Rivers:-The Thredbo river and Eucumbene river have both fished very well so far this season , with plenty of late run rainbows averaging around 1kg in weight staying on after spawning. The warm weather has now got the hatches going with fish starting to rise on caddis, duns, ants,beetles and midges. Things are really looking good for those planning a trip to the High country over Christmas.

Condition on lake Eucumbene at Middling Bank at present - 65% and still rising !

Eucumbene:As mentioned above the midge fishing has been fantastic over the last week and should only get better so long as it doesn't get too warm. It is very specific fishing and you "need" to have well tied midge balls and buzzer nymphs, with my favourite set up being a 12 ft tapered leader ending with a 4-5lb fluorocarbon tippet.I then tie a size 12 or 14 midge ball onto the end.I then tie a 1/2 metre length of tippet to the bend of the midge ball hook, with a size 14 midge buzzer pattern on the end.I like to then dig a little bit of local mud up and run my leader between the midge ball and buzzer through it as well as giving the buzzer a squish.I then dunk my midge ball in a liquid floatant like Muscilin dry fly silicon.I prefer a liquid floatant as it won't clog up your hackles on the midge ball and allow it float better.I also carry a dry fly desiccant powder/crystals to revive my drowned midge balls. Make sure you check your midge ball regularly and give it a shake every second or so casts to ensure it's floating well. We have all been getting out a fair bit after work ourselves over the last few weeks - with some fantastic midge fishing session. We also had reports back in from quite a few fly anglers over the weekend - all saying the same "It's some of the best fishing we have seen on the lake " !

Tom with a couple of nice fish from last nights session at Middling Bank !

You will have plenty of fish to cast at when the rise is on, so I try and cast in an area I have just seen a fish rise or boil in and leave it.They will often work back and forth in a short area so just leave it sit for a moment.If you don't get a rise to your midge ball , try a quick series of short strips and wait again.If you don't get a rise again or a take on your buzzer try a long slow "skate" retrieve, pick it up and cover another fish. It's a numbers game so don't spend a lot of time working one what appears to be maybe one fish.The more fish you cover the better your chances. Midge fishing can be fantastic and it can be frustrating but if you would on the technique above you should be able to improve your results - I can't wait to get back out !

Jindabyne:- Haven't had a lot of flyfishing reports back , but we should see some good fishing with the lake holding over the permanent weed beds through out summer. With the usual warm and stormy weather that we get leading up to Christmas we should some good ant/termite falls, along with midges & caddis.  

Trolling

Cameron and Mathew ( left) with some nice fish from lake Jindabyne - and Tony & Trevor ( Right ) from Canberra with some nice fish from Lake Eucumbene out form Old Adaminaby.

The trolling really has been about as good as it gets over the last few months with some great reports again over last weekend. Generally the best colours in the Tassie's have been Col S12,Y82,YFR ,89 & 55.Our own Alpine Cobras have also proven to be consistent fish takers in :- black hole , alpine frog and green ghost all fishing well of late. The Sting cobra's from Tassie are also gaining quite a following with 16 unique colours now in our range.Minnows are also always worth having in your spread with RMG Scorpions, Stump Jumpers, baby merlins, Attacks and Rapala's all worth a swim. Best colours are gold & blacks, rainbow and browns trout patterns, tigers and pink/violets. The Merlin deep and Ultra deep minnows are one of my personal favorites, running between 3 & 4 metres on a flat line. Merlin Colours worth a try include the orange and green tigers, gold spots tail and yellow attractor.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.We have also just received some great new colours in the Rapala minnow range with the "Muddler" , "Brown Muddler"and "Brook Trout" patterns looking fantastic ! The Rapala jointed shad raps have also gained quite a reputation for producing quality browns. We also carry a full range of the ever popular and proven Flat Fish , which seem to be making a come back - again !

Jindabyne:- Much better trolling reports coming in from Jindabyne over the last few weeks. The best fishing has been around the main islands in front of the township and East Jindabyne, creel bay at Waste Point and the Western shoreline at Kalkite.Both leadlining and flatlining have been productive, with most yellow-wing cobra patterns doing the job along with minnow patterns like Merlins , Stump Jumpers and Hot N Tots being the pick.

Baitfishing

The baitfishing has been fantastic over the last few months, with some real quality in the fish being caught as well.We have also seen a swing over to mudeyes in the last week - with some good reports coming in over the weekend.The best way to fish these is with a water fill bubble float, using a foam/rubber stopper bead to set the depth you want to fish. The best hooks are short shank size 10 or 8 black octopus or suicide patterns, hooking the mudeye through the wing case behind their head. Drawing below - BUT feel free to ask how to set these up when your in . It's also always worth having a bait on the bottom, particularly through the day. The best rig for this is using scrubbies with 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. 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.We should also start to see some better mudeye fishing on the lakes of an evening as things warm up.