Headlines Flyfishing has been fantastic in the area this week and some great bait fishing too.
Flyfishing
Rivers:- Have been firing with the warmer weather and some good hatches happening. You can find fish right through the day searching with a dry nymph combo or polaroiding as well as having fish rising off the top at anytime.
All the high country streams have great water and hungry fish so out ther and into them.
Best dries have been Elk hair caddis, foam black and green beetles, stimulators, humpy, Wulffs, klinkhamer, adams parachute, red tag and deer hair beetles. Nymphs that are working have been pheasant tails, gold ribbed hares ear, black and brown beadheads and blue copper johns.
Lake Eucumbene:- IDespite having dropped over the past week the lake is firing!
Plenty of good fishing with large numbers of fish being caught right through the day. Evening rises have been spectacular in some areas though many of the fish are smaller rainbows. There is a good class of 40ish cm rainbows that are in great condition.
Browns have been a little hit and miss but there are some nice conditioned ones turning up for those polaroiding or throwing larger streamers.
Beadhead nymphs fished quick or a small black and peacock, stick caddis, or midge pupa fished slow are great searching patterns for the rainbows. Small emergers on dark will undo some of the fish that are on adult midge or emerging midge. Beetles and dragon flies have also been on the menu.
*Kieran O'shannassy had a last minute session on Monday night for a dozen odd fish landed. There were fish rising everywhere!
*Last Thursday saw myself and Mick Couvee at the lake landing fifteen between us. Supa dupa pupas and damsel nymphs did the trick on some feisty rainbows.
*Myself, Stuart Sturgeon, Mick Patton and Mick Couvee, had a blinder on Sunday afternoon in the lake catching fifty five fish between us. Patton top scored with twenty rainbows all taken on sz 10 beadhead nymphs. One of the biggest hatches of caddis occured on dark and the rise was incredible. If we had hooked every fish we had a hit from and landed every fish that jumped off we might have caught one hundred between us.
Fishing is excellent in the Middilingbank, Seven Gates and Old Adaminaby areas.
Lake Jindabyne:- Jindabyne reports have been stories of plenty of midge balling and on the wing around the edges but very hit or miss on fish feeding off the top. One day may fire and the next at the same spot is dead. Water temperature has risen and making it a little hard to find fish. Deeper water has still produced a few fish if the midge are there but the shallower bays have been tough overall.
Fish quality has been excellent and better than Eucumbene but the numbers being caught there have been less.
*Matt Daniel and Peter Bright had a great session early last week with Matt catching 15 and Peter 10. Midge balls were the key fly and the fish were rising to them very well. Four other anglers, myself included, fished the same spot the following night and none of us even touched a fish or saw many rising at all. Shows you how much it is changing from day to day.
*Vince Hazel and Kieran O'Shannassy had a session on Saturday night and did catch a couple of nice fish before the Easterly killed the rise.
Lake Tantangara :- A few very nice quality fish have been reported but not much in the way of numbers at this stage. Reports suggest that the fishing has improved over the past week.
Best flies will be small nymphs both beadhead and unweighed, stick caddis, caddis pupa, midge pupa, black and peacock spiders and woolly worms and buggers.
Trolling and Spinning
Eucumbene:- Eucumbene trolling reports have been quiet but there would be some nice fish to catch on tassie devils behind leadcore or on a downrigger at the moment. Flat line Deep diving minnows like the Merlin ultra deeps will be great options for some browns and the little Stiffy devilfish vibes, RMG scorpions and rapala 4cm Xraps ideal for the rainbows.
Jindabyne:- Trolling reports have been quiet also, but the downrigging will be fantastic at present.
Best areas to try would be kalkite and waste point area and also off sid's bay.
Bait Fishing
Mudeye supply has been difficult this week with none available at time of writing. We are endeavouring to get more but finding a reliable supplier has been the issue.
The new Gulp Crickets are now in stock and will make a great substitute for a mudeye under a bubble. They look just like a mudeye so with a few colour choices and built in scent it would be amazing if they don't account for a few feisty rainbows and browns in the lakes.
*Best report this week was fifteen fish taken in two sessions on these crickets. Fished with only a short drop under the bubble was the best method.
Bait fishing has been outstanding again in Eucumbene this week. Powerbait has been the major slayer though scrubworms dipped in Ultrabite have been dynamite too. Best reports are coming from the Middillingbank arm and Seven Gates areas.
*We have heard a rumour of two 4.5kg plus browns in the Old Adaminaby area recently on powerbait. Would love to hear the full story if anybody out there knows the details.
Best locales to try in Eucumbene continue to be Seven Gates, Buckenderra,
Cobrabald, Wangrabelle, Homeleigh Bay and the Dam wall.
Jindabyne has also fished well with plenty of good fishing to be had.
