We are approaching the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, so it’s the last ‘roll of the dice’ as far as the rivers and streams are concerned as they will close at midnight June 8. So if you’re intending to wet a line, you’d better put those skates on!

The Khancoban Pondage is open right through winter and is much warmer and better sheltered than any of the other Snowy Mountains Lakes. Great midweek accommodation deals are available and larger fish are common.

Proper equipment is essential for comfortable winter fishing. A good pair of thermals topped with cotton skivvy and wool jumper under a good quality breathable shell and waders, will see you nice and toasty during the winter months. Remember Khancoban Pondage is only 300m above sea level, so the weather is much the same as Albury. In the 14 years I’ve been in Khancoban I’ve never seen snow settle on the ground, Khancoban usually produces beautiful clear blue skies, once the morning fog clears by around 9-10am, with winter sun reflecting from the snow-covered peaks of the main range – a truly stunning vista!

It has been a good season, marred only by the drought from Christmas to Easter. The end of 2008 featured good rain and excellent fishing. Then someone turned off the tap! With the heat wave during February the insects dried up which made the fishing very tough. Since then we’ve had to import bait from Tassie – amazing.

Khancoban has been well stocked, this year with over 150,000 trout and salmon released in to the pondage and the Lower Swampy. The actual figures are:

10 March 2009 - 5,000 Brown trout fingerlings released Khancoban Station. 


10 March 2009 - 1,000 Rainbow trout fingerlings released Khancoban Station. 


24 Nov 2008 - 50,000 Atlantic salmon fry released Khancoban Pondage. 


30 Dec 2008 - 120, 000 Brown trout fingerlings released Khancoban Pondage. 


30 Dec 2008 - 5,000 Rainbow trout fingerlings released Khancoban Pondage.

I would like to thank Alison McLean from NSW Fisheries Jindabyne office for providing these figures. Alison has also been very proactive in removing traps and springers around the Pondage. If you come across any of these whilst fishing the area, please let us know. Do not remove them yourself. You could be mistaken for the person who set the traps. Please help us rid the area of this scourge.

Until next time good fishing!