Steve offers a Murrumbidgee and Yarrangobilly River ‘sampler’, and also gives some more general advice.

Last time, I introduced the delights of summer stream fishing in this iconic region, and flagged three ‘sample’ streams, which collectively do a fair job as examples of Snowy Mountains river and creek fishing. In part one, I took a detailed look at the Eucumbene River as the first sample.

In this part, I’ll consider the next two, being the upper Murrumbidgee, and the Yarrangobilly near the Snowy Mountains Highway. To stress the point again that I made in part one, these two are merely samples, albeit useful ones. There are scores of other worthy Snowy Mountains streams to consider for a summer flick.

Murrumbidgee River upstream of Tantangara Reservoir

Getting there

From Kiandra Bridge, head north-west for 21 kilometres to Long Plain Road, which is on your righthand side. Long Plain Road is a gravel road; an access point to the Kosciuszko National Park and also to a substantial network of tracks (from decent to hardcore 4WD) that will take you to some amazing places, like Blue Waterholes, Currango Homestead, and Tantangara Reservoir itself.

You can also find Peppercorn Hill, the source of the Murrumbidgee River. Here, springs emerge from the heath and bog at its base, creating a spidery network of creeks and rivulets that soon form a good flow into the start of the Murrumbidgee River.

The moment you join Long Plain Road, the river is on your right. Drive for three kilometres, turn right onto the Port Phillip Fire Trail, and there’s a car park on the right before the timber bridge. Not recommended if you’re towing a big caravan or boat. Keep going over the bridge on the Port Phillip Fire Trail and you get to Tantangara Reservoir and Currango Homestead, but the road becomes impassable when Tantangara is over 25% full.

Where and how to fish

From the car park, you can walk down the river for as far as you are comfortable, and fish back to the car. I’ve never, even in drought years, not had enough water for this to be a good choice. It’s easy to lose most of a day picking your way through the riffles and pools. Some of the water is quite narrow with a lot of stunted tea tree and wattle overhang. Even with only a gentle breeze fluking through the gullies, it can be tricky to get your fly where you want it, so I usually shorten my total leader and tippet length to not much more than three metres. Most of the fish here are less than 1½lb, with the odd larger surprise.

Your favourite summer dry, perhaps with a bead-head nymph off the back, is standard fare here. Hoppers can be great, but also look for mayfly duns, which can make these trout atypically selective. Only occasionally in summer might you find a slot deep enough to consider dedicated nymphing.

Once, I caught a lean 65-centimetre brown in this stretch. I saw him lying in the tail of a pool, and he snatched the dry without hesitation. He was likely a spawner that had travelled a long way and not gone back to Tantangara Reservoir in the spring. I kept enough pressure on to keep his head up and he soon drifted lethargically into the net. Nonetheless he seemed happy enough when he swam away, back to his station at the back of the pool.

This is the only part of the Murrumbidgee River that is above all impoundments. There have been no stockings that have affected this water since Tantangara Dam was completed in 1960. The stock is pretty much as wild as you will find in the Snowy Mountains. Some pools will be rainbows, and some browns, and yes, they do seem to stick together. The browns, like a lot of discrete populations, can have wonderfully bright markings with luminous red spots.

Yarrangobilly River, Snowy Mountains Highway

Getting there

East of Yarrangobilly Village campground is a carpark, an old hut, and a large, well-maintained picnic area. On the right is a not so well-maintained area, but you can park several hundred metres further up the river.

This is the easiest spot to access the Yarrangobilly River, but on the way here you pass the entrance to Yarrangobilly Caves and thermal pool (both of which are worthy of a visit in their own right) and you can access the river a lot further downstream. The steep and long track down past the thermal pool takes you to some great water, and I’ve only ever seen one other person fishing there. Not a walk for the faint (or weak) hearted!

Lobs Hole Ravine Road used to provide access to some interesting water on the lower river, but it’s presently closed to the public for Snowy 2.0 works. Speaking of which, you can keep up to date on Snowy 2.0 access restrictions here.

Where and how to fish.

From the road crossing at Yarrangobilly Village, I generally walk upstream. While it’s a bit of a bush bash in places, in a typical summer, there are hundreds of small rainbows. It’s great target practice with low-hanging trees and dense streamside vegetation. Get in the river where you can, and stumble your way through the runs and pools to place the odd cast in. On a good day, the majority will result in a take or a hook-up.

This is real 4 weight, 8 foot rod, Royal Wulff country; size 12 or 14. Flatten your barb for a quick low-damage release, as many of the fish are quite small, but really feisty.

A last comment

Imagine a perfect early summer day. The peace and quiet, a bit of crackle and insect noise. Don’t be too ambitious. Don’t try to cast too far. Think about your position, the wind, put a cast or two into every likely spot. Move slowly but deliberately. If you see a rise, keep an eye on it but don’t ignore the good water before the rise, fish it all. See the rise again? You know it’s yours. Don’t cast over it, cast a metre ahead, but a good half a metre to the side. Watch for drag. No take? Stop and wait and watch. Change fly? Dry/ dropper? Keep moving, there will always be another one.

And of course, if you’re on your own, tell someone reliable where you’re going and when you expect to be back. Take plenty of drinking water, and a personal locator beacon (EPIRB).

FlyStream Facts: Summer Snowy Streams Gear

Leader and Tippet

Three metre, 3X tapered leader, plus 1 to 2 metres of 3X or 4X monofilament tippet, total leader length up to 5 metres, but usually less. There are some big fish in the likes of the Eucumbene, Snowy and Thredbo rivers, so I wouldn’t fish those rivers lighter than 4X (6-7lb) tippet on a bright still day, or 3X (8-9lb) tippet on a windy, overcast day. You really don’t need to go any lighter than this (unless of course you find a serious dun hatch on a slow pool, which is another story).

If headwinds are common, go for a shorter leader – total length 3 to 4 metres. On small creeks, total leader can be 3 metres or even a little less, including some 5X tippet.

Dry flies

Royal Wulff, Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators, Henneberry Hopper

Wet flies

Small brass bead-head Pheasant Tail Nymph in olive green or black, for a dry/ dropper rig.

For indicator or euro nymphing, 2mm and 3mm tungsten bead Perdigon style nymphs (jig-head hook), and both pink and orange Squirmy Worms.

If flows are decent enough, add a tungsten bead Woolly Bugger to fish down-and-across on the way back to the car.

Indicator

Oros indicators are perfect, usually in the smaller size over summer. 

Floatant

Liquid floatant, plus a good powder desiccant; or if you’re really rich, an amadou patch (absorbent fungus leather).

Rod

For medium to large rivers, I use a 5 or 6 weight in 9’6”. For the smaller streams, a shorter 3 or 4 weight.

Landing net

Large hoop, magnet attachment system, and lanyard for when you drop it in the cold water or snag it on a bush.