Headlines: Fishing has been very good in the lakes and there is plenty of water around for the opening of the rivers this weekend.

Lake Eucumbene is rising very well giving excellent bank access for bait, fly and boat anglers.  Received a report that the lake has risen 14ft vertically in 8 days.  That is a heap of water.

Lake Jindabyne has risen nealy 5 % in a week !

There has been some ramp work done at Angler's Reach recently.  One is at Angler's Reach Caravan park.  Though not usable at present, as the lake rises it will provide useful access.  The other is located past the caravan park, on the right, near the end of the main road.  This ramp is usable now and reports suggest it is very good. 

Trout Festival 2008 - 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:-  Reopen this Saturday the 4th of October

The Thredbo and Eucumbene rivers have good numbers of rainbows and a few browns in them at present and with the currently good water flow these will fire with Glo bugs and Nymphs.  Weighted flies will be necessary to get down in some of the pools.  If your flies are not very near the bottom then you catch rate will be recduced.  A fly drifting at the same pace as the current is also essential for best results. 

*Here are some pics of the Eucumbene River at Providence from the weekend, its running quite high, but clear and has good numbers of fish in it, though many were very dark in colour.  As long as people are polite, show some etiquette and stick to bag limits the opening should be a good one with plenty of fish and water to go around.

Kieran O'shannassy

Other rivers worth a look early in the season are the Murrumbidgee, Moonbah, Mac, Snowy, Gungarlin, and a few other smaller high country creeks.

There is a very good possibility of some dry fly fishing during the warmer part of the day with the current temperatures we have had in the past week.  Smaller rather than larger patterns will generally give best results early in the season.  Midges Caddis and a few Mayflies should start popping out inthe next week or so. Small stimulators, Adams, Humpy's are good patterns to try.

Lake Eucumbene:- The fishing has improved in Eucumbene with several reports of fish cruising the shallows in the early mornings.  Reports of fish starting to rise early and late in the day is great news and with the water rapidly rising also there will be more fish searching the shallows.  Woolly Buggers, yabby patterns, Mrs Simpsons, Hammills Killer all work well in these situations.  Midge pupa cast at rising fish work a treat as do stick caddis.

Night fishing will improve over the next few weeks with the rising water.  Dark flies like Craigs, Fuzzies, Phantoms, are the go.

Best areas to fly fish the lake at present are Seven Gates, Buckenderra, Old Adaminaby, Collingwood and Coppermine.

 Lake Jindabyne:-  The fishing in Jindabyne may slow a little on the edges with the water having risen so fast.  There should still be enough fish around the edges to make polaroiding an option.  Stick to the steeper rocky shorelines for best results. 

One angler had a great session right in the centre of town landing two very respectable browns in the middle of the day.  Wooly buggers were the best fly.

As in Eucumbene the night time fishing will improve over the next few weeks.

Muddler Minnows, Sunset flies and Fuzzy Wuzzys and Lumos work very well at this time of year. 

 Best areas to look at are Sids Bay, Hatchery Bay, Creel Bay, Kangaroo Bay, and Kalkite.

Lake Tantangara :-   Fishing is going to fire with a current level of 14%.  The edges will be the place to fish with small wets and nymphs.

 This weekend the NSW fly fishing championships are being held at Tantangara so there will be a fair few anglers there.

Trolling and Spinning 

 We now have Sting Cobras back in stock.

Eucumbene:-   Trolling has improved in the lake and boat access is very easy also.  The best launching areas are still Buckenderra, Old Adaminaby, Anglers Reach (2 ramps) and The Dam Wall.

The lake has been a little discoloured in some areas due to wave action from the wind but this is not detering the fish. 

All types of lures will work this weekend with yellows, greens and pinks in Tassie and Cobra style lures very popular.

Trout pattern minnows in Rapalas, Attacks, RMG Scorpions, Rebels, and Alex lures are great lures to try.  Try some of the larger lures down deep to search out the bigger browns.

Rebel Crickhoppers and Smilin Jack Hoppers behind cowbells or fenders are another great early season lure to try.

Best areas to look at this week are the Dam wall, Main basin, Buckenderra, Seven gates and Anglers reach. 

Jindabyne:-  Jindabyne will troll well this weekend. Stick to the bottom of the lake around the township and steep banks for clearer water.  Trolling in close should be the go as the water has risen well above the weed beds and this is where the fish will be looking for food. 

*Hi guys,  Caught this nice brown last weak he weighed 6.5 pound trolling a rapala brown trout pattern  in Jindabyne at Kalkite I was pretty stoked as it was my biggest trout to date, also cought a couple more browns 3.2 lb& 4.5lb it was a good weekend.

Tantangara:- No Reports.

Baitfishing :-  Bait fishing has been excellent in Jindabyne with Gulp Power bait and standard Powerbait.   Quality fish are coming in from the Rushes Bay, Waste point Kalkite and Hatchey Bay areas. 

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.

There have been a few Browns that have already spawned turning up in Eucumbene so these fish will be very hungry as they try to put on some condition after running the river.  A good time to be soaking a bait in the Anglers Reach/Old Adaminaby area.  The Dam Wall can produce late in the day and early in the morning at this time of year.  Powerbait is the pick here as you can float it above the bottom on light hooks and keep it out of the weed and rocks.  Very effective.

 There are still plenty of Pre Spawn Rainbows about at the moment and these have been incredibly fat and well conditioned fish.  PowerBait is probably the pick of the baits for these fish with Orange, Sherbert and the Lime and Lemon Twists being very popular with these hard fighting fish.

It can still be very cold at night and early morning despite the slightly warmer days recently.  Gloves and beanies are a must. 

Best areas in Eucumbene would be The Dam wall, Old Adaminaby/Cemetary point andCollingwood bay areas.