Headlines:  Fishing has been good for some and tough for others of late.  Rivers have been fishing very well overall though a bit more rain would be handy.  Bait fishing in the lakes has produced excellent quality of fish though numbers are not huge.  Trolling has been good overall.

 Anglers need to pay attention to the dropping levels of the lakes.  Underwater obstacles are starting to appear in some areas and these can be dangerous if hit at high speed.  If unsure of the area go slow and keep an eye out.  

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Mon-Thursday  9am - 5:30pm

Friday       9am - 7pm

Saturday  7am - 5.30pm

Sunday     8am - 4:30pm

Flyfishing

Rivers:-   It is that time of year when the browns will start to make an apperance in the Eucumbene and Thredbo rivers as they run to spawn.  While it may be a little early, reports suggest that there are numbers of fish doing their thing already.  More rain is need for a fresh run of fish.  Glo bugs and nymphs will be the standard patterns of choice but you could also include a few woolly buggers as well.

From May 1st both theses rivers have a bag limit of one fish per angler and this fish must be 50cm or larger.  All fish under 50cm must be released.

Reports have been mixed with some anglers getting fish on Glo bugs while others have been only catching them on nymphs.  Best to mix it up and use both.

These flies need to be on or near the bottom to be effective at this time of year.  Tugsten putty, Lead shot and weighted flies can be necessary to achieve this.  You will also catch way more fish if you stay out of the river.  Anglers who wade the centre of the stream are going to catch less, spook more and potentially damage spawning redds.  Stick to the bank and stay low for best results.

*Hey guys

Just a little report from the steams was fishing the portal on Tuesday with a good mate Duncan left Canberra at 6:00am and was fishing by 8:30.  We hooked and landed a nice brown my Pb on fly and a great start to the day.  Shortly after Duncan hooked and good fish only to be lost on a fast run downstream after a short fight in the rapid. In the same rapid rapid hooked another good fish and as well went on a 100m run downstream for no rewards either.  2 hours later hooked a nice 53 cm rainbow on my own hand made fly me Pb for rainbow on fly in the steams what a great day. 

From then on landed a few 25-35cm fish until about 16:00 when another 51 cm rainbow was landed.

Some were caught on nymphs but glow bugs seemed to be the go and from others on the stream size 16 nymphs or glow bugs were the way to go. Cheers guys will send you anther report next week when we can get up there again.

Mark G

*G'day Tom & Mick,
 
I thought you'd appreciate this one.    

My son Karl (12 years old) finally "broke his cherry" for a big fish at Eucumbene River on Sunday afternoon 17th May 2009 with this beautiful 4lb brown trout !

The fly was a gold beaded black and brown nymph (which Mick recommended - thanks mate !) trailing 40 cm behind a weighted glo-bug. Mind you we also had good results on a lime green nymph behind the same rig. We caught 9 fish (all released) and lost 4; an awesome day's fishing !  The best part of Karl's fish was when I asked him "This is a trophy fish Karl. What do you want to do - take it home to show your Mum or release it ?" Answer: "Let's release it Dad !" which he did. 

As we all know the trout are spawning at this time of year. It' might be a different story during the warmer months !
 
BRGDS/Rolf Svensen

Lake Eucumbene:-  The lake has been a little hit and miss but there are still enough of those fat rainbows around to keep most anglers happy.  A few more browns have started to show though the rainbows are out numbering them considerably. 

Fish have been getting caught but you have to be in the right place at the right time. Evenings have been best with only a small window where fish may be coming in.

The top end around Anglers Reach appears to be producing a few more of the browns. Seven Gates and Crowes area has been very good as has the whole Middilingbank arm.

The fish have had daphnia in their stomachs. 

Lake Jindabyne:-  Jindabyne has been great in the evenings with fish coming in from many of the bays and points.  Fuzzy Wuzzys and Taihape ticklers along with Black Phantoms have been good.  Most of the fish have been rainbows but a few browns are still poking about.  River mouth fishing has been quiet this week. There is a heap of weed in many of the bays that is drawing the fish in to the food that it holds. 

Lake Tantangara :-  No reports from Tantangara.

Trolling and Spinning 

Eucumbene:- Trolling reports have been quiet though with the amount of boats around this past week there would have been some nice fish caught.  Reports suggest that more open water areas and fishing in the 20-25ft mark has been best.  The fish have been eating daphnia in these areas so running lures in the olive, yellow, green type colours should work.  Look for large blobs mid water on the sounder and work the area till you find some fish. Trout pattern minnows will work well Rapalas, Attacks, RMG Scorpions and Soft plastics in the trees will be a great "other" method to try.  Best areas for trolling continue to be Cobrabald, Waiunui, Collingwood, and the main basin area.

Jindabyne:-  Jindabyne has been good with some nice fish taken trolling around the outside of the weed beds in many of the bays.  Deeper water and the river mouth have also produced some nice fish with a rumoured 7-8kg fish being caught by an angler trolling from a kayak recently.  Big nine and eleven cm trout pattern Rapalas would do well on the big browns as will the larger Alex tango lures.  Getting these down a bit is the key to the big browns.  Rainbows will still take these larger lures at times but smaller minnows and tassies will work a little better.

Try Kalkite, Waste point, Creel Bay and Sids Bay.

 Baitfishing :- 

Mudeyes are scarce but the worm and powerbait fishing has been good enough that most have given up using mudeyes.  Powerbait has come into its own this past week.  Remember to fish it on the bottom but with a light gauge short shank hook, like the Gamakatsu single egg or Daiichi 2171 in a sz 6 are perfect.  Best colours have been the Chartreuse and Sherbert nuggets along with Scrub worms have been doing very well over the last week as well. 

Eucumbene has been a little tough off the bank from some reports.  The fish only seem to be working certain areas and for short periods in the evenings.  Look for soaks and drop offs for best results. 

Jindabyne has had some great rainbows coming in and has been a little better than Euc at present.

Jindabyne     45.8%  

Tantangara     6.8%

Cheers Tom

Got any reports from the local lakes or rivers?

If so, email them along with pictures to info@alpineangler.com.au  for inclusion in our weekly report.