Four weeks to the Snowy Rivers opening – 4 October

 

A rising Lake Eucumbene

A rising Lake Eucumbene

Four weeks to go until the NSW trout rivers open on 4 October.  That means the Eucumbene, Thredbo and Murrumbidgee Rivers will get a lot of attention in a very short space of time.  Most of the spawning browns will have found their way back to the lake although there will be a few hangers-on who’ve found a bit of territory they can command, feeding on the rainbow eggs and waiting to cannibalise emerging fry.  There will still be late spawning rainbows in the rivers, as well as the resident fish who have never seen a lake. Whilst last year’s opening was generally considered to be a fizzer, there are some signs of optimism this year. The hatchery at Jindabyne has reached its target for brown trout eggs, and is already over half way to its target for rainbows. They have reported much better catches of spawning rainbows in the traps this year than last, which maybe possibly hopefully suggests a bit of a bounce in stocks. The most successful opening day river tactics will be weighted nymphs under an indicator or a big dry, but don’t expect too much surface action. And of course the Glo-bug is likely to be as good an option on opening day as it was on closing day in June. If all else fails try fishing some of the deeper pools with big heavy flies like Matukas and Woolly Buggers – after all there will be plenty of Rapalas doing the deed.

Sp Tubus Flyus

The Snowy lakes are all looking good and it doesn’t look like we will be facing a season of drought-low lake levels.  Eucumbene is slowly creeping up and is now at 49% compared with 42% at the same time last year.  Jindabyne is at 80% compared with 82% but will drop a little with the upcoming Snowy River releases. Tantangara is at 49% compared with 31% and will continue to drop quite quickly if the portal to Eucumbene remains open. Take care on Tantangara which will be a bit muddy and slippery around the margins until the levels stabilise and the banks dry out a bit.

Col Sinclair at the Adaminaby Angler has some great looking tube flies for anyone wanting to try something a bit different to the Woolly Bugger on the lake early season this year. He suggests they will do the trick when trolling or harling, but if you can cast a big fly I expect they’ll be just as effective from the shore. He reports some action today landing one good fish, another hit, and a follow into the bank on the “pinky”.

More information on lake levels on the Snowy Hydro website at www.snowyhydro.com.au

Tight tippets all

Steve www.canberraflyfishing.com.au Snowy Lake Fly Fishing Boat Charters