Headlines: Well the opening has been and gone and it was a great one by all accounts.  There is a some really good water in the rivers and some great numbers of quality fish.  Lake Eucumbene is just below the level it reached last season and is really set to fire in a very big way for bank anglers.  In fact, for some it already has.  Jindabyne has also continued to rise and is fishing well.  These next few months will produce some outstanding trout fishing and by the quality of the fishing now will improve as it warms.

There has been some ramp work done at Angler's Reach recently.  One is at Angler's Reach Caravan park.  Though not usable at present, as the lake rises it will provide useful access.  The other is located past the caravan park, on the right, near the end of the main road.  This ramp is usable now and reports suggest it is very good. 

Trout Festival 2008 - 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.

Flyfishing

Rivers:-  All now open for fishing.

The Thredbo and Eucumbene rivers have turned on some great fishing over the weekend for fly anglers.  Plenty of fish in both rivers have been seen, lost caught and released.  Most have been rainbows but there were a few nice browns caught as well.  Asusual for this time of year Glo bugs and Beadhead or weighted Nymphs have been the main fish takers.  There were a few fish seen rising and some anglers caught them on dries also. This fishing will be good for a few weeks to come yet and as the weather warms the dry fly fishing will be outstanding too.

It is important to get your flies down and fished dead drift at the moment.  Early starts are important to maximize your success also.

Other rivers worth a look early in the season are the Murrumbidgee, Moonbah, Mac, Snowy, Gungarlin, and a few other smaller high country creeks.

There is a very good possibility of some dry fly fishing during the warmer part of the day with the current temperatures we have had in the past week.  Smaller rather than larger patterns will generally give best results early in the season.  Midges Caddis and a few Mayflies should start popping out inthe next week or so. Small stimulators, Adams, Humpy's are good patterns to try.

*Sarah Romeos caught three fish to 60cm in the Eucumbene on the weekend on caddis imitations.  Pretty good for a four and a half year old!!!!

*Peter Jeffery from Canberra had a great session on the Tumut river over the weekend catching fourteen rainbows on dries to 48cm.  Good fun fishing indeed.

*David and Chris from Cooma fished the Providence Flats for five fish to 1.3 kg on Globugs and nymphs.

*Gonzo from Canberra caught two nice browns at the providence flats to 1kg. Globugs were the best flies.

*Even managed to fish the opening day myself this year with good mates Craig, Matt and Sturge.  We fished the Eucumbene and managed near one hundred fish caught and released between us. Fish were mostly rainbows around the 40cm mark, although I managed a brown.  Globugs were the best flies though some ate Matt's NZ bombs. Few pics below.

Lake Eucumbene:- Is set to fire again this Spring.  As mentioned the lake level is almost at last seasons high.  Those that fished the lake last season will remember the huge amounts of aquatic insects, caddis, corixa, snails, damsel nymphs, midges, mudeyes etc that were in abundance, as the lake rose into the grass, and the subsequent rainbows that came in close to feed of an evening and morning.  Well it is all set to happen again and as the edges warm the midges will come on and the fish with them.  The lake should rise to somewhere between 25% and 30% with any luck.

Think locations like Rushy Plains, Seven Gates, Buckenderra, Brookwood, Braemar, Cobrabald, Waiunui, Coppermine, Collingwood, Yens, Wangrabelle, Springwood all these areas are and will continue firing for a good couple of months now both with polaroiding and evening rises.  Watch this space for further developments!

The fishing has already improved in Eucumbene with several reports of fish cruising the shallows in the early mornings.  Reports of fish starting to rise early and late in the day is great news and with the water rapidly rising also there will be more fish searching the shallows.  Woolly Buggers, yabby patterns, Mrs Simpsons, Hammills Killer all work well in these situations.  Midge pupa cast at rising fish work a treat as do stick caddis.

Night fishing will improve over the next few weeks with the rising water.  Dark flies like Craigs, Fuzzies, Phantoms, are the go.

Best areas to fly fish the lake at present are all those bays just mentioned, depending on the wind.

 Lake Jindabyne:-  The fishing in Jindabyne has still been quite good and better than expected.  Despite the rapid rise there are still fish around the edges and are very polaroidable. The river mouth arms seem to be the best areas. 

