Fishing Australia

TROUT TRANSITION

If you are after some good trout fishing then the Thredbo and Eucumbene Rivers in the snowies are better options than some of the lower lying stream and rivers that have been adversely affected by drought.

While many anglers chase spawn run rainbow trout in these two big rivers at this time of year, it is important to note that the spawning conditions are already coming to an end, especially as flows subside and the rivers run clearer. 

In fact some trout have already made the transition from displaying spawning behavior to more displaying more typical river behavior.

This means you shouldn’t just think about using the standard glo bug and nymphs or spawning trout colored lures.  The trout are starting to feed more regularly on insects, especially on the warmer days, and you should look out for this and pick your flies accordingly.

One group of anglers fished from Providence Portal upstream to the old bridge and caught nine nice rainbow trout around the kilo mark on a large assortment of flies.

If you are lucky an insect hatch at this time of year can result in some good dry fly sport, so take the dry fly box and look to match the hatch if possible.

Lake Eucumbene and Jindabyne are also fishing very well as fish fatten themselves up on the freshly flooded margins.  Trolling and boatfishing from the banks is producing the most fish, but again fly fishing will improve as the weather warms.

YAKERS MAKING THE MOST OF THE COAST CONDITIONS

With rough weather over the school holidays few boaters got out into the ocean, but a good number of kayakers snuck out into the shallow protected estuary systems and had a ball on flathead, bream, and to a lesser extent whiting.

There are a large number of rarely fished lagoons, inlets and creeks along the NSW coast that are too shallow for boats or don’t have ramps and this is where the kayak fishing is often best.  Although that being said some good catches also came from the shallows of the more popular and accessible estuaries.

Several keen kayakers fishing the deeper holes also came up trumps on the holy grail of NSW estuary fishing, Kayak Jewfish. 

Using smaller lures and baits has been helpful on the jews, although on average you get around 30 bream or 50 flathead before you catch a jewfish regardless of the estuary you fish. 

Personally I have noticed a distinct increase in the number of small jewfish around the 2-4 kilo mark, which fisheries tell me has a lot to do with stocking further up the coast around the Botany Bay area.  They are not big at this size, but still a great fish and I for one, am not complaining.

HANGING FOR A HOBIE CHRISTMAS ?

Most of my friends and extended family are also right into the whole kayaking lifestyle, as is my wife Marilyn, except that she is a tad worried kayaks are taking over the car garage…and she’s right. 

The old saying happy wife; happy life often rings true around the pax household, so I finally got around to hanging up two of my hobies; my pet little sport, the same one that helped me tag a marlin, and the massive new state of the art Pro Angler that keeps opening exciting new fishing options on a weekly basis.

The job was a lot easier than I thought: a couple of eyelet ended dyna bolts into the brick work took care of the sport and it is now snugly up against the wall ready to go. 

The pro angler, being so big, has always been destined for the underside of the ceiling and that’s exactly where she’s now stored.  All it took was two larger eyelet ended bolts through the bottom length of the roof truss.

Both jobs were done in under 10 minutes thanks to the help of my carpenter neighbor Robbo who is always willing to lend a helping hand; especially when it means a kayaking trip in return…

As usual Hobie had all the accessories I needed to get the job done for example the sport was strapped to the wall using the multi strap system. 

For the Pro Angler I simply used the Hobie tie down straps to winch it up to the roof.  Now all I have to do is untie the back up knots and then slowly press the clip to drop her down. For mine this is a little easier than outside or wall storage for this particularly big kayak.

So if you are looking to hang a Hobie in your shed for Christmas but are not sure you have the room; fear not; where there is a will, there is always a way.

I’m pretty proud of this effort, and can now get to the kayaks easily when ever I want to go fishing; which is what I am off to do now that I have finished this column.

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos