Headlines:  Weather conditions were very good for fishing on the weekend though it was quite cold.  The fishing seems to have been good over the last week of fishing.  The rivers are now closed till the October long weekend however the lakes remain open year round and will provide some outstanding Trolling, Bait and Fly Fishing.

It's on again this November, The 35th Yamaha and Freshwater Fishing Snowy Mountains Trout Festival.  Dates for the week long competition are Saturday the 1st of November - Friday 7th of November 2008.

Once again prizes will include a Boat, Motor and Trailer package, Category prizes for Trolling, Spinning, Fly and Bait fishing, daily secret weight cash prizes, plus an overall secret weight cash prize.  The fishing is bound to be excellent and it is a great family orientated event.  Book your holidays early and don't miss the countries premier Trout Fishing event.

Flyfishing

Rivers:-  Now all closed till October.

There were a few good fish caught in the rivers over the long weekend mostly on nymphs and Globugs.

*Neil Himsley from the Blue Mountains caught this great Atlantic Salmon (below) in the Thredbo River on Friday last week.  It was 57cms long and weiged 2.5kg.  Fly was a Globug.  Lets hope a few more of the Big Atlantics turn up in the lake over the next few weeks

*Kieran Oshannassy managed a few nice Rainbows (pictured below) out of the Eucumbene River on the weekend.  Best fish was a 1.5Kg Rainbow. All were released.  There will still be numbers of these fat Rainbows in the lake at present so well worth a look too.

*Steve Jackson from Bega had a great session landing eleven fish in the Eucumbene River again on Globugs. A couple of pics below.

Dave Maurier from Cooma caught this nice Brown on the weekend in the Thredbo.

Lake Eucumbene:-   Reports have been very good from Eucumbene this past week though dropping water is making things a little difficult around the edges.

Wet flies on dark are the best options with Craigs Nightime, Mum's Poodle, Fuzzy Wuzzy, Woolly Buggers and Lumo's being the best patterns to try.  Homeleigh Bay, Rainbow Pines, Seven Gates and the River Mouth (being sure to stay away from any visible flow) are the best spots to look at.  Pick areas with good weed beds and some depth.  Searching out clear water is a must as wave action is stirring up some areas and making the water cloudy.

Other locations would be the Dam wall and boat based working a wet fly through the trees on the Western side of the lake.  Large Woolly Buggers or a Bushy's Horror or any other fly that pushes a bit of water are the go.

There are some good fish to be found in these areas if

 Lake Jindabyne:-  The lake has really fired over the weekend.  Some great catches of Rainbows were made in the main lake after dark and most have been cracking sized fish.  There have been a few more Brook Trout and Atlantics caught since the release three weeks ago.  There is a good chance of picking up one of these fish in the lake at the moment.

Best areas are Kangaroo Bay, Hatchery, Curiosity Rocks and Sids Bay.

Best Flies have includedFuzzy Wuzzy's, Taihape Ticklers, Hamills Killers and Zonkers.

 Lake Tantangara :-  No reports on fly 

Trolling and Spinning 

Eucumbene:-   Reports have been patchy but there are still some good fish being caught.  Leadcore and Downrigging has been the best bet although some anglers are picking up fish on flat lines as well. 

Early and late has been the best times, as usual but some are still being caught during the day.  Once again the river mouth is an area that too few anglers concentrate on with soft plastics and bibless minnows.  This is a definite hot spot to try these methods at present.

Best lures on the troll have been the Pink Tassies #55 and #72 along with #28 and Yellow wing colour schemes.

*Chris Mould of Cooma along with Jamie and Harro from Canberra had a good session spinning the trees with hard body minnows on the weekend.  They landed six Browns and dropped three.  The biggest was 2.5kg and the others around the kilo and a bit mark.  A pink Mcgrath Deep diver caught the biggest fish with Jointed Rapalas the best other lure.

Best areas have been around the mouth of Seven Gates, Waiunui, Coppermine, Brookwood and Cemetary point area.

Baitfishing :-  Bait fishing was fairly consistant on the weekend with Orange Power Bait and Scrub Worms being the best fish takers over all.  There will be some great fishing for Rainbows in the next few weeks in both lakes with some really fat fish in Eucumbene and some nice ones in Jindabyne as well.

It can be very cold at night and early morning but these are still the peak times to try.  Gloves and beanies are a must. 

Best areas in Eucumbene have been at Buckenderra, The Dam wall, Seven Gates, Yens, Old Adaminaby, Coppermine, Collingwood, Wainui, Spring wood.