Headlines:  Fishing over the last week has been very good.  Warm weather this week will see improved fly fishing in all lakes and rivers, the baitfishing has been very good and there are plenty of fish being caught overall.

The 34th Snowy Mountains Trout Festival concluded on Friday last week.  The weather was a little challenging for the week of the competition, however there were some great fish caught.  Below are some of the winners from the competition and check out the quality weights of these fish (these weights are all gilled and gutted too).

Largest fish overall  2.567 kg Brown Trout - Caught on bait by Rob Hughes

Other Browns                                    Biggest Rainbows

2.248kg Trolling - Cheryl Wilson     1.050kg Trolling - Aaron Church

1.926kg Spinning -  Leon Miners     1.460kg Spinning - Robert Smith

2.208kg Fly - Mick Couvee                1.649kg Bait - Jon Cordingley

1.846kg Junior - Daniel Hoffman     .992kg  Fly - Richard Rowlands

                                                                             .927kg Junior - Dillon Fusinato

Other fish worth noting were an Atlantic Salmon of 1.966kg caught by Steve Jankosko and a .989kg Brook Trout caught by Tony Brine.

A terriffic competition and some great fish.

Flyfishing

Rivers:-  NOW OPEN!

Thunderstorms and rain have given many of our streams another boost of water last week.  Reports have been fantastic from all the rivers in the mountains.

Dry fly fishing has improved incredibly and the hatches of an evening have been huge on occasions. Caddis, Mayfly, Midge, Stonefly plus Termites, Beetles and Ants have really had the fish on the chew on the surface.

*Ryan Pawloski and Mick Morrison fished the Eucumbene River on Tuesday this week and hooked seventeen fish between them on a mixture black and brown nymphs and several on a Red tag also.

*Mick Patton and Dave Maurier fished the Eucumbene and Murrumbidgee Rivers for an afternoon hooking five nice fish on nymphs in the Eucumbene and missed a few in the Murrumbidgee.  Mick commented that both rivers look sensational at present.

*Simon Langford sent the following report below.

Thanks for the advice Tom, I fished the section of the Euc where the portal runs into the river on Saturday morning, river was a bit discoloured from the rain but I landed 10 fish between 7:30-8:30am all on the nymph. 3 browns and 7 rainbows  the browns were a bit slabby. Seemed they went right off the boil as soon as the sun got stronger and fog burnt off about 9am.

Simon Langford

Have not had a definte report from the Thredbo but based on the hatches and warm weather this week I am sure it will fire.

Lake Eucumbene:-  Fly reports from Eucumbene have really improved with some great reports of fish on Termites and quite a few midges starting to show as the water rises over some of the grassy bays.  Many grass covered bays are starting produce prolific midge hatches with fish starting to work them.  Midge pupa, and midge ball patterns are the go in these situations.

Seven gates, Buckenderra and Braemar has had fish moving in numbers on some evenings and a midge pupa or stick caddis will work well when fished with the slow dancing retrieve. 

 Fish have not been large as a rule but there certainly have been plenty to cast at of an evening.

*G'day,

I dropped in Tuesday night to ask for directions to a good spot a 
Eucumbene and got pointed to Buckendera. Thank-you to whoever gave me 
these directions. I arrived about 6pm and had a poke around with 
nymph for a while but saw no fish until the sun had dropped below the 
ridge of the hill. All of a sudden, there were fish galore feeding on 
Midges. I fished the inlet up passed the boat ramp (were it is at the 
mo) and had about 20 fish working the area.
Despite numerous fly changes, including a number of midge patterns 
the best I could do were a few taps on a small wet cast quickly into 
the rise rings. From what I saw I am guessing the fish were small to 
medium rainbows, but I can't be certain.  Thanks for the info 

Andrew Barker

*Other anglers in the Braemar bay area have found good numbers of fish working on shores where the wind has blown and congregated terrestrials into the bays.  Fish have been on green Beetles in these areas. 

*Had a quick session with Josefina on Monday night. We only managed two but it was a bit of fun with this being Josy's second fish on fly.

 Woolly buggers have been the pick of the patterns when searching as have Tom Jones or a Craigs after dark. 

Best areas to look are Buckenderra, Old Adaminaby, Yens Bay, Seven Gates and Braemar

Lake Jindabyne:- There are big numbers of Midges hatching in Jindabyne also.  The lake is rising rapidly and flooding plenty of grassy bays.  As the conditions warm there will be bigger hatches and plenty of fish rising.  As in Eucumbene a Midge Pupa or Midge Ball (or both in tandem) are the go.  After dark searching with a wet or streamer is a good option for a Brown or two.

*Dino Taglieri and Michael (Patto) Patenoster had a good session in a cold North Easter last week.  They didn't catch the first fish till 9pm but ended up landing twelve fish between them as well as getting smoked in the weeds by a big fish.  Best fly was a Hamills Killer. 

Best areas to look at in Jindabyne are Kalkite, Creel Bay, Curiosity Rocks and Hatchery Bay.

 Lake Tantangara :-  There have been good numbers of fish on the chew in Tantangara and most of these have been surface feeders. 

Trolling and Spinning 

Eucumbene:-   With the rising water launching will become progressively easier. 

Launching access is available at Old Adaminaby, Anglers Reach, Dam Wall and Buckenderra.

 For larger boats Old Adaminaby's ramp is still the best option and as the depth increases will make for less headaches.   A 4WD can still be an advantage with the larger boats. 

Trolling has been at its best late and early in the day. 

Most of the reports suggest flat lining in close is the best option.  Tassies, Lofty's, and Alpine Cobra's are great for this work.  With Orange wings, #54, #63 and Y62 taking a few fish

The little RMG Scorpion is another great lure for trolling in close in the new colour  R32

Rapala F5's have been very good also.

 Best areas have been the Dam wall, Old Adaminaby, Grace Lea, and the area off Seven gates.

Jindabyne:-  With the rising levels the weed beds are the place to troll.  Being in close is the key as is an early start.  If you really want to catch a fish being on the water as the light starts to improve is essential.    As with Eucumbene, Tassies and shallow running minnows are the go in close.  small Rebel Crickhoppers work well here too.

*GDay Tom,   Caught this nice brown trolling an  Ecogear SX40 in close to the bank on Sunday.  Managed a similar sized fish last weekend spinning on a Haclo 8m+ crazy deep in Rainbow Trout pattern.    Both fish were loaded full of yabbies.     Eric Burns

 Best spots to troll have been Sids Bay, Creel Bay, Kangaroo Bay, the bank between Sid's and Kalkite and the islands adjacent to the township.

Baitfishing :- 

Bait fishing has been very good in Eucumbene with good Browns and Rainbows coming in from the Old Adaminaby and Seven Gates area.  Powerbait and Scrubworms have been the best baits.  Stimulate has been an excellent addition to Scrubworms and those anglers using it have reported a jump in their catch rates.

We now have Bardi Grubs back in stock.

Mudeyes have started to work and with the warming conditions will really come on over the next few weeks.

Areas to look at  in Jindabyne are Kalkite, Hatchery Bay, Creel Bay, Sids Bay, Clay Pits, Stinky Bay and Hayshed Bay.

In Eucumbene try the Seven Gates or Old Adaminaby. 

Best colours in Powerbait have been Lime Twist, Orange, Sherbet and Lemon Twist.

Try the two hook rig below for best results.