TROUT in major rivers are starting to show as water falls and clears.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the lower Macquarie, however, many fish remain deep. Still needed for sight-fishing are eye-catching insects to draw trout up.
While mayflies are scarce, dragonflies and damselflies are slowly increasing. Then with tea trees flowering along rivers such as the lower South Esk, active around them are beetles - especially the brown and black variety.
With trout often localised, it pays to fish any collections thoroughly - an approach backed by the deep-trolling specialist. With friend, he boated 283 trout in 11 trips to Great Lake, Tooms and Woods Lakes and Lake King William, where during a recent visit 40 trout came aboard by lunchtime.
Most effective lures were coloured the usual green and gold - although also attractive, even only halfway down, were salmon-pink lures with black spots.
When located, Great Lake trout have been snatching any lures hard.
Conversely, Tooms Lake was too dirty last week, with floating weed such a problem that the pair gave up in early afternoon with a brown and three rainbows, all full of mudeyes. Yet trout were in excellent nick, the rainbows looking like bream.
Meanwhile, west from Liawenee the road to Double Lagoon is open. Recent stockings include 455 Atlantic salmon averaging 2 kg into Lake Kara and 20 into Meadowbank Lake, along with 235 adult domestic rainbows.
In saltwater, rock hoppers making use of berley from the Tamar's West Head landed calamari and big blackback, but a kingfish hooked on soft plastic pulled free.
Tail-wave: Merry Christmas and happy holidays to readers, wet nets to anglers - and sincere thanks for information received. Also helpful and informed have been Inland Fisheries members and tackle shop staff Damon, Colin, Nick and Des, together with Tim, Adam, Mike, Rod, Ray and Betty, Alan, David, Jack, Andrew, Paul, Todd, other members of angling clubs and forums - and all those ever-obliging anglers well-met on the water.