Central Tablelands Fishing Report

Dec 2010 / Jan 2011

The dams have been fishing well for redfin, but trout catches have been very quiet. Native fish have been hot and cold depending on the day and the weather conditions. Now that the dams are up there is a lot more water between the fish, but if you hit the shallow water before sunrise you stand a fair chance of a hook up.

The water levels in the rivers are still generally very high and the water discoloured.  Our catchments are so wet that even a small amount of rain will cause water levels to rise quickly, so be very careful if storms are predicted.

One gentleman I know got trapped on the wrong side of a river for a night following some heavy rain. There are also plenty of snakes out right now. If you're walking a fair distance from the car don't go without a raincoat, water, food, warm clothing, first aid kit and communications equipment in a backpack.

Reports from Burrendong, Windamere, Ben Chifley and Wyangala Dam's have all been good. Lots of Golden Perch and Redfin on the bite   Yabbies, worms, grubs, hoppers, mudeye and shrimp are bait options at this time of year. If you can get your hands on wood grubs (bardi grubs are best) they are magic bait as they tend to float off the bottom when fished using a light leader.

There are also a few carp about some of the dams. Corn, worms and cheese are proven baits.  Some fishermen have also been targeting carp using fly gear by slowly retrieved streamers and nymphs.

Using polarised glasses early on a clear day can be very rewarding particularly with water levels rising. Trout have been coming to the shallow edges of Lake Lyell. They are hitting the recently covered grassy ground to feed on worms and submerged insects. Lake Lyell is now at 100% up from below 50% just a few months back. It is the pick of the trout dams along with Thompsons Creek Dam.

Boating is currently hazardous. You really don't want to hit a recently submerged tree and end up in the waters. Get to know the area your fishing and avoid high speeds if you don't know the area well. Some large trees have been covered along the banks of many lakes recently.

Most boat ramps are in pretty good condition, but they will be packed over the weekends, so be prepared to wait 30mins or more to launch your boat at the popular ramps. Hit the water early to avoid the water skiers and to get the best fishing conditions!

Trolling and jigging for redfin is working very well, and the odd monster cod and large brown trout has been taken on big lures trolled close to the bottom of old creek lines in the big impoundments.

Trout Fishing – Streams

The streams are generally off colour and hard to fish due to the fast flowing water. In some cases our rivers are still in flood. The only fishable trout streams have been the smaller creeks that feed the major rivers of our area. These include Bindo Creek, Upper Duckmaloi River, Native Dog Creek, Wisemans Creek, Marangaroo Creek and Little River.

You can also fish even smaller unnamed side creeks that flow into the larger streams that don't normally hold water let alone fish. These small side creeks can offer rich food supplies in heavy rain. Look for side creeks with clearer water than the main stream with at least some pools for the fish to shelter in.

When things dry out a bit the fishing in the major streams will pick up again provided we don't have a heat wave. If it does dry out try the Cox's above Lake Lyell and the Fish River near Oberon.

Trout Fishing - Lakes

Lake Lyell is now full. Fishing from the bank with bait, fly or lure is recommended as well as trolling with Tassie Devils. Flat line trolling has picked up in recent times if you start before sunrise, but downriggers are handy if you want to target big brown trout down deep or just get your lure to the rainbows at anywhere down to 40 feet. Find the thermocline and you should get a hit or two.

Lake Wallace has been stocked with plenty of rainbow trout along with a few browns, but the fishing has been getting slower. Most fish are being taken on PowerBait from the area near the baseball pitch, dam wall and pipeline.

Thompson’s Creek Dam is holding some very big brown trout. Just try to pick a day with clear weather and rising air pressure so you maximise your chances of getting a fish. Usually the day after a blustery front is best and the good new the water level is rising.

I find the dam fishes very well early in the day at this time of year and if you get their early you will get first cast at the fish.

Oberon Dam is rising and there are thousands of small redfin feeding on the recently covered ground. This has made fishing for trout pretty tough. Worms, PowerBait, and small yabbies are good baits for trout but you need to get your bait down deep. Casting lures such as Tassie Devils, minnows, blades and small soft plastics around steep drop offs in the middle of the day is the only way to avoid the redfin.

John visited the area in late December and emailed to say

"Oberon dam was a waste of time, unless you like redfin, we fished kellys land and stopped counting when we hit double figures and that was in the first 30 minutes, all really small and in close, so only chance to hook up a trout is a big cast out deep say using a tassie devil or minnow. Also fished the Reef and it looked mush better esp suited to early morning or dusk with the dam still rising and flooding new grass banks. We had to pack it in due to thunderstorm.

Looked in a thompsons on the way home and thought it was a great spot but again best early or late. It looked like it has risen a bit recently as we could see some new banks and shrubs had just been covered. Will be going back soon for a proper fish."

Thank's John for the report.

LAKE LEVELS

Thompsons Creek Dam - 54%
Lake Wallace - 100%
Lake Lyell - 100% 

Environmental flow level out of Lake Lyell into Cox's River – 5 Million Litres  per/day

Burrendong Dam - 100%
Windamere Dam - 45%
Oberon Dam - 53%
Carcoar Dam - 73%
Wyangala Dam - 92%
Ben Chifley Dam - 100%

 
For the latest water level updates visit www.de.com.au or www.waterinfo.nsw.gov.au

LAKES - NATIVE FISH, CARP & REDFIN PERCH

Burrendong has been the pick of the storages due to good water levels and strong inflows. Chifley has also been producing good numbers of fish (mainly redfin) on lures such as crankbaits, blades, jigs and spinnerbaits.

If you are chasing native fish in the larger storages try to get your lure and bait close to submerged timber or at the lower edge of large drop offs or where fish are feeding in the newly covered grasses and nettles.


RIVERS - NATIVE FISH, CARP & REDFIN PERCH

The pick of the rivers for natives and redfin are the Cudgegong & Macquarie

Lots of small to medium redfin being taken in the streams around Orange.

The Nepean has plenty of bass and carp near Norton’s Basin, Penrith and Yarramundi. The Colo River has a few bass.