Winter 2020 Fishing Report

After an excellent end to the river season, we now focus on our Snowy Lakes which have extremely low levels at the moment, making for very interesting fishing. 

Lake Levels Dropping

Lake Jindabyne is low at 56% compared to 70% last year. This level has exposed lots of weed beds and certainly got the Yabbies on the move. There was an excellent run of Browns up the Thredbo with all trapped fish released above the trap to continue through the system. Some great fish were caught around the village and towards Dead Horse Gap.

St Columbkille Roman Catholic Church foundations from the old town of Jindabyne 

The lake edges are producing some good fishing on the Western side of the lake as well in the Kalkite area. Wooly Buggers are usually the pick in Olive and Green or Black with bright beads in Pink or Green. There is some surface activity during the day, mainly Midge and Caddis in the evenings. Trolling has been very good as there are a lot of fish deep with some making their way into the shallow bays.

With the lower lake levels, some old relics are showing up from the old town of Jindabyne that was flooded to make way for the Snowy Scheme. The old Church can be seen from the main town on the right of Lion and Cub Islands, and the remains of an old homestead can be seen from the Kalkite boat ramp. 

Fireplace from an homestead from the old town of Jindabyne

Lake Eucumbene is at 28.5% and rising at the moment so water is coming over grassy banks. This should bring fish into the shallows and it is worthwhile fishing around structures and rocky points. Streamers and small wets work well.

Tantangara is at 15.65% at the moment but this varies due to work on the Snowy 2.0. It can get very cold up there but well worth the effort as there are some beautiful fish to be caught.

New website for Fisheries info

NSW DPI Fisheries has just released a brand new website which provides the latest information on the research and monitoring of our freshwater fisheries. There is lots of great research and info on there, with some great content on Murray Cod Spawning, NSW Trout Monitoring and how they count the trout population. It has the latest info on angler access and fish stocking maps, and lots of data from the Hydroacoustic surveys and fish census. It's well worth a read before your next trip to the Snowy Mountains. 

New lake flies in stock

As always, High Country Outfitters shop is open 7 days a week and we have some great lake flies in stock as well as all the warm gear you need for fishing during winter. Shop online for our latest flyfishing gear, or come and visit us instore. 

Cheers for now, Murray and the team.