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Archive Date: 31/08/2004

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 Matt & Bonita with "THE BIG FISH" from Middlingbank

Make sure you tune into the ABC's BIG FISH ( http://www.abc.net.au/illawarra/afternoons/features/fishing.htm ) - with Bonita Brown from 3pm this Wednesday the 1st of September for a full wrap up on her recent trip to the Snowy Lakes in search of her first trout.It was a great weekend, with a lot of fun had by all, not to mention some terrific fishing.I'm sure Bonita has some great listening lined up for you over the next few weeks.You can tune in on the following frequencies :- 

For the Illawarra: 97.3 FM

Bega: 810 AM

Moruya: 103.5 FM

Eden: 106.3 FM

Cooma: 1602 AM

Bombala: 94.1 FM

Thredbo: 88.9 FM

Jindabyne: 95.5 FM

Spring has sprung and the fishing was great again over the last week - with more reports and photo's than I have room for ! We've had some good rain up in the high country this week - which will be great for the spawn runs. Had some good reports back from fly anglers who got some polaroiding in last week on Jindabyne - seeing as many as 20 fish a session.Catching them is another storey however. The fishing should only get better as things keep warming up.For more details on the day, call into the store on your way through and we'll update things over a cuppa in front of the fire 

Flyfishing

Rivers:All general trout streams are now closed to all fishing until Saturday the 2nd of October 2004 ( Start of the October longweekend).However our lakes are open all year round with some of most consistent conventional fishing on Lake Eucumbene and Lake Jindabyne occurring over winter.

Eucumbene: There's still some really nice browns & rainbows being caught down around Buckenderra,Middlingbank and Yens bay. Fishing an intermediate line with streamers would get results like woolly buggers and fuzzies etc. The Eucumbene dam wall is also a reliable area through winter, and well worth a look on a bright day. The winter polaroiding along the wall was quite good last winter on the rainbows .For those who are prepared to put in the time and dress accordingly, we'll still see some good fish caught from around the Eucumbene river mouth right through winter as well. You can still fish this area so long as your are outside of any visible flow - which is basically below the last set of rapids in the river all year round. So once the browns have gone, you'll see some BIG rainbows come through in September.

Jindabyne: Had some quite good reports back in from those who have been out polaroiding , seeing as many as 20+ fish a session.Seeing them and catching them can be another storey as any one who has had a go at polaroiding will tell you. We've had our local guide Paul Bourne tie us up some nice sand cased caddis flies - which have worked well this season - give one a try next trip.Other patterns worth a try include Midge pupa's, black & peacocks, woolly buggers and Horrors etc. Remember stay back from the edges and walk slowly.

Trolling

The trolling has been that good - even I've been catching them

The trolling really has been fantastic on both lakes this winter and only looks set to get better as things warm up.Dave Southwell reported back for the Vikings Fishing club who had 14 anglers up in 7 boats fishing from Anglers Reach.The boys caught 45 fish in a day and a half, averaging around the kilo mark.Dave actually caught the largest fish with a nice brown going 1.32kgs cleaned.Most fish came in on yellow wing Tassie's, Alpine Cobra's and Stings.Anthony Love trolled Middlingbank/Buckenderra for 3 1/2 hours with Quickfish & Flatfish for 4 nice fish with the largest brown going 55cms.Eric and Dave from Canberra also trolled Middlingbank with Micro mins in the brown trout pattern for 3 rainbows and one brown averaging 1kg.Darren & Chantelle from Pascoe Vic trolled out form Breamar Bay - flatlines and deep Merlins in Yellow Attractor colours for 4 fish - with Chantelle landing a beautiful 3 kg brown.Louie from Sydney has also been doing well spinning from the shore at Middling bank using Tassie's in Col 3,with 9 fish for the weekend to 2kgs. Generally the best colours in the Tassie's have been Col S12,Y82,YFR ,89 & 55.Our own Alpine Cobras have also developed quite a following with the Alpine Attractor, Pink wings, black hole and midnight special all fishing well of late. Minnows are also always worth having in your spread with RMG Scorpions, baby merlins, Attacks and Rapala's all worth a swim. Best colours are rainbow and browns trout patterns, tigers and pink/violets. 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.

Chantelle Pascoe with a beautiful brown from Breamar Bay.

Dave Southwell ( Left ) with some nice fish from Eucumbene and Bill Memrose ( Right)from Cooma with more nice fish from Jindabyne.

NEW Duel Depth Tassie Colours:-We have just received the new "Yellow Wing" Duel depth Tasmanian devil range - Including the popular S12 sparkler.These are sure to become favourites in a few tackle boxes - Give some a run next trip.

Jindabyne: We did really well up on Jindy over the weekend, and saw a few other anglers bring fish in - just need to put some time in for one of those BIG salmon.Dary; & Paul from Merimbula did well trolling with 3 rainbows and salmon to 2.2kgs , then picked up 4 rainbows and 13 browns baitfishing with Bardies and Powerbait. Rodney from Queanbeyan trolled out from Kalkite with perch scale Quickfish for 4 browns and 1 rainbow averaging 1kg.Generally the best areas have been around the Islands in front of the main township, Rushes/Sid's bay at East Jindabyne, Creel bay and around Waste point and the Western side up around Kalkite.We should also start to see some of the BIG salmon turning up from now on in as they'll be pretty hungry by now ! 

Baitfishing

Harrison Sturgeon from Cooma with a lovely 2.2kg brown caught on Powerbait from Eucumbene.

The baitfishing has been fantastic this winter with some real quality in the fish being caught as well.The best reports have been from anglers fishing with bardie grubs, using a Power bait dropper (pictured below). 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. Scrub worms can also be fished instead of the Bardie grub, being a cheaper alternative. Best colours in the Power bait have been Orange, Sherbet, Lime twist and rainbow. 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.Bill Bemrose from Cooma fished Hatchery bay on Jindabyne with worms and Powerbait for 3 browns to 3 kgs and 1 rainbow at 1.5kgs - all in top condition.Jaakko from Wollongong fished out from Breamar Bay on Eucumbene with bardies and powerbait for 2 browns to 2.2kgs and 4 rainbows averaging 1kg.

Powerbait dropper-rig

Best areas' on Eucumbene include: Middling bank, Rushes bay at Frying pan, 7 gates, yens bay, Breamar bay and along the dam wall.

Best area's on Jindabyne include: The clay pits in front of town, Hatchery bay, creel 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 :-

http://www.snowyhydro.com.au/LevelThree.asp?pageID=56&parentID=254&grandParentID=3

Lake Levels

Eucumbene 49 % and Rose

Jindabyne 48 % and falling

Tantangarra 10 % Rose

That's all till next week!

Regards Scotto