jdanger Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 Headed to the snowy mountains on Friday with a small group for our annual trout spawning pilgrimage. The lack of rain meant made for tough fishing, with locals claiming everything is running almost a month behind schedule. The removal of 4wd access to everywhere but the mouth meant that there were far fewer anglers than last year. After coming in late on Thursday night, we hit the water on Friday morning at first light for a cold and largely unproductive session. Nick "the trout whisperer" managed two small browns in between defrosting his guides, taken on glo bugs behind a weighted nymph. Besides two other spooked fish, that was it for the morning. We hit the upper river above the treeline that afternoon, coming across plenty of smaller resident fish. Nick managed one on a dry while I remained on my doughnut despite literally kicking a 3-pounder while wading. The next pool held dozens of fish - nick plays the guide while I work the pool with dozens of casts, throwing everything in my fly box for nada. While I pause to change rigs yet again, Nick casually throws his nymph/bug combo to connect immediately, foul hooking another small brown. I can't win! We head back to the cabin to catch up with the other three gents - two suffered doughnuts while the third managed 3 on a streamer pattern whilst polaroiding the lake. After dinner and a few glasses of red, we make our way down to the mouth for our evening session. We came across another group of 5 who seemed to be enjoying success on spin gear, and it wasn't long before we got stuck into a few ourselves. 4 out of 5 of us were fishing black woolly buggers on a tandem rig - one weighted and one unweighted. I finally got one on the board, the success made even sweeter by the fact the fish ate the weighted bugger which I'd tied myself (a first for me). Things died off after an hour, the consensus from the more experienced spawn fishers being that it was an underwhelming session compared to previous years. The Saturday saw a change of tact. G decided to stay at the lake to repeat his polaroiding success of the previous day while the remaining four of us went to check out the Murrumbidgee River below tantangara dam. We dropped J off at one silty stream he wanted to explore (doughnut) while we hit the river. N&R headed upstream, whilst I hung around the lake. It wasn't long before a hit another milestone, catching my first ever rainbow on an unweighted nymph suspended under a dry. 20 minutes later and I was into my second, slightly larger fish from almost the same spot. Using my rod as ruler, both fish were around the 40cm mark and in great condition. The two who went up also had fun, seeing plenty of similarly sized fish rising. N managed two, whilst R was unlucky to drop what would've been his first of the trip. A brief stop at another stream saw me miss a take on my Adams parachute, before we headed back for dinner and more wine. G had a quiet day on the eucumbene, neither seeing nor hooking a thing. That evening was our last session of the trip before the drive back to Sydney the next day. We were surprised to find we had the river to ourselves bar one angler off in the distance on what proved to be one very mild and ultimately quiet Saturday night. I had one hookup on what felt like the best fish of the trip before it fell off. Nick managed a couple, G scored one, and the other two went empty handed. No pics, but I'll post a video when I get back to Sydney (this lucky SoB is currently defrosting in the tropics of Thailand). Not sure how much fishing I'll get done though, seeing as I spent most of my brownie points on the trout? ?? Back to the snowiest: Things should pick up bigtime after a good drop of rain. Tight lines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toilor Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 Great report. Big rain forecast for this fri / sat will see fish moving en mass hopefully! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luderick -angler Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 The fish did not really move up heading back now three of us managed total of 18 fish and even the rain did not move a lot of fish. Most fish caught were between 2 and 4 pound. Speaking to a few guys and everyone found it hard. Even the spin brigade! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foolforjesus Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 On 2017-5-21 at 8:14 PM, luderick -angler said: The fish did not really move up heading back now three of us managed total of 18 fish and even the rain did not move a lot of fish. Most fish caught were between 2 and 4 pound. Speaking to a few guys and everyone found it hard. Even the spin brigade! I remember my first trip to the Eucumbene spawn run, I hooked only 3 fish, and landed 2 of them. To this day, that 3 day trip is probably my most memorable, fulfilling angling experience I've ever had, and I've been fishing for Trout for over 30 years. To me, fishing isn't about numbers of fish caught, but the journey. It's all about your posture and perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luderick -angler Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 1 hour ago, foolforjesus said: I remember my first trip to the Eucumbene spawn run, I hooked only 3 fish, and landed 2 of them. To this day, that 3 day trip is probably my most memorable, fulfilling angling experience I've ever had, and I've been fishing for Trout for over 30 years. To me, fishing isn't about numbers of fish caught, but the journey. It's all about your posture and perspective. It's never been about numbers for me. I am there for the surroundings amd for me it's the sight the stalk the cast the presentation and ultimately the take! Landing a fish is a bonus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellzy94 Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 1 hour ago, luderick -angler said: It's never been about numbers for me. I am there for the surroundings amd for me it's the sight the stalk the cast the presentation and ultimately the take! Landing a fish is a bonus! And you manage to land the fish regardless Got any pics from your trip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luderick -angler Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdanger Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 Last year's trip. Managed two fish, dropped 4 more. It's certainly a unique experience, the fact that so many anglers make it an annual pilgrimage makes the place feel like some sort of festival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foolforjesus Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 2 hours ago, luderick -angler said: It's never been about numbers for me. I am there for the surroundings amd for me it's the sight the stalk the cast the presentation and ultimately the take! Landing a fish is a bonus! That's it Mate. It sure is a beautiful place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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