Like the rest of the State, we’re getting the heatwave and the lake is tough. Really tough. Hot and sultry conditions are driving the fish deep and even the trollers are whinging! So over the weekend Stephen and I set off for the Eucumbene River and fished downstream from Kiandra. A nor ’westerly wind channelling through the hills was a pain for casting, the way it always bounced off high banks turning a tippet back on itself from an otherwise perfect cast. But it did cool things down a degree or two.

Where Four Mile Creek joined the Eucumbene, the water downstream appeared notably cooler and the water thinned a lot past the junction, I think at least a third of the flow was coming down the creek which is surprising given the relatively small catchment.

The fish were surprisingly compliant. Hoppers, caddis, Wulff, and mayfly patterns all caught fish, but it was a dry only day. The nymphs had a little outing but they were not what the fish were looking for as they sat right in the head of the pools in the oxygenated water. (Spoiler alert: Editor Weigall has me writing about this and other stretches of the Eucumbene River in the next edition of Flystream Magazine.)

Take a bit of care as the snakes are out in good numbers; 1 brown, 2 tigers and a black. But they slithered away quick enough. And there’s a rumour that local Fisheries Officers have caught another kind of snake, bait fishing in the Suicide Hole. Well done, great work!

We did try the lake; Bonnies Bay on Saturday night where some clown cruised along the bank right into the soak with his outboard running to collect his yabby nets after dark. And Frying Pan arm on Sunday morning where Stephen caught a nice brown nosing around on the edge. Classic stalk for a grasshopper feeder that just nailed it after rising three or four times – and there were a lot of hoppers in the grass near the shore.

Tight Tippets

Steve (Snowy Lake Charters)