of perseverance and effort but your first bit of gold found by your own efforts will lead you to find your next and next and hopefully bigger bits.
Like detecting, panning is a skill and if you can find someone to teach you so much the better.
