Headlines Fishing has been good even with the cooler weather. Plenty of good flows in the streams for fly anglers and with Eucumbene still rising some good edge fishing for fly and bait anglers.
Flyfishing
Rivers:- Are still fishing very well with water levels being excellent. Warmer weather has got terrestrials on the go with beetles and hoppers starting to show in better numbers. The cooler conditions this week have not hurt the fishing in any way. Mayfly hatches have been good on the Eucumbene with the Thredbo having some good caddis hatches from reports had.
Other streams worth prospecting are the Moonbah, Gungarlin, Little Thredbo, Snowy and Murrumbidgee.
Best dries have been Elk hair caddis, foam black and green beetles, stimulators, humpy, Wulffs, klinkhamer, adams parachute, red tag and deer hair beetles. Small blue dun or greenwells glory have been good for the mayfly hatches.
Nymphs that are working have been pheasant tails, gold ribbed hares ear, black and brown beadheads and blue copper johns.
Lake Eucumbene:- Has risen to 28.5% and should continue to rise for a few weeks yet as long as we get a little bit more rain in the catchment.
Plenty of rainbows have been caught of late with fish condition improving in some areas.
Browns have still been in excellent condition and have been on yabbies in a big way. A few have been seen chasing dragonflies on the wing and it is a great sight seeing two to three kilo fish launching out of the water. They are still taking small flies but a large streamer would be a good bet to chase these fish. Beetles patterns are also a good option if you can spot a fish working in close.
Fast stripped or slowly worked beadhead nymphs are working well during the day on rainbows, with stick caddis, midge pupa or unweighted nymphs working well during the evenings. Beetle patterns on hot days may also be worth using as a few more beetles are starting to show on the water.
In some areas fish have been on snails so they are worth having in the box along with some klinkmers if the fish are on individual midge.
Fishing is excellent in the Middilingbank and Seven Gates areas and a few reports suggest the Angler's Reach area has picked up.
Lake Jindabyne:- Jindabyne reports have been quiet over the past week. The one report we have had suggests tough fishing and more fish working in the morning than evenings. This may depend on the day though.
Lake Tantangara :- Has started to drop and may well help the fishing as the lake had risen perhaps to rapidly with the rain of two weeks ago. There are still numbers of midge, damsels and beetles but the fishing has been tough overall. Quality of the fish has been excellent but finding some that are feeding consistantly has been hard. Best flies will be small nymphs both beadhead and unweighed, stick caddis, caddis pupa, midge pupa, black and peacock spiders and woolly worms and buggers.
Trolling and Spinning
Eucumbene:- Eucumbene trolling reports have been better with both flat lining and leadcore working well. Drifting love grass has been playing havoc with props and troll lines in some areas.
Tassies have been working very well in the early hours in close.
Most of the fish being caught have been rainbows but there is always the chance of a brown.
Small Attack minnows in pink have accounted for several fish for one group while brown trout rapalas have been great for another boat.
Browns have been on yabbies overall so a deeper bodied minnow like the Rapala Jointed Shad Rap in 5 cm will get down and is a cracker for targeting these larger aggressive fish.
Jindabyne:- Trolling reports have suggested Sids bay and the Islands (or what is left of them) nearby has been very good with some nice fat rainbows being taken. Small minnows and tassies, lofty's or stings are the best lure stlyes to use. Downrigging tassies will produce some great fish and keep an eye out on the sounder for any daphnea blooms as these are great fish magnets and the rainbows in particular have been feeding on these blooms.
*Chris Roberts caught this brown on a rapala on the weekend. A very nice fish.
Bait Fishing
We have a large range of Powerbait and Gulp in stock with many rainbows still being caught on a range of colours. Chunky Cheese, Sherbert Burst and Lime twist and lemon twist are still the standouts.
Best baits on Euc have been the above powerbaits and scrub worms. Seven Gates has been fishing very well as has Buckenderra.
There have been a few good catches on mudeyes. We have had varying supply but are working well if you can get them.
*Matt Sturgeon caught this brown out from Buckenderra recently.
Jindabyne has also fished well with plenty of good fishing to be had. Curiosity rocks and Hatchery being good locations to try.
The new Gulp Crickets are now in stock and will make a great substitute for a mudeye under a bubble. They look just like a mudeye so with a few colour choices and built in scent it would be amazing if they don't account for a few feisty rainbows and browns in the lakes.
