Sleepy Yabbies Wake up Eucumbene browns

Lake Eucumbene has been dropping for most of this year and despite a small rise lately, is still at a mere 36%. It’s a daunting piece of water after a big fall in level, with endless miles of barren, almost featureless banks.

However, a closer look at these muddy shores will reveal yabby claws littered everywhere, hinting at a little secret under the water. Yabbies are fairly dormant in the cold months and a receding lake has been exposing yabby beds fully of sleepy crustaceans. On consecutive windy winter days, the yabby holes around and under boulders and clay banks get bashed and undermined, washing the yabbies out into the turbulent, discoloured water along the lake’s edge. The Eucumbene browns soon realise what is happening, and they really cash in on it!

A perfect shore to find trout feeding on dislodged yabbies.

A perfect shore to find trout feeding on dislodged yabbies.

It’s no surprise that large, black profile flies like Woolly Buggers or Matukas fished near the bottom with a ‘helpless’ figure-8 or mini strip retrieve, have worked well for us at Eucumbene lately. Long casts aren’t necessary in the windy conditions; just focus on where that dirty water meets the clean, and keep your fly in the water more than it’s out!

Yabby feeders like this add a whole new perspective to Lake Eucumbene when it's low and muddy along the edges.

Yabby feeders like this add a whole new perspective to Lake Eucumbene when it’s low and muddy along the edges.

We’ve just had a couple of decent rain and snow events up in the hills, so Eucumbene has risen enough for my footprints from recent trips to have disappeared below the lake. If it keeps rising, the washed-out yabbies may dwindle but great for the coming spring. Tight lines!