Winter can be a time of great beauty

As we settle into true mid-winter, only the hardiest souls turn up for a bit of lake fishing – perhaps surprising given the better than average prospects of good fishing. I spent two great days on the boat with three generations of the Crazy Trout Hunterz/ Allen tribe, first Rod and Jack, then Rod, Ash, and young Ivy – who will be a great flyfisher by the time she is 6!

What’s working?

I would love to say that we’ve been catching fish on small flies. We have definitely seen midge feeders once the sun gets on the water and especially if there’s a calm shore, but it’s hard to take off a big fly if they’re working. Even though there are no baitfish to speak of in Lake Eucumbene, streamers, especially Woolly Buggers, are highly attractive to both rainbows and browns. Whilst I stick with bead-heads (and I love tungsten) others are doing just as well with a sinking line and an unweighted Bugger – fiery brown is a particular favourite, but black and green is also working well – perhaps mid-water hovered on the pause and hang. Even a Booby is worth a go on a fast-sinking sweep line if you really have the patience to fish it deep and semi-static. My issue with that technique is how often the fish swallow the fly, making release difficult.

For anyone with the urge to fish Lake Jindabyne, an onshore wind with a dirty water edge will normally have trout patrolling close to shore. The hovered Bugger is definitely a thing in those conditions.

And any of the Snowy lakes can be interesting on a calm, sunny day with a clear deepwater edge. Just polaroiding a few fish under such conditions is amazing, let alone actually catching one. Believe me, you can get good at it, but practice and patience are required. But on the occasions when they’ll eat anything, it is awesome!

Snowy Lake Levels

Lake Eucumbene is at 46.36% and is still falling steadily. Despite rumours of the lake going up, that was nothing more than a few-day-uptick after some heavy rain and quick-melting snow at the end of July. The lake is down from 63.3% this time last year. The shape of the lake is constantly changing as the water drops. Fences are emerging everywhere, with just-subsurface strainers and gate posts joining tree stumps and rocks as serious hazards to boat traffic. It was good to see Steve, the Boating Safety Officer from Batemans Bay out on the water last week, checking all the navigation hazard buoys had survived the storms. Remember lifejackets are compulsory on Alpine Waters in most boats and circumstances.

Lake Jindabyne is at 60.7% and has been more or less stable at that level for several weeks. The lake is down from 74.9% this time last year.

Tantangara is still closed to all public access during the NWPS brumby cull. I should be able to publish the opening date, as well as the new expanded Snowy 2.0 related area closure, in the September blog.