On Sunday morning, after what was for most of us a sleep-deprived night at the Bunkhouse (due to some unruly young football players who were shacked up there amongst us), some of us dropped in at the Charles’ property “Kydrabah” on the McLaughlin River. We “only” fished their stocked farm dam for several good conditioned rainbows, all around the 2 ½ pound mark. Unfortunately, the river itself was too far off on a track too rough for my humble station-wagon. But we were told that the fishing in most Monaro streams continues to be virtually non-existent, due to lack of water (and fish).

 

Five of us then checked in at Platypus Lodge, Jindabyne, our abode for the fishing week to follow. It was HOT, on that first (Sunday) afternoon the Jindy lakeshore at the lodge resembled a Bondi beach scene, with sun-umbrellas and people splashing around in the water everywhere. The newly installed air-conditioning unit at Platypus served us well for the week! This most unusual weather (for Snowy standards) lasted for the best part of the week, with heat / dust haze and strong Northwesters the order of the day.

 

In total, our party caught fifty trout during our stay – a very respectable result, given that we had two completely fishless days (Wednesday and Saturday). Whilst quantity was ok, the quality of our captures was not up to previous years’ standards – the biggest fish, all Thredbo River rainbows, were around 3 pounds; biggest brown, 1 ½ pounds. Most fish were caught on indicator / tungsten bead head nymph and egg pattern flies. I had one “red letter” afternoon on the Thredbo, fishing dry fly, for four very nice browns and rainbows. Missed two takes by big browns.

 

 

Lake Jindabyne – dead as a door-nail. Beautiful clear green water, 60 percent full, nothing stirring. None of our party managed to see or catch a fish there. Even the baitfishers were doing it tough, only catching the odd tiddler.

 

Lake Eucumbene – firing on all cylinders. Went there on Thursday, fished Braemar Bay and later, Rushy Bay (Frying Pan Arm). Lake at 33 percent, fish rising and feeding in ultra-shallow water in amongst freshly flooded vegetation all day long. Mostly smallish rainbows up to 2 pounds, with some larger browns there too. Managed two nice rainbows. Found John Humphries fishing away at Rushy Bay, his bag bulging with 2 pounders. Unfortunately for us, our visit was plagued by an increasing NW wind, which muddied up the lake margins and made fishing after lunch almost impossible. However we heard that Eucumbene has been a consistent fish-producer for many weeks. What a contrast to Jindabyne.

 

Rainbow Lake / Sponars Lake – Extremely clear water in both lakes, delightful to see, but making fish very skittish. Missed some takes (dry fly) but only one of us manage to land a brown in Rainbow Lake.

 

Thredbo River – Flowing high and clear. Generally not as many fishermen around as last year – on some days we never saw another angler. Spawn-run rainbows were present in all the usual gravelly runs, but this year “mending” fish were also evenly spread out  throughout the river. The rainbows we caught were running from 1 ½ to 3 pounds plus, with all the bigger fish coming from the upper river section above Thredbo Diggings. Browns were smaller and scarcer which is usual for this time of year. As always, a delight to fish the Thredbo, even though the going in the wilderness sections gets tougher year after year as the regrowth (after the 2003 bushfire) thickens. The excessive heat didn’t help either!

 

Moonbah River – Surprisingly, flowing very strongly. Fished dryfly there in the middle section one afternoon for nothing. No surface activity.

 

On our last day, the Thredbo catchment had about 3 inches of rain. The Thredbo River came up immediately by more than a foot, brownish water, borderline to cross let alone fish. Would have made for exceptional fishing in the days to follow  as the flood subsided – sadly, not for us!

 

Cheers, Gerhard.