Rivers:- The high country rivers have been fishing exceptionally well this season.Plenty of both rainbows and browns have been taken on dries over the last few weeks , with a nymph dropper being a popular rig.Flies worth having in your box include Royal Wulffs, Humpy's , Stimulators, Hoppers, Adams, duns, Foam beetles, Klinkhammers, Elh hair caddis and a selection of bead head nymphs.

Lake Eucumbene:- There have been some very nice browns showing up down around the Buckenderra / Middling bank ,Frying pan and Seven Gates area ,with fish being found in just about all the good soaks. The hot & windy weather has put a smorgasbord of terrestrials on the water with tones of beetles & hoppers about. Tom put in a polaroiding session with some mates out at Frying Pan for half a dozen good browns to 2kgs on Chernobyl ants & foam beetles. Early morning through to midday being the pick. The mudeye fishing has also picked up after dark with some nice browns showing up well into the night.Patterns worth having in the box include Olive Scruffy's, Muddlers,Hi-Vis mudeyes,Fuzzy's & woolly buggers.

*Chris "Lemmo" (above )fly fished Frying Pan with mate Andrew Butt from Canberra, using fuzzy's well into the night for 3 nice rainbows and one good brown of 2.8kgs - using a 2kg tippet !  

Lake Tantagara :- Has been pretty quite with falling lake levels - and no recent reports ? 

Lake Jindabyne:- There's been a few fish about - but not a lot of fly anglers chasing them. Best fishing has been working yabby beds & weed beds with streamers after dark.This hot windy weather may change that though,with stax of hoppers & beetles getting about over the last week.

Trolling 

*If you were lucky enough to fish Lake Eucumbene over the Christmas break, then you like a lot of others would have seen some spectacular fishing for this particular time of the year. The water temperature has been a constant 16 to 17 degrees  which has made for some excellent surface trolling and consequently the for those who use leadcore and are willing to fish shallower more structured water then  you should have been rewarded with some excellent browns. The water level has dropped slightly of late and the yabbies are on the move into deeper and safer water thus the browns have been feeding well and can be found in around 16 to 20 feet of water around these areas. Use leadcore or deep diving minnows and try to get the lure down to around 14 to 16 feet and hang on. The strikes  have been fast and furious with big runs and heavy head shakes coming from these hooked fish. The best areas have been the Devils Marbles (Frying Pan) White Rocks, The Chimneys and Coppermine Bay. Remember if you are chasing the elusive brown trout then submerged structure is the way to go and don't forget the yabby banks. Its been a great season so bring on 2006. Take care and Happy New Year.Keep Smilin'Bye for Now - Mark and Claire

Eucumbene:- The trolling really has been great on Eucumbene over the last few months with some great rainbows & browns coming in. Both leadline and flatlines have been producing fish with the cooler surface temperatures.The best fishing has been down the bottom of the lake well away from the main river in-flows. The rainbows are in peak condition and averaging around the 1kg mark, feeding heavily on daphnia in the open water, while the better browns have been in close around teh clay yabby banks. Consistent lures include Tasmanian Devils in Cols 36,89,55, 72,S12, Y82 & Y62. Our own Alpine Cobra's in the Alpine Attractor, Black hole , Lime spider and Alpine Special patterns, Rebel crickhoppers and crawfish,Storm Hot N Tots , ultra deep Merlins,Stump Jumpers,RMG Scorpions & Poltergeist AND Rapala Jointed Shad Raps & minnows.

*From Left - Ian,Josh & Isaac from Canberra trolled out from Old Adaminaby with leadlines ( 3 colours) and Tassies in PP - Glow pattern for 2 rainbows and one good brown of 2.3kgs pictured above !  

*Mick.Mick & Dave from Tuross trolled out from Frying Pan with flatlines and Tassies in the Freddo pattern for 7 good fish with rainbows to 1.5kgs and browns to 2kgs.The boys also reported seeing "hundreds" of fish moving out in the windlanes !

*Ben Lemmon & Anthony Cook trolled out around Collingwood Bay on Eucumbene using 2 Col's of leadline and Tassies in Col Y82 & S12 for 17 nice rainbows to 1.5kgs. They also reported seeing "heaps" of fish moving on the surface out in the windlanes , with their fish all being full of beetles when cleaned.

*HOT LURES :- We have finally received our NEW Rapala Shipment with plenty of original minnows, Jointed shad raps, longtails and vibrax's now in-stock !!  The new River2Sea Mini Vibes will also prove popular for those who have been experimenting with lipless / rattlin crank baits. We have a HUGE range of Proven lures to suite our local fishing so call in for a browse. 

* Please call into the store and ask us to show you how to rig these baits if your having trouble

Mudeye Rig

 

Powerbait Dropper Rig

Best areas on Eucumbene include: Middling bank, Frying pan, Seven Gates, Yens bay, Breamar bay ,Providence around the Eucumbene River Mouth and along the dam wall at Eucumbene Cove.