Rivers:- The high country rivers have fished very well over the last month , with a swing to hoppers in the last week. Hopper fishing is great fun , and you only need to drift one along the steeper banks now to find a fish. Other patterns to have in your box at this time of the year include , yellow stimulators, royal humpies, royal wulffs, elk hair caddis, red tags,adams,klinkhammers and a few nymphs.Try fishing early morning through to mid-day and then again from around 6pm till dusk with the warmer weather.

Lake Eucumbene:- The midge fishing has now thined out, with a swing towards hoppers,beetles,stick caddis and mudeyes into the night. There have also been a few nice browns sneaking around the margins on tad poles. The hopper fishing on Eucumbene should be great so long as it doesn't drop to fast over the next month. Select area's with plenty of grass down to the water and an of-shore breeze for best results. Catching a few hoppers first and keeping them in a container can also be a sneaky way of finding the fish a little quicker - just put half a dozen out on the water in the likely looking area's - If there's a fish in the area it wont take long to find it.You then need to get your hopper pattern out on the water in the vicinty as quickly as possible with out spooking the fish. The other trick worth practising is to try and "strip-strike" when you get a take with out lifting the rod to high. This will result in more hook-ups and less break-offs. If you also miss the take, your fly should also still be in the right visinity for another take if the fish didn't feel the hook. You may also come across some fish grubbing around on stick caddis and tap poles , so try these patterns if you don't get a look in on a hopper. The mudeyes have also really started to move this week leading up to the full moon, so try fishing a mudeye pattern after dark like :- Cubbits foam mudeyes, muddler minnows, fur flies, craigs night times, tiahapy ticklers, mum's poodles etc .

Jindabyne:- We have had some better reports in over the last week , again with hoppers bring a few fish to the top. The mudeye fishing after dark has also been quite good , so try and fish into the night a little around area's with web beds.

Trolling

This is the year of the BIG brown for the trolling brigade with another fish over 10lb's in the old scale this week, making three in two weeks.Blair & Renee from Sydney had a blinder trip up at Jindabyne, trolling with both flatlines early and then switching to a down rigger through out the day at around 30ft. They caught over 60 fish for the week, mostly rainbows averaging 1kg, with the highlight being two BIG browns at 3.5 kg and 4.5 kgs. Best lures were our own Alpine Cobras in the Alpine frog, Pink bits and alpine bomber colours. 

Generally the best colours in the Tassie's have been Col S12,Y82,Y05, YFR ,89 & 55.Our own Alpine Cobras have also proven to be consistent fish takers in :- black hole , alpine frog and green ghost & pink bits all fishing well of late. The Sting cobra's from Tassie are also gaining quite a following with 16 unique colours now in our range.Minnows are also always worth having in your spread with RMG Scorpions in the new killer colour No 61 holographic crawfish , Stump Jumpers, baby merlins, Attacks and Rapala's all worth a swim. Best colours are gold & blacks, rainbow and browns trout patterns, tigers and pink/violets. The Merlin deep and Ultra deep minnows are one of my personal favourites, running between 3 & 4 metres on a flat line. Merlin Colours worth a try include the orange and green tigers, gold spots tail and yellow attractor.The Rebel crick hoppers also continue to fish well with the black one being the pick along with the Smilin jack version in black/gold. Running 3 colours of leadline can also help pull a few fish through out the day, getting your lures down around the 3 metre mark.We have also just received some great new colours in the Rapala minnow range with the "Muddler" , "Brown Muddler"and "Brook Trout" patterns looking fantastic ! The Rapala jointed shad raps have also gained quite a reputation for producing quality browns. We also carry a full range of the ever popular and proven Flat Fish , which seem to be making a come back - again !