Trout near train station?

[bkinsman]

anyone know of any decent streams close by to any train stations in the blue mountains?

[connico]

Cox river is where i usually go. Get to station near by and take a mountain bike to make your trip easier

[masterfisho7]

Train from Sydney To Lithgow there are trout streams up had way but you might have to stay over night closer is the Blue Mountains. Its better if you can get to most of them by car but lots of streams to discover that way .

[Volitan]

Assuming you have no transport at all beyond the train then your options are not great.

From Lithgow Station you could reach the Coxs River by taxi. Probably best to head for the McKanes Falls area, or maybe where Great Western Highway crosses over (just below Wallerawang). 

I have also seen trout in the creek just past Bowenfels. I think it’s called Farmhouse Creek.

in the Blue Mountains, the only waterway I know of which holds trout is Wentworth Falls Lake. There is a station nearby.

when most people talk about trout in the Blue Mountains I assume they mean the winter fishing in the Coxs and Jenolan and other rivers in the Megalong valley below the escarpment. A very long trip from any station, with a long bush walk at the end,

if you have no transport but still dearly wish to go fishing then I feel your pain. I used to hitchhike from my place at West Ryde to Lake Lyell to fish - but that was many years ago when it was not so difficult.

i know you wanted a stream, but if Lake fishing is Ok then you could go to Lake Lyle or Wallerawang, but again the bit from the station to the lake is the hard bit.

for the first couple of weeks of October the Coxs near Lithgow should fish OK.

there may also be a railway station that will get you somewhere near the Fish river, I don’t know that area well enough.

[Berleyguts]

Get some good quality topographical maps of the area. Peruse them, then see what Google Earth shows you for the same area. You can spend several days hiking in, starting from one station and finishing at another. If you are a seasoned bush walker and camper, it should be a great expedition but not for the faint hearted. I always wanted to do one of those fishing trips on horseback in the area - never got around to it.

[Mr Squidy]

Probably better heading to one of the stops on the train line that heads down Bowral way rather than the blue mountains. One awesome resource for planning these sorts of trips is the DPI fish stocking map. Find somewhere with trout stocked near a station and give it a crack. 

Cheers,

Rich

[Volitan]

Yes, Berletguts comment reminds me that I did a few long fishing walks in that area, and that there is no reason you couldn’t do them too with a bit of planning.

I did a walk from Lake Wallace to Lake Lyell, which was good but need to take a lilo to get past the worst bits - the creekside is so impassable the onky practical way was to get in and float down. I also did from McKanes Falls to Lake Lyell spillway and back. Nice easy walking as a long fishing daytrip. I also did from the point where the Jenolan Caves Road crosses the Coxs to the Coxs River Road at a spot called Dudewarra Bridge or something similar. Also did the 6 foot track - from near Katoomba to over on the Jenolan side. Also did the walk from Packsaddlers to Little River, and from Packsaddlers, along the Coxs, up the Jenolan River, and up the Jenolan Ravine to the Jenolan caves Road. 

All of these trips were good, and all produced rarely fished water and some fish. However these were about 10 years or more ago so I can’t give you any relevant fishing advice. The walk I mentioned third (Jenolan caves road to Coxs River Road) was the one I would recommend. Either a long day trip or an overnighter. When you get midway you will be in territory no-one has fished for a very long time - which doesn’t guarantee you fish but are a good place to be regardless of the fishing.

Getting from the station to the start of the track without a car is the problem to solve. Uber, maybe. Roads like Jenolan Caves Road will have busses.

cheers

V.

[bkinsman]

Haha just to clarify I'm on a bike so not completely immobile..
On long weekend trained it to Blackheath then rode to the Cox's, found a nice little bit and there were trout! They were very skittish so I think I need to work on some stealth, Had some lunch and a couple of beers (I came prepared) then rode back out of Jenolan Caves road and onto to Lake Lyell, which was a bit of a non event due to people on boats..
Climbed back uphill out of there and then rode onto Lithgow and caught the train back to Sydney.
Ended up being about 45km with roughly 1000m of climbing so nothing too painful. 
Looking forward to doing another day out there!

Edited October 9, 2018 by bkinsman

[Volitan]

Ok, given that you have a bike that changes things. Best tip from me is to ride down to the McKanes Falls Bridge, ask for permission to access from the last house on the right before the bridge, chain your bike up and walk upstream fishing the pools. Try and put a couple of km walking in before you start fishing as most people don’t walk far and thrash the water near the easy access points. Obviously morning and evening is by far the best, but a few fish will be feeding all day. I’d go again soon, as the fishing is best close to opening day and falls off rapidly as the water warms. The better fish in the river are actually recovering spawners, which will drop back to the nearest lake over the next few weeks, leaving just the resident fish which are fewer and smaller.

if you fly fish, it’s good nymphing water.

my experience with the Coxs in the Megalong Valley below Blackheath were the same as yours. A few fish about but couldnt get near them. Never caught a fish near the road, but have caught them in the remote spots accessible off the six foot track.

thats a hard ride you did, with some steep climbs. I wouldn’t have thought you were able to cover so much ground.

[bkinsman]

Sweet as, cheers for the tip. I do a lot of km’s on and off-road so it wasn’t too difficult. I’ll suss out your suggestion on a map.