Approaching Winter

With the annual Eucumbene and Thredbo brown trout migration upon us, here’s my annual reminder to read Henry Williamson’s anthropomorphic ‘Salar the Salmon’, the classic story of Salar’s eventful travels through Devon’s rivers to spawn (spoiler alert) and eventually die. Every trout and salmon fisher should read it before they’re allowed to comment on the subject. Meanwhile, hundreds of hardy souls are making the annual pilgrimage to the Thredbo and Eucumbene to try their hand at catching a trophy trout. Whilst the economic value of migrating salmonid fisheries is recognised worldwide, here, with our own world-class fishery opportunity we pretty much squander much of the potential benefit through our go-for-your-life, free-for-all approach. I’m not quite suggesting an Ohau River Controlled Fishery approach, but we could and should do much better.

The Lakes

Out on the lakes, we’re in falling level mode. As a rule, I prefer to fish rising rather than falling lakes. In the latter case, the trout can get unsettled and difficult to predict – damn things keep moving! I suspect falling water levels are a deeply genetically encoded risk factor. The good news (I think) is that because both Lake Eucumbene and Lake Jindabyne water levels have been falling steadily for so many months, the fish appear to have got over it, and it’s the new normal.

The best flies have been the black and gold Woolly Bugger (which my mate Mark and I used for a whole day on the flats with great success), black nymphs, and in a Mark’s case, a Squirmy Wormy under an indicator (I have to try these things).

I walked down from the Thredbo River road bridge to the top of Lake Jindabyne hoping to find some cruisers in the backed-up waters of the gorge, but pretty much found turbid blackwater and not a sign of a fish. We need a good downpour to freshen up the system.

The flats areas on the western side of Lake Jindabyne (anywhere between the town and Hatchery Bay) have all been fishing well, and there’s some optimism for the big fly/ deep water drop-off areas improving as we move into full winter. Meanwhile, all of the southern Lake Eucumbene hotspots from Middlingbank to Seven Gates are fishing well, but the pick for me is Providence Flats at the lake’s northern end. From both boat and bank, the fishing is excellent for rainbows and browns.

Tantangara Reservoir

For those wondering about Tantangara Reservoir, well, access has been cut off while NPWS does their aerial cull of the Kosciuszko National Park brumby population. The pink area of the map shows the closed area, so popular fishery access roads (e.g. Tantangara Road, Long Plain Road, and Bullocks Hill Fire Trail) are all closed to public access. Hundreds of anglers fish these places at this time of year and their closure puts a a hell of a lot of extra pressure on the Eucumbene fishery. The upper and lower Murrumbidgee River, Tantangara Creek, Nungar Creek, and Tantangara Reservoir are all very popular spots during May and June, all apparently closed by default. I am deeply critical that this has not been more widely publicised in fisheries’ media. 

More information, and the full Kosciuszko closure area map can be found here.

Snowy Lake Levels

Lake Eucumbene is at 53% (11% lower than this time last year), falling steadily since the end of January. 50% is the lowest I’m comfortable launching at Providence so hopefully we’ll get a few more weeks before having to launch at Anglers Reach.

Lake Jindabyne is at 64% (20% lower than this time last year), falling steadily since the end of January, and heading for a medium term (5 year) low in the absence of significant rain

Tantangara Reservoir is approaching 26%, rising steadily all year other than a short burst when they let water through the Portal into Lake Eucumbene in April. I could speculate they want the water over the Port Phillip Fire Trail to manage access risks during the brumby cull, but it would just be speculation. If they do open the Portal before the Kings Birthday, the short but popular Portal fishery will be an option again.

Wrap

Some excellent breaking news. It appears the Snowgoose Hotel in Adaminaby has a “flies for food” exchange. I’m hoping I haven’t misinterpreted the sign, but I’m in :)!

If you’re heading down to the river, expect more people than usual, so be nice and be courteous in the cold. If you’re on the lake, be persistent and look for shallow water with nearby drop-offs. Travelling browns seem to love the edges.