The Alpine Angler

It was a great weekend again in the mountains with plenty of nice fish being caught.Both the Eucumbene & Thredbo rivers have still got plenty of nice rainbows holding back after spawning, which are providing some great sport. The lakes are still rising and it won't be long before we see the water up over some new ground on Eucumbene. The country side looks better than it has in many, many years , all we need now is a little stable , warm weather and I think we're in for a ripper season

Remember to call in to the store for a cuppa on your way through or home and we'll update any further details on the day.

Starts This Saturday the 29th !- This years 32nd annual Yamaha Snowy Mountains Trout Festival will be run from Saturday the 29 th October to Friday the 4 th of November. The last weigh in time will be 10am on Friday morning.

This years prize presentation will be held at the Berridale Community Hall from 2pm on Friday the 4th of November 2005.

Remember all you have to do is enter this years event and attend the prize presentation to be in the draw for the Fantastic new Quintrex 385 Explorer boat, with 20hp Yamaha motor and trailer prize valued at over $7000.00 ! This years competition is made possible with the continued support from www.yamaha-motor.com.au . who have donated the fabulous 20 hp motor in conjunction with Ken's Marine Canberra, who have supplied the new Quintrex 385 Explorer boat and trailer. We thank Yamaha , Quintrex and Ken's Marine for their generosity and hope that you will be able to support them in future.

You also have the chance of winning $1000 worth of quality tackle for each fishing category. Our ability to make these prizes available is due to the strong support from some of Australia's leading tackle wholesalers, EJ Todd & Son, JM Gillies, Pure Fishing, Rapala VMC, Basser Millyard & Saga Tackle . Combined with the strong support from local business's helps make this a fishing event not to be missed.

There will also be daily "secret weight cash prizes" valued as much as $1000.00 !

We're also lifting the prize pool on the NEW Clubs/Team Category to $750.00 CASH !

There will also be the prized Festival Beer Tankards for the largest rainbow and largest brown trout recorded at each weigh in centre.

The committee hopes that you will enjoy the fishing and sites which the beautiful Snowy Mountains area has to offer,and look forward to seeing you all again.

Rivers:- Are Now ALL open

Both the Eucumbene & Thredbo Rivers have plenty of rainbows holding back after spawning.The average fish are around the kilo mark with quite a few over 2kgs. These fish should stay in these rivers into November - and may provide some dry flyfishing once we get some warm weather and hatches.Best fishing currently has been with Glo bugs & nymphs , ensuring you keep your flies on the bottom being the key.

*Richard from Sydney fished the top of the Eucumbene river with bead head hares ear nymphs for 7 rainbows and one good brown to 1.5kgs.

Lake Eucumbene:- There have been some nice browns showing up down around the Buckenderra / Middling bank Frying pan area with fish to 2.5 kgs being taken. Patterns worth having in your box at present include Woolly buggers,Fuzzy wuzzies, Craig's night times,Tiahape ticklers and lumo baby dolls.Remember to up your tippet after dark to atleast 8lb as there's always a chance of a BIG one during the night

Lake Tantagara :- Has started to produced a few fish , and should get better once the lake level stabilizes a little as it's been up & down like a yo-yo recently.

Lake Jindabyne:- There's been a few fish about - but not a lot of fly anglers chasing them. Best fishing has been working yabby beds with streamers until we start to get some warmer weather and some insects moving ie:midges,caddis etc.Flies worth having in your box include :- woolly bugger's, and fuzzy wuzzy's, Bushy's Horror's,sand cases caddis,black and peacocks, midges etc

*Stephen Swan from the Illawarra Flyfishers fished kalkite with woolly buggers for 4 good browns measuring 42cm to 55cm est - 1.5kgs to 2.5kgs.

Eucumbene:- The trolling really has been great on Eucumbene over the last few months with some thumping rainbows & browns coming in. Both leadline and flatlines have been producing fish with the cooler surface temperatures.The best fishing has been down the bottom of the lake well away from the main river in-flows. The rainbows are in peak condition and averaging around the 1kg mark, feeding heavily on daphnia in the open water. Consistent lures include Tasmanian Devils in Cols 36,89,55, 72,S12, Y82 & Y62. Our own Alpine Cobra's in the Alpine Attractor, Black hole , Lime spider and Alpine Special patterns, Rebel crickhoppers and crawfish,Storm Hot N Tots , ultra deep Merlins,Stump Jumpers,RMG Scorpions & Poltergeist.

*Bernie & Judy form Canberra fished out form Kalkite & Breamar bay over the weekend , trolling both leadlines and flatlines with our own Alpine Cobras in the "Black Hole" & "Alpine Attractor" for 9rainbows averaging around 1kg and 2 browns to 1.5kgs.

*Steven & Jim from Canberra trolled out form Anglers Reach with both lead-lines & flatlines and Alpine Cobra's in the "Black Hole" pattern for 3 browns to 2kgs and 3 rainbows around .800 grams.

*Don & Rob from Woollongong trolled out from Buckenderra using cow bells & Kwikfish in "perch scale" pattern for 50 good fish over the week - mostly rainbows averaging .800 grams with a couple to 1.5kgs.

HOT NEW LURES :- Just arrived in-store for the opening weekend , River 2 Sea Humbugs, Eco Gear SX 40F & 48 F minnows, 2"inch Bug Ants, Sting Cobra Col B/S, Squidgy "Slick Rigs", Team Diawa Pro-Vibrations,Trout Killer E-Chips !

Jindabyne:- Some good reports back in from Jindy this week , with best area's being up around the Thredbo river mouth at around Waste Point and the eastern shoreline around Sid's Bay . Fishing a mixture of small minnows like RMG Scorpions, Merlins & Attacks along with Tassies in "Yellow Wing" patterns should see a few nice fish in the boat.

*Colin & Dave from Canberra fished out from Kalkite - both trolling with Humbug minnows & baitfishing of a night with scrubbies/powerbait , for 13 fish with rainbows to 1.5kgs and browns to 2.5kgs PLUS -

They also got a bloody BIG eel , weighing 3.5kgs !

Baitfishing

The baitfishing has been great,with some fantastic browns starting to come in over the last few weeks. The best rig through winter was combining a scrub worms with a Power bait dropper ( pictured below).Power bait in orange, rainbow and lemon twist have been the main fish takers.This rig has really proven itself over the last few seasons, with both options you really have it covered.Power bait naturally floats, so the distance you make your dropper is the distance you can expect your Power bait to be above the bottom. This means that fish will find your bait a lot quicker even if you have cast into weeds. If they don't eat the Power bait they have found your main bait a lot quicker. The hook is important when fishing with Power bait and we get a special "single egg" pattern in from Gamakatsu just for the job - which has a short shank and ultra wide gape. Feel free to ask us to go over the rig next time your in if still unsure.

Powerbait Dropper Rig

Best areas on Eucumbene include: Middling bank, Frying pan, Seven Gates, Yens bay, Breamar bay ,Providence around the Eucumbene River Mouth and along the dam wall at Eucumbene Cove.

Best area's on Jindabyne include: The clay pits in front of town, Hatchery bay, Hayshed bay and Kalkite.

Jindabyne Dam Wall project Up-dates :- For detailed information regarding the work being carried out on the Lake Jindabyne Dam wall, including road delays etc go to :-

#Please Note - NSW Fishing Licences:- Due to the amount of work involved with licence returns we are now ONLY offering fishing licences On-Line Via the NSW Fisheries web site with the use of CREDIT CARD PAYMENT ONLY !

Fishing Report Archives: Print friendly version

Archive Date: 31/10/2005