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Archive Date: 15/03/2005

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Not a lot of change in the fishing again this week, although the cooler weather is making the trout happier. The best shore based fishing on the lakes is still first light in the morning - and pre-dawn with either mudeyes or mudeye pattern flies. Trollers have been doing well using 3 colours of lead line and their down riggers for best results, working between 20ft to 30ft. The rainbows seem to be out a little wider feeding on daphnia. The flyfishing on the high country rivers has been quite good with some great reports back in from those fishing dries and hopper patterns, again with early morning through to midday being best.Remember to call in to the store for a cuppa on your way through and we'll update any further details on the day 

Note:We have changed our opening time on Sundays to 8am during summer - refer to our home page for full opening hours.

NSW Fishing Licences:-Due to the amount of work involved with licence returns we are now ONLY offering fishing licences On-Line Via the NSW Fisheries web site with the use of CREDIT CARD PAYMENT ONLY !

You can actually buy one now yourself @

https://pnpnet.qvalent.com/OnlinePaymentServlet?cd_community=NSWFISH&cd_supplier_business=NSWFISHERIES&cd_currency=AUD

#Please allow a little time for us to process these as we may be busy.

Flyfishing

Rivers:- The high country rivers have fished very well over the last month , with a swing to hoppers in the last few weeks.Hopper fishing is great fun,and you only need to drift one along the steeper banks now to find a fish.Other patterns to have in your box at this time of the year include,yellow stimulators,royal humpies,royal wolfs, elk hair caddis, red tags,adams,klinkhammers and a few nymphs.Try fishing early morning through to mid-day and then again from around 6pm till dusk with the warmer weather.

Wayne from Sydney spent the week up at Thredbo and experianced the best flyfishing he's had.Wayne averaged 6-10 fish a day from .500gms to 2.5kgs on dry's including Fiery brown beetles, stimulators and wullfs.He also did well with a few good fish on lake Jindabyne after dark using wooly buggers.

"Morning Boys" - we stopped in just before closing time yesterday arvo -
one of you guys suggested I try a fly called 'Mother's Poodle' (??) -
and here is the result !  Young Isabelle was most impressed !  Many
thanks.  See you soon ..

Michael Whitehead

Lake Eucumbene:- The lake has now started to slowly drop , with patchy fishing over the last few weeks with the hot and variable weather. The key is to get on the water early , pre-dawn through to midday being best.The midge fishing has now thinned right out, with a swing towards hoppers,beetles,stick caddis and mudeyes into the night & early morning. There have also been a few nice browns sneaking around the margins on tad poles. Select area's with plenty of grass down to the water and an of-shore breeze for best results. Catching a few hoppers first and keeping them in a container can also be a sneaky way of finding the fish a little quicker - just put half a dozen out on the water in the likely looking area's - If there's a fish in the area it wont take long to find it.You then need to get your hopper pattern out on the water in the vicinity as quickly as possible with out spooking the fish. The other trick worth practising is to try and "strip-strike" when you get a take with out lifting the rod to high. This will result in more hook-ups and less break-offs. If you also miss the take, your fly should also still be in the right vicinity for another take if the fish didn't feel the hook. You may also come across some fish grubbing around on stick caddis and tap poles , so try these patterns if you don't get a look in on a hopper. The mudeyes have really started to move over the last month,and we should see some of the best mudeye fishing in many years leading up to Easter.Try fishing a mudeye pattern either late into the night or again pre-dawn in the mornings, being the coolest times. Patterns worth having in your box include , Cubbits foam mudeyes, muddler minnows, fur flies, Craig's night times, tiahapy ticklers, mum's poodles etc .

Jindabyne:- Not a lot of change this week. The mudeye fishing after dark has been quite good , so try and fish into the night or early in the morning ( pre-dawn ) around area's with web beds when the margins are at their coolest.

Trolling

This cooler weather has really improved the trolling, with most of the action being out a little wider in the deeper water on daphnia schools.Generally the best fishing has been early in the morning from first light through to mid-morning. You will now do better using lead line and running downriggers , working down between 15ft and 40ft feet. Generally the best colours in the Tassie's have been Col S12,Y82,Y05, YFR ,89 & 55.Our own Alpine Cobras have also proven to be consistent fish takers in :- Alpine Special , alpine frog ,green ghost & pink bits 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 in the new killer colour No 61 holographic crawfish , 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 favourites, 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.

Lyle & Jim from Canberra trolled out form Buckenderra on Sunday morning using flatlines and Tassies in Col S12 for 4 nice rainbows to 2kg and dropped a BIG brown at the boat !

Jindabyne:- We have had some great reports back in from Jindabyne over the last few weeks. The best reports have come in form around Rushes bay, Waste Point and the Kalkite end. Both leadlining and flatlining have been productive, with most yellow-wing cobra patterns doing the job along with minnow patterns like RMG's, Merlins , Stump Jumpers and Hot N Tots being the pick. 

Baitfishing

It looks like being a blinder mudeye season this year with some great reports coming in from both Eucumbene & Jindabyne over the last few weeks. Just remember with this warm weather that the best fishing will be late evening & pre-dawn through to early morning as that's when the lake margins are at their coolest, and the fish will come in. 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.

Mudeye Rig

Powerbait Dropper Rig

Best areas on Eucumbene include: Middling bank, Rushes bay at Frying pan, 7 gates,Below the Eucumbene River mouth up at Providence, 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 60 % Falling

Jindabyne 62 % and Stable

Tantangarra 7 % and Stable

Regards Scotto & Team