November is Snowy Mountains Trout Festival Month, which this year runs from October 29 to November 4. For all the latest news on the competition visit www.troutfestival.com.

Lake Jindabyne’s level dropped a bit last month but is still high and rising a little, so that should be good news for anglers. I expect to see some great fishing on Lakes Jindabyne and Eucumbene during the festival.

The week is a fun event so if you read this early enough, it’s worth heading to Jindabyne and joining in for some great fishing.

Last months opening of the rivers was great with the Thredbo River fishing extremely well and some good fish were caught.

After the onslaught of anglers over the long weekend the fish went a little shy, but they have now recovered and the fishing has returned to very good.

The lure spinning has been rewarding and the dry fly fishing is improving as the weather warms and the insects hatch.

For the lake trollers, surface trolling lures at 2m and lead core lines will be the best methods to get a trout at the moment.

It is also definitely worth trolling some minnow lures early in the morning off the lead core lines. RMG Scorpions, StumpJumpers, Tassie Terrors and Rapalas are a few of lures that I had success on last week.

The new spotted dog 7cm Rapala have been great on the brown trout.

Surface troll in the shallows early with dark Tasmanian Devil lures, colours like the Holographic or the Brown Bomber No 48 have been good.

Also try some of colours just released; I have been getting good reports from anglers who have tried them. No 99 Pearl Piranha, No 103 Lovettia and No 104 Gold Panther have already built a reputation.

The best lures when the weather is overcast have been pink or orange or have had pink or orange parts.

My personalized SW orange and black Tasmanian Devil, available only through my shop or call to mail order, is going very well at the moment.

Lake bait fishing has been good, with worms and PowerBait best. Tiger worms or scrub worms under a float have been doing very well also for rainbows and Atlantic salmon.

Orange pulp and chunky cheese are the best PowerBait at the moment but the lime twist is starting to work also. Try teaming up the PowerBait with worms for brown trout.

Or put two hooks on the line and combine a worm and a PowerBait to double your chances of a trout.

If you want a big brown then try bardi grubs, which we have in stock at my shop.

Best areas for bait fishing at the moment have been Waste Point, the Claypits and at East Jindabyne near Rushes Creek.

Spinning has been good early and late in the day and should continue that way for a while yet. There are trout about and the best fishing is in the shallows early and in deep water later in the day.

The Tasmanian Devil No 48 Brown Bomber good and so is the Holographic, but keep a No 72 Pink Panther in your tackle box as well.

Floating Rapalas, StumpJumpers and other minnow style lures should be in natural rainbow trout and brown trout patterns or in gold to represent the goldfish that the trout love to eat.

Don’t forget the new Aussie Spotted Dog Rapala also; the 7cm original floater is the best.

I have been hearing very good reports of big browns talking the Mepps Aglia Streamers and the Mepps Bugs in the shallows at dawn and dusk. Also try the Gladiator Hip Baby in gold.

Blades like the Strike Pro Cyber Vibe 35and the TT Switchblade 1/8oz in sunset gold (any gold) are also very good at the moment.

Don’t stay in one place too long and put in only a couple of casts in each area.

The fly-fishing on the lake is still OK and should improve a little more as the water very slowly starts to rise and temperatures increase.

The more insect hatches, the better the fishing will become.

The small bays and inlets will yield results very early and late in the day if you’re careful not to spook the trout. Woolley Buggers, Craig’s Nighttime and Williamson’s Goldfish have been the flies worth using at dawn and dusk.

The shallow bays are worth a try before the sun rises but after that you had better be fishing deep.

Call in to my shop next to the Shell Service Station or call 02 6456 1551 for more details and latest updates.

NOVEMBER TIPS

Best method Bank based bait with Sherbet PowerBait or scrub worms

Best lake lure Black and orange Tasmanian Devil

Best lake areasCreel Bay, Waste Point, Stinky Bay (The Haven)

Best lake flyBlack weighted Woolly Bugger, Williamson’s Goldfish

Best river fly Black Beadhead Nymph, No 12 Royal Wulff

Best river lureSpotted Dog Rapala

Best lake lureStrike Pro Cyber Vibe, Spotted Dog Rapala, Mepps Aglia Streamer