Headlines:  Lake Eucumbene is still rising and is already a couple of percent higher than it was at this time last year.  This is already making boat launching easier and allowing better shore based access as well.  Launching is available at Old Adaminaby, The Dam Wall and Buckenderra.

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:-  Now all closed till October.

Lake Eucumbene:-  Browns have been running the river well so there will be some good fishing in the River Mouth area. 

The Dam wall and the tree lined Western shore area produced a couple of fish for Colin Myles of Queanbeyan on Black Woolly Buggers over the weekend.

Polaroiding has been difficult with the weather of late but with good high pressure system this is a great option.  Keep and eye on the weather and if a big system moves in there are some good fish to be spotted and cast to.  Searching with a streamer on an intermediate sinking line will find fish during the day if visibilty is limited.

Most big dark streamers like a Fuzzy Wuzzy, Woolly Bugger or Black Phantom will work after dark at this time of year.  Fishing late into the night can be a cold option but there are some great rewards to be had for those who are keen.  

Best areas to look at are Dam Wall, Collingwood, Coppermine and Old Adaminaby.

 Lake Jindabyne:-  Jindabyne will turn on some good polaroiding very soon.  With recent rain and snow falls the Thredbo river will have had higher water levels and the fish will drop out of the river back into the lake.  These fish will be looking to feed up and put some condition back on and will provide some good fun fishing when a clear sunny day prevails. 

Some anglers had a look during the week but failed to find fish.

Some nice fish were caught after dark on the weekend with the fishing better before the moon had risen.

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

 Lake Tantangara :-  No reports on fly but the lake has continued to rise this week and will be a good option this week, weather permitting.  Be aware that access in a 2wd vehicle (and for that matter even a 4wd if it snows) can be difficult after snow and rain on the road.

Trolling and Spinning 

Eucumbene:-   Trolling reports have picked up this week in Eucumbene and so have the spinning reports. Covering as much country as possible with a good array of different depth lures fished at a good speed should find a few fish.

*Kane and Lachlan from Canberra struggled in the wind on the weekend but on moving to the more sheltered waters near the dam wall they managed to find some nice fish.  They had five hook ups for four fish in the boat in a four hour session.  The Brown took a #36 Tassie on 3 colours of leadcore while three Rainbows were caught on flat lines using the Green Ghost Alpine Cobra and # 36 Tassie.  The single hook rig as featured in Issue 91 of Freshwater Fishing Magazine worked very well.

*Col Myles from Queanbeyan had a bit of a spin session from the Dam Wall and around the trees in the area using Rainbow Trout Squidgies and managed several hits and landed two Browns.

*Steve McNamara ,from Kilmore Victoria, had a brilliant three days spinning from the boat on Eucumbene and Jindabyne.  He landed and released in excess of 50 fish on a mixture of minnows and soft plastics.  Realistics 3" power minnows  in Gold were a winner and any of the Smelt coloured Flick Baits or Bass Minnows style plastics.  Most of the fish were Rainbows up to 1.5 kg in weight.  Working the tree lined bays on the Western shore proved the best method.  Fish could be seen cruising when the sun was out and ate a cast lure well.  Fishing dep also produce a good number.   Great fishing!

5 cm Rapala Taildancers in Rainbow trout are back in stock and are a very good pattern to try this week.

The new'Alex' minnow lures from Serbia have taken some good fish both trolling and spinning in the trees.  These lures are made with Balsa wood and are a deep diver that come in very good Trout catching colours.  Check them out. 

Launching access is available at Buckenderra, Old Adaminaby and The  Dam Wall

Baitfishing :-  Bait fishing has been improving.   Scrub worms on the bottom will work at the moment along with any of the Twist Power Baits.  Grubs (if you can get them) will also produce. 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 pu on some condition after running the river.  A good time to be soaking a bait in the Anglers Reach/Old Adaminaby area.

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.

It can be very cold at night and early morning but these are still the peak times to try.  Gloves and beanies are a must. 

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