A pretty warm & windy weekend in the mountains resulted in some quite fishing. The Armature Angling Association held it's freshwater championships out at Buckenderra,with most competitors getting some fish :- full details below. The next few months generally produces some of the best fishing of the season, with cool nights, warm days and the fish in peak condition prior to spawning. The fishing will continue to improve as the water temperature cools off. Remember to call into the store for a cuppa on your way through and let us know how you go on your way home

CLEARANCE SALE  ( Applies to In-Store stocks ONLY)

We have marked down a wide range of products In-Store with savings up to 50 % off the normal Prices! These items are all clearly marked with "Orange" sale tab's - Check them out next trip OR call Us and we'll go over the products with you. Items include Plano tackle boxes, Rapala tools & Accessories, Berkley accessories, Ultra Bite, Columbia clothing etc, etc

*We have also added our Alpine Cobra's & Sting Cobra's to the On-Line shopping area for those wanting to order these lures , BUT can't get into the store http://www.alpineangler.com.au/store/products.cfm?ID=252

Fly-fishing

Rivers:- The high country rivers continue to fish very well with the Eucumbene and Thredbo rivers being very consistent this year. Due to the amount of anglers enjoying the fishing this season your best results will be found away from the main access area's. Long leaders, light tippets and small flies are the go. Still plenty of hoppers about, so try searching with a hopper pattern during the day if nothing is moving. Other patterns with having in the box include Royal wulffs, stimulators,klinkhammers,elk hair caddis, red tags, hares ear nymph, pheasant tail nymph and some bead heads.

Lake Eucumbene:- With the warm weather you need to fish early mornings ( pre-dawn ) with mudeye patterns then switch to a hopper pattern for searching up till mid-day. Best to fish shore lines with an off shore breeze and some deep water in close as this allows the fish to chase hoppers in the comfort of cooler water.The evening fishing has also been consistent with rainbows coming in for that hour on dusk chasing mudeyes. Get out a little earlier and pick a bay with plenty of weed and some deeper water in close.The falling lake levels have also got the yabby's moving, so fishing a wooly bugger into the night may find you a better brown.

*Scotto from the store fished Rushy Plains bay out at Frying pan Wednesday night , hooking 2 fish on mudeye patterns and landed this nice brown of around 1kg.

*Tom & Shaun from the store fished Seven gates on Tuesday night with mudeye patterns with quite a few fish on the move.Tom hooked 7 and landed 5 nice rainbows with the best just over a kilo.

*Ian & Dave from Victoria fly fished out from Buckenderra with mudeye patterns of an evening , reporting plenty of rainbows about in top condition between .800 grams to 1kg with the boys landing 19 fish over 3 days.

Lake Tantagara :- There have been a lot of small fish moving of an evening on caddis & midges with a few also being taken after dark on mudeye patterns.   

Lake Jindabyne:-  Not many reports , the best fishing will be early mornings with mudeye patterns in the weedy bays, switching to hoppers and the deeper shore lines through till mid-day.Area's worth a look include Stinky Bay, Sid's bay, Hatchery Bay, Creel Bay , Snowy arm and Kalkite.

Trolling 

Eucumbene:- The trolling really has been good on Eucumbene for those getting out on the water early in the morning, with conditions getting tougher after 10am. Both leadlines at 3 colours and Downriggers worked between 3 and 6 metres bringing the best results. If you still don't have a down rigger and would like to know how to best set one up - call in and we'll take you through it all - they're easier than you think ! 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 the 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.

*The Amature Anglers Association held it's freshwater championships out at Buckenderra,with every one having a great weekend. Most competitors commenting the fishing was pretty good, averaging 3 or 4 fish a session trolling.Brian Wind took out the largest rainbow with a fish of .910 grams , and a Mr Hamburg took out the largest brown at 1.25 kilos.Champion team was the Canberra Labour Club and the Tuross Country club took out the Veterans.

*Roy & Mitchell Willis from Bateman's Bay also fished the AAA comp - getting their bag limit each day. The boys trolled both 3 colours of lead line and flatlines with Tassies in Col 61. Mitchell actually took out the Junior champion category !

*Dennis from Booker Bay also fished out from Buckenderra with flatlines and our own Alpine Cobra in the "Ultra Violet" pattern for 18 rainbows over 3 days - averaging .800 grams and commented they where all "As fat as mud !" 

Jindabyne:-  There has been some great down-rigging up on Jindy over the last few weeks, with the best area's being out around the islands in the main basin in front of town , up around the Thredbo river mouth at around Waste Point and the eastern shoreline around Sid's Bay . Fishing a mixture of small minnows like RMG Scorpions, Merlins & Attacks along with Tassies in just about all the "Yellow Wing", as well as our own Alpine Cobra's in the Lime Spider and Alpine Attractor colours producing the most fish.

LURE SALE - Buy 5 Flatfish OR Rapala Lures and Select a sixth ONE FREE !

Baitfishing  

The baitfishing has been very consistent with some beautiful rainbows & browns starting to turn up .Try and fish early ( Pre-dawn ) as this is the coolest time to be on the water. Just about all the main baits have been taking fish with mudeyes doing very well . Conditions look set to be one of our best mudeye seasons in many years. Make sure you pick an area with plenty of weed and with some depth about it, as the fish will still come in on dusk if it's not too warm. Scrub worms fished in conjunction with a Powerbait dropper still proving to be a popular rig ( Pictured below ).Power bait naturally floats, so the distance you make your dropper is the distance you can expect your Power bait to be above the bottom. This means that fish will find your bait a lot quicker even if you have cast into weeds. If they don't eat the Power bait they have found your main bait a lot quicker. The hook is important when fishing with Power bait and we have a special NEW  "circle hook" pattern from Mustad just for the job - which hooks them for you ! Feel free to ask us to go over the rig next time your in if still unsure. The mudeye fishing has also been pretty good over the last month and should only improve as things warm up.The best way to fish mudeyes is with a running bubble rig (Pictured Below ).

*Paul ,Tommo & son Craig did well out at Middlingbank fishing mudeyes for 20 rainbows over 3 days ,averaging .800 grams.

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