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Fishing was a little patchy over the long weekend with some anglers catching a few while others missed out.  The conditions varied from sunny, still and calm to quite windy with rain and snow.  The mountains had a good dump of snow and the hills are covered as I type this.  Spawning fish will be running in the Eucumbene and Thredbo rivers as the snow melts.  These will be well worth a look for lure and fly anglers.

It's on again this November, The 35th Yamaha and Freshwater Fishing Snowy Mountains Trout Festival.  Dates for the week long competition are Saturday the 1st of November - Friday 7th of November 2008.

Once again prizes will include a Boat, Motor and Trailer package, Category prizes for Trolling, Spinning, Fly and Bait fishing, daily secret weight cash prizes, plus an overall secret weight cash prize.  The fishing is bound to be excellent and it is a great family orientated event.  Book your holidays early and don't miss the countries premier Trout Fishing event.

*From 1st May the bag and size limit in the Eucumbene River and Thredbo River changes to 1 fish only over 50cm.  All fish under 50cm must be released and only one over 50cm may be kept.  The whole of the Eucumbene River is open to fishing.  Artificial lure and fly only in both rivers.

Flyfishing

Rivers:-    Fishing methods are very dependent on the weather at the moment.  A nice, still sunny day is ideal for searching with a dry and you may find a few fish rising if a hatch occurs.  On overcast and cold days a nymph is a better option fished under an indicator.

We have had some good reports in the Eucumbene and Thredbo with Nymphs being the standout patterns.  Glo Bugs and their variants will be worth using here too.

Dry fly fishing is still a possibilty during the day or evenings when a big high pressure system moves over the area and the condtions are fine and warmer.

The Murrumbidgee has produced some great dry fly fishing over the last week with Rainbows in the 35 - 40 cm range.  Good fun on light gear.

Pheasant tails, Hare & Copper, Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Black and Brown Nymphs are the pick of the flies with some having a beadhead an advantage if the river is up a little.

River mouth fishing is well worth a try of an evening with the onset of the spawn run.  Large streamers like a Fuzzy Wuzzy or Wooly Bugger on a slow sink or sink tip line are a great way to get amongst some big Browns.

Lake Eucumbene:-  Mudeye hatches have slowed but there is still plenty of food around the edges to keep the fish in range of a fly fisher.  Location is all important.  Bays with lots of grass weed are ideal and rocky points adjacent to these bays being very good too.  The bottom end of the lake has been excellent including Braemar, Coppermine, Collingwood, Waiunui, Buckenderra, Rushy Plains, Sevengates, Springwood, Yens and Old Adaminaby are the best options.

Look for areas with some depth as the really shallow areas seem to be holding less fish.

Caddis hatches have been huge some evenings and even though the fish don't seem to taking the adults, they have been clued in on the nymphs and a Muz Wilson Sticky Caddis is a great pattern to use in the early evenings.

The Rainbows have really put on some great condition over the last few weeks as have the majority of Browns.   

There is a heap of food in the water at present too with Damsels Nymphs, Corixa, Mudeyes, Snails and Caddis.

*Bill Neate and I got 4 fish between us on the weekend 3 rainbows about 1kg and a brown about 1.25 kg we also missed a few more.  No real rise evident on dark but a big caddis hatch.  Maybe we should have used our stick caddis flys.  The Mum's Poodle was the main fish taker.

Cheers Phil Lesek

Another fat Rainbow for Kieran O'Shannassy above and a nice one for his mate Phil below.

 Lake Jindabyne:-  Not a lot of change in reports from Jindabyne with few reports coming in.  After dark with big wets is the best option but day time polaroiding is another method worth trying.  You obviously need a bright still day for visibility and covering as much water as possible is essential.

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

 Lake Tantangara :-  A good number of fish cruising the edges early and late at present so well worth a look.

Trolling and Spinning 

Eucumbene:-   Reports from the lake have been fantastic.    Launching access is available at Old Adaminaby, Anglers Reach, Dam Wall and Buckenderra.

Despite the cooler temps leadcore and downrigging have been working very well of late.  Flatline minnows and Tassies are still taking a few but the bigger numbers of fish have been caught deeper on the whole. 

Talbingo:-  No reports

Baitfishing :- Mudeyes are nearing the end of regular supply but will still take fish overthe nexst month if available.  As the weather continues to Powerbait and Scrubworms will take over.   Baitfishing has been a little harder this week but there were still a few nice fish caught.

*Taylah Maurier out fished dad on the weekend catching this very nice Waste Point Brown on a Scrubby.  Fish was caught in the middle of the day.  Dad reckons he might have to dress up in pink hat and jumper next outing as this always seems to attract the better fish.

*Sasho from Albion Park caught this very nice Brown on the weekend. Not sure of the details but a great fish all the same.

Hi...

After reading the good reports from Eucumbene over the last few weeks, we dropped in and spent a heap of money on bait and lures in the hopes of catching our first trout. Fished the dam wall landbased (and other areas close by) at eucumbene day and night and early morning, for not even a nibble. We used a combination of lures, worms, powerbaits and nymphs - not a nibble. Didnt see a rise or hear a splash from feeding trout. Locals say the problem is the authorities are taking water out of the dam which puts the fish down.

Moved to Jindabyne for the last session and finally my 9 year old caught his first trout on a soft plastic weight about 3.5 lb - not a bad effort for a young fella - his brother - father(me) and brother-in-law are still troutless.

 

Adam Young