Rivers:- The high country rivers have fished very well over the last month , with a swing to hoppers in the last few weeks.Hopper fishing is great fun,and you only need to drift one along the steeper banks now to find a fish.Other patterns to have in your box at this time of the year include,yellow stimulators,royal humpies,royal wulffs, elk hair caddis, red tags,adams,klinkhammers and a few nymphs.Try fishing early morning through to mid-day and then again from around 6pm till dusk with the warmer weather.

Lake Eucumbene:- The lake has now started to slowly drop , with patchy fishing over the last few weeks with the hot and variable weather. The key is to get on the water early , pre-dawn through to midday being best.The midge fishing has now thinned right out, with a swing towards hoppers,beetles,stick caddis and mudeyes into the night. There have also been a few nice browns sneaking around the margins on tad poles. The hopper fishing on Eucumbene should be great so long as it doesn't drop to fast over the next month. Select area's with plenty of grass down to the water and an of-shore breeze for best results. Catching a few hoppers first and keeping them in a container can also be a sneaky way of finding the fish a little quicker - just put half a dozen out on the water in the likely looking area's - If there's a fish in the area it wont take long to find it.You then need to get your hopper pattern out on the water in the vicinty as quickly as possible with out spooking the fish. The other trick worth practising is to try and "strip-strike" when you get a take with out lifting the rod to high. This will result in more hook-ups and less break-offs. If you also miss the take, your fly should also still be in the right visinity for another take if the fish didn't feel the hook. You may also come across some fish grubbing around on stick caddis and tap poles , so try these patterns if you don't get a look in on a hopper. The mudeyes have also really started to move over the last month, so try fishing a mudeye pattern either late into the night or again pre-dawn in the mornings, being the coolest times. Try patterns like , Cubbits foam mudeyes, muddler minnows, fur flies, craigs night times, tiahapy ticklers, mum's poodles etc .

Customer report via Email:-

Hi Scott & Co,

I was in on Monday last week and said that I would let you know how the fishing went on the upper Bidgee. .

Hains Hut
On the Monday I walked in on the Bullock Hill trail to Hains Hut on the upper Murrumbidgee, about 5-6Km downstream of the junction with Tantangara creek. Great hatches, lots of hoppers, caddis and Dobsonflies moving about, but the fishing was remarkably slow. After a 10km hike in and then several hours of solid fishing for only a few tiddlers, I was wondering what had happened to the fishing here. The question was answered just on dusk, when a flock of 12-15 black Cormorants came flying up the river. Some of them were so full they could barely fly. Where are the local eagles when you need them eh! Bottom line is that you should probably give that section of the river a miss for a while, as it has been pretty much cleaned out. There should still be some larger fish in there somewhere, but it is a long hike to find out!

It was a good thing that the hut was so nice - the Kossie Huts Assoc. did some repairs on it last year, and it was in fantastic condition. There was a nest of baby swallows learning to fly in the front room, and it was entertaining to have them sit on you for a rest as you enjoyed a beer on the porch. Super cute!

The main consolation was Tantangara creek on the way back. While this is a pain in the neck to fish due to the bankside scrub, it still had good numbers of smaller fish up to about a pound. The fishing was almost exclusively hoppers - they wouldn't even touch beetles etc, and I got the distinct impression that they were very, very full.

Alpine Creek
I stopped off to have a quick walk around Alpine creek, and was really surprised at how many fish were in it. There would have been at least 1 fish per small pool, and some of them were pretty big for such a small soak, maybe 1/2 pound (practically a monster for a stream that size). I didn't have time to fish, but it was nice to see it carrying such a good head of fish. One for the ultralight outfit!

Eucembeme
I fished Middlingbank on Tuesday evening, but it was really quite slow for everyone. The midges were definitely off the boil with the lake dropping. There were a lot of maimed tadpoles in the water, mostly with their bellies torn out, so the Mudeyes are in there somewhere. The trout were prospecting the edges cleaning up the dying taddies, bit they were extremely hard to pinpoint, and I only managed one hit on a midge pattern.

Thanks again for the advice the other day - the deer hair that you sold me is really nice stiff, so there will hopefully be some sore and sorry Bass in the near future. It is good to see you guys having a good season - you definitely deserved one after the last few years!

Cormac Farrell.

Jindabyne:- We have had some better reports in over the last week , again with hoppers bring a few fish to the top. The mudeye fishing after dark has also been quite good , so try and fish into the night or early in the little around area's with web beds.

Trolling

The lakes have now warmed up with some pretty hot and variable weather over the last few weeks.The best fishing has been early in the morning from first light through to mid-morning. You will also now do better using lead line and running downriggers , working down between 15ft and 40ft feet. Generally the best colours in the Tassie's have been Col S12,Y82,Y05, YFR ,89 & 55.Our own Alpine Cobras have also proven to be consistent fish takers in :- Alpine Special , alpine frog ,green ghost & pink bits all fishing well of late. The Sting cobra's from Tassie are also gaining quite a following with 16 unique colours now in our range.Minnows are also always worth having in your spread with RMG Scorpions in the new killer colour No 61 holographic crawfish , Stump Jumpers, baby merlins, Attacks and Rapala's all worth a swim. Best colours are gold & blacks, rainbow and browns trout patterns, tigers and pink/violets. The Merlin deep and Ultra deep minnows are one of my personal favourites, running between 3 & 4 metres on a flat line. Merlin Colours worth a try include the orange and green tigers, gold spots tail and yellow attractor.The Rebel crick hoppers also continue to fish well with the black one being the pick along with the Smilin jack version in black/gold. Running 3 colours of leadline can also help pull a few fish through out the day, getting your lures down around the 3 metre mark.We have also just received some great new colours in the Rapala minnow range with the "Muddler" , "Brown Muddler"and "Brook Trout" patterns looking fantastic ! The Rapala jointed shad raps have also gained quite a reputation for producing quality browns. We also carry a full range of the ever popular and proven Flat Fish , which seem to be making a come back - again !