Slow start in the ACT

[ryanyoung]

G'day All,

I have recently moved down to the ACT with work, and over the past couple of months I have managed to get out for a few sessions. The scenery and potential of this area are pretty good, however I am struggling to raise a scale lol.

My first trip was out to the Yass River, where I managed this little reddie. The carp are incredibly thick through the majority of the waterways also.

Another location I have tried several times is the Murrimbidgee River at various locations. The river looks amazing, although the fishing has been solid donuts lol. Still, it has been said that the river is running significantly harder than usual due to a wetter summer, so maybe this has shut them down a bit.

I eventually got around to getting the yak into the same river, however a plethora of whitewater saw the bottom scrape out, and suddenly I had a submersible piece of tupperware.....

This was fixed in short order with a great deal of fibreglass matting, and is now stronger than ever

:woohoo:

Another river I have had a crack at is the Molonglo River in Canberra itself, about five minutes from home. Once again the carp are in plague proportions, however there are also the odd yella and cod to keep you coming back.

The final river I have fished so far is the Goodradigbee. This place looks amazing, and there are rumoured trout, however two sessions so far have proved fruitless. Still, it's a fantastic river for a wander

:cheer:

I have further trips planned down to Eucembene and the like, and have got high hopes of cracking this area soon lol.

If anyone has had experience fishing this area before, I would love to hear from you for some tips etc.

Cheers, and sorry for the mostly fishless report.

Ryan.

[aussie123]

The ACT region is an awful place for fishing due to its geographic layout.

It's just that little bit too far North for good trout and cod fishing.

The Bidgee between Yass and Wagga is good for Cod and Trout Cod but the further you go towards Wagga the better the river and fishing gets.

My favorite place down that way is Lake Jindabyne and the river and streams above it.

Throughout the Dead Horse Gap area is some amazing Trout streams to fish but hard work in that country.

Eucumbene is an awesome lake but I always preferred to fish the Euc River above the lake, especially near the end of the season when the fish were on their spawning run.

There is a spot on the river called Suicide Hole,I have no idea what it is like these days but 30 years ago it was a sight to see the massive fish stacked up in that section of the river.

Around the Tumut Ponds area is some great stream fishing and if you know where to go,there used to be an awesome population of Brook Trout in a specific gorge area.

It was a well regarded secret once but now it's probably well fished out.

Do a trip down the Mulwala, the big cod are biting really well at the moment with many large fish being taken daily and in good numbers.

[ryanyoung]

Thanks for the info Lance, I am in the process of planning a trip down to Jindabyne and Eucumbene, to fish the river and creeks around there, and to also focus a bit more the feeders to Googong. I believe the secret is out, according to the internet, on the Euc River, as it has been hammered by illegal fishers up around Providence. I'll have a look at Dead Horse Gap, not scared of a bit of hard work.

By the way, it's pretty cold down this way when retrieving lures

Cheers mate,

Ryan.

[Binder]

What, no cod fishing in the lake?

For sure would have that that would be your first trip!

[ryanyoung]

What, no cod fishing in the lake?

For sure would have that that would be your first trip!

It was mate, I have had several trips to target cod, however so far they elude me, with the exception of dropping one at Yerrabi Ponds lol......I haven't given up on them though, I just really want to catch my first trout :woohoo:

[aussie123]

The Euc river has always been a major target of shamateurs Ryan.

Right back from when I was a kid they netted and jagged large numbers of fish from there and sent them to the Melb markets and restaurants.

The bigger gangs had cockatoos strategically placed throughout the mountain ridges with 2 way radios to warn them of anyone approaching the river or waiting for them to carry their fish hauls out.

Check out the Thredbo River too,even though it does see a lot of fishing pressure,it is an amazing river to wander along.

Make sure you have a good read up on identifying an Atlantic Salmon as you will get a few of them in the Thredbo and many in Jindy itself.

They are very similar to a Brown but generally less colour and markings and much skinnier looking.

There used to be some great camping areas on the lake which make a good base camp for heading up into the mountains for a days fishing around or above Thredbo.

Those lake areas also offer fantastic bank fishing or kayak fishing too.

[ryanyoung]

Cheers Lance!!!! I'm getting keen as for a session up that way.

[aussie123]

If you enjoy using bait in the fresh,get out and find some farm dams full of weed or cabungy weed and drag them for mudeyes and then you will see the best trout fishing ever up in the snowies.

[ausangler]

wow that looks amazing I think I will have to go for a trip to the ACT

[Angus]

How has it been down there @ryanyoung?