The fishing – particularly in the rivers, has been brilliant, but where are, all the anglers?

It seems as soon as a chill comes into the air, they’re gone.

One of our regulars got six good fish very recently (including an Atlantic salmon which is one of the first we’ve seen), from the bridge below the airstrip. The Upper Murray has also been firing, with the early spawning this year; river fishing has been the most productive.

Best Lures have been Tassie Devil Holographics and Brown Bombers, with soft plastics still doing a good job in the lake.

The lower swampy has been running hard so some weight needed, with Leadfish recomended below the wall, well weighted worms further down.

Reddies have slowed with the colder weather. The rivers close on June 14th this year, so try to get some river fishing in before then.

Winter fishing in Khancoban Pondage will be exceptional this year. We are already seeing some of the early browns back in the lake. Although skinny after their exertions, they are hungry and provide good sport, but are disappointing in the eating department.

Best to catch and release if they are looking scrawny! Most will be back before closing weekend (makes you wonder why we have to have the closure!), ready to give anglers a nice finish to the season.

Winter in Khancoban is not as cold as people believe. Situated at only 300m above sea level, it rarely snows in Khancoban (I think the last snow on the ground, was mid 1970’s). I would rate both Ballarat and Goulburn as colder than Khancoban.

We are blocked from the cold southerlies by the peaks of the main range. So when those howling southerlies are forecast, forget Eucumbene (around 1200m) and Jindabyne (900m), and head for Khancoban – you won’t be disappointed.

The other important point is that Khancoban does not receive so much of the snow traffic as Adaminaby or Jindabyne, so accommodation is much cheaper and easily available.

The big news is that NSW fisheries have informed us that Murray one tailrace (opposite Murray One Power Station) is linked to Murray 2 pondage and will be open throughout winter.

This water has some huge fish (10kg monsters) and is very sheltered, providing a good alternative to the pondage on the rare windy day.

Signage has been amended to reflect this welcome change. The only drawback is that these fish are very well fed from the turbines (basically anything that happens to get sucked into the pipes, explodes under the pressure), so are difficult to entice onto the hook.

However if you hook one of these monsters – you are in for the trout experience of a lifetime. Remember: they don’t get big by being stupid – make sure your gear is ready to go!

Bring the family for a winter trout fishing/snow fun holiday that won’t break the bank.

There are still good cabins available for the July school holidays. Come explore the Snowy Mountains and catch a few fish while you’re at it.