The Alpine Angler

It has been very warm over the last week but the fishing has been superb for most anglers. There has been some great baitfishing and trolling along with good flyfishing too.

Rivers:- Not much change this week, there is still some excellent fishing in the area with big evening rises of Caddis, Mayflies, Stoneflies, and there are numbers of small hoppers starting to appear. It is too early for serious hopper fishing yet but should be good in time.

All of the high country streams and rivers are producing at present and the dry fly fishing has been great. Now is definitely the time to be up here fishing.

Best flies at the moment are the Klinkhammer, Geehi Beetle, Red Tag, Coch-y-Bondhu, Brown Ant, Stimulator and Adams Irresistable.

Lake Eucumbene:- The windlanes have had numbers of fish up on top fishing with a beetle or ant pattern being the fly of choice. There have been some good rises on dark in the Anglers reach arm, although many of these have been small Rainbows.

Anglers have also reported seeing some good Browns cruising the shallows, so a spot of early morning polaroiding is another option. Try the Dam Wall, Rushy Plains or Seven Gate.

Best flies have been Yabby patterns, Woolly Buggers, Mountain Shrimp, Bushy's Horror, and Cubits Mudeye.

Lake Jindabyne:- The lake has produced some nice fish again this week, but the evening fishing has been tough at times. There have been some really good rises after dark with fish moving everywhere on the surface but they have been difficult to tempt. With the moon rising later each night now the fish should become a little more responsive to standard patterns in the early evening. The condition of the Jindabyne fish has been excellent.

There was a very big ant fall on Sunday night with fish rising everywhere, so it would be wise to have at least a couple of these patterns in your box.

Polaroiding is a great way of finding a good brown or two at the moment during the day. Although it can be hot there are fish to be caught casting bettle patterns or a small wet to these daytime cruisers. Try Sids Bay, Rushes Bay, or Tyrolean Village area in the morning or the Western shore line in the afternoon.

Lake Tantangara :- No new reports this week, however the rises that have been occuring in the evening will continue and big numbers of small Rainbows and Browns can be caught with the chance of a better Brown in the late evenings. There have been Browns up to 3kg caught there this season so be prepared.

Trolling reports have been scarce this week. There is still heaps of water to fish in at Eucumbene with up to 160ft of depth in some places. Leadcore and Downrigging will become one of themore consistent methods as summer continues but for now flat lines are still catching fish.

Eucumbene:- Launching is possible at more areas now though the Old Adaminaby ramp is still the pick if you have only a 2 wheel drive or a BIG boat. Launching is also possible at Buckenderra, The Dam Wall and Anglers Reach at present.

Now is the time to get out some big lures and troll them deep around rocky and tree lined bays for a chance at a really good Brown. Rapala Tail dancers, Jointed Shad Raps and Glass Shad Raps are sure fire fish takers.

Best trolling areas have been around Old Adaminaby The Dam wall and main basin and the tree lined Western side of the lake.

Just thought I would keep you up to date, got back today having spent five day at old Adaminaby with my grandson Haydon,we trolled ever day for 3 hours early morning, for 7 to 8 trout every day, keeping 10 for the five days and returning the rest, we used 2 colours and only used tassie devels the most successful brown and white, most were browns.

*We fished Eucumbene last Sunday putting in at Old Adaminaby at about 7.00am. Trolled around the bay towards Yens at hooked up our first rainbow after crossing in deep water heading back towards OA. Consistently hooked fish every twenty minutes or so until the wind blew us off the lake at about 10.00am. Total of 8 fish hooked and six landed in three hours was OK by us. All fish were caught on Deep Diver Yellow wings 36 on three colours of lead core, ranging at depths of 40 - 60 ft, so a fair way out in other words. Had the downriggers going but not a sniff even later in the morning as there seemed to be a lot of fish at 20 - 30ft.

Photo of Old Adaminaby boat ramp taken 10th December by Jenny Solomon of Bunyan. Still plenty of boat launching access.

Jindabyne has been a little quieter than Eucumbene report wise but the average size and condition of the fish from there has been better.

Try Sids Bay, The Islands and Kalkite. Any of the weed lined bays will fish well in the early mornings. Drifting and casting back to the shore with small minnows and soft plastics is a great method that can outfish standard trolling at the moment.

GOOD NEWS TWO NEW Launching areas - Snowy River Shire Council & Snowy Hydro have upgraded and cleared off the silt from the old Denison st at Old Adaminaby and added gravel to the top turning/parking area as well - along with park owners Paul and Ken upgrading an area at Anglers Reach as well. These ramps can now be used to launch boats with out too much trouble. Larger boats can be a little more difficult, but it is possible to launch small to medium sized vessels. This ramp will now be cleared regularly to keep access for launching boats open on lake Eucumbene.Snowy Hydro are also looking at improving launching area's at Anglers Reach and the Dam wall - so we'll keep you posted. More details on Lake Eucumbene's levels @ http://www.snowyhydro.com.au/LevelThree.asp?pageID=322&grandParentID=3&parentID=52

*Buckenderra have also upgraded their launching area and you can now launch boats up to 4 metres with a four wheel drive at the Eucumbene cover.

Some really good numbers of nice fish were coming in on bait over the weekend. Powerbait, Grubs, Mudeyes and Scrub Worms all worked over the last week and the weekend. Powerbait in Lime and Lemon twist has been excellent during the day and most anglers opt for one rod with a Mudeye under a bubble and one with a Scrub Worm or Powerbait on the bottom.

Make sure you pick an area with plenty of weed and some structure like rocks and tree's. The most popular rig is to run your main bait with a Powerbait dropper ( Pictured below ).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. The hook is important when fishing with Power bait and we have a special NEW "circle hook" pattern from Mustad just for the job - which hooks them for you ! Feel free to ask us to go over the rig next time your in if still unsure.

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Archive Date: 18/12/2006