As in Eucumbene the night time fishing will improve over the next few weeks.

Muddler Minnows, Sunset flies and Fuzzy Wuzzys and Lumos work very well at this time of year. 

 Best areas to look at are Sids Bay, Hatchery Bay, Creel Bay, Kangaroo Bay, and Kalkite.

Lake Tantangara :-   %.Although the dam dropped a little this week it is still more than worth a look at present.  The edges will be the place to fish with small wets and nymphs.

Three Mile Dam has also turned up a few fish on the weekend and is another option if you are up fishing the Eucumbene river around Kiandra.

 Trolling and Spinning 

 We now have Sting Cobras back in stock.

Eucumbene:-   Trolling has improved in the lake and boat access is very easy also.  The best launching areas are still Buckenderra, Old Adaminaby, Anglers Reach (2 ramps) and The Dam Wall.

The lake has been a little discoloured in some areas due to wave action from the wind but this is not detering the fish. 

All types of lures will work this weekend with yellows, greens and pinks in Tassie and Cobra style lures very popular.

Trout pattern minnows in Rapalas, Attacks, RMG Scorpions, Rebels, and Alex lures are great lures to try.  Try some of the larger lures down deep to search out the bigger browns.

Rebel Crickhoppers and Smilin Jack Hoppers behind cowbells or fenders are another great early season lure to try.

Best areas to look at this week are the Dam wall, Main basin, Buckenderra, Seven gates and Anglers reach. 

*Morning Tom

I spent 5 days at the cabin in Buckenderra last week. Two of the gang arrived on Sunday evening so we fished out of John's boat on Monday and trolled for 9 hours for two fish. As you can see they are nice rainbows of 45cm and full of Mudeys. Eddie in the picture. Taken with the phone camera as I left the other one at home. Fished out of my boat on the Tuesday and worked hard all day for one hit. There was so much food in the water the fish would not co-operate. But as they say, a bad days fishing is better than a good day at work. Catch up with you soon. These fish were caught at Brookwood Bay area on the Shad Rap and Canberra Killer.

Regards

Alan Hocking

Jindabyne:-  Jindabyne will troll well this weekend. Stick to the bottom of the lake around the township and steep banks for clearer water.  Trolling in close should be the go as the water has risen well above the weed beds and this is where the fish will be looking for food. 

Tantangara:- No Reports.

Baitfishing :-  Bait fishing has been excellent in Jindabyne with Gulp Power bait and standard Powerbait.   Quality fish are coming in from the Rushes Bay, Waste point Kalkite and Hatchey Bay areas. 

There will be some great fishing for Rainbows in the next few weeks in both lakes with some really fat fish in Eucumbene and some nice ones in Jindabyne as well.

There have been a few Browns that have already spawned turning up in Eucumbene so these fish will be very hungry as they try to put on some condition after running the river.  A good time to be soaking a bait in the Anglers Reach/Old Adaminaby area.  The Dam Wall can produce late in the day and early in the morning at this time of year.  Powerbait is the pick here as you can float it above the bottom on light hooks and keep it out of the weed and rocks.  Very effective.

 There are still plenty of Pre Spawn Rainbows about at the moment and these have been incredibly fat and well conditioned fish.  PowerBait is probably the pick of the baits for these fish with Orange, Sherbert and the Lime and Lemon Twists being very popular with these hard fighting fish.

*Dear Alpine Angler, Every week I read your latest fishing reports, even if I'm not planning a trip.  Last weeks advise of worms and power bait was spot on.  I caught 9 fish over the weekend using worms and lime/ rainbow power bait.  Thank you for the advice.  I regularly call in to the shop and get your advise and pick up some bait.  Thank you again for all your help.  I have attached some photos of my catch.  All of the fish were around 1kg and in excellent condition.  I will hopefully be back up there in a few weeks.

Regards  Matt McCorry

*Twelve year old David Bleakley from Sydney fished East Jindabyne and landed two rainbows and one brown on spinners and scrub worms.  A good effort.

It can still be very cold at night and early morning despite the slightly warmer days recently.  Gloves and beanies are a must. 

Best areas in Eucumbene would be The Dam wall, Old Adaminaby/Cemetary point andCollingwood bay areas.