Snowy Mountains trips with Steve Dunn have been a highlight of my calendar for years, and this one couldn’t come soon enough. Even a rollercoaster weather forecast didn’t dampen the anticipation.
First casts on the Murrumbidgee.With Friday shaping as unusually warm, Steve suggested swapping our planned lake fishing for a few hours on the Murrumbidgee during the heat of the day. It proved an inspired choice – as we drove up to the river, I could see three fish rising! By the time we got back to the car mid-afternoon, we’d landed a mixed dozen of browns and rainbows on dry flies and the trip was off to a promising start.
Friday's stream fish were happy to eat very big dries.Next stop was Providence Lodge to check-in, unload the bags and have a scout of the lake. At 55%, Eucumbene is the highest it’s been for almost 2 years and it looks a treat. At Providence, the water is very clear and flooding back into thickly-grassed margins. Chris at the lodge obligingly agreed to cook us an early dinner so we could fish through til dark uninterrupted.
The view from the Providence Lodge dining room can be distracting!The plan almost worked, until half way through dessert, Steve noticed a rise right down in front of the lodge, then another… and another. I bolted half my cheesecake, apologised to Chris, grabbed a rod and raced down to the lake. Under a now overcast sky with warm, gentle breeze, flying ants AND termites were landing on the water in countless thousands, with plenty of stonefly thrown in for good measure. I arrived to find two foot trout rising in two feet of water, and it was all I could do to tie on a Claret Carrot without stuffing the knot. The next half hour or so was a surreal chaos of big rising trout, hook-ups, missed strikes, beauties landed and hooks straightened. Somewhere in the middle of it all Steve arrived and snapped a few photos before commandeering his own Carrot and getting into it.
Termites and ants as far as the eye can see!The ‘sweet spot’ passed quickly as the water’s surface was overwhelmed with food and although the action continued until dark, the catching became much harder with our flies lost in the sea of real goodies. Still, four lovely browns and a fat rainbow – all on dries – was a pretty good result for our first session on Eucumbene. Steve topped it off casting to tailers the following dawn and adding another fine brown to the score.
The first of many from Lake Eucumbene.It was hard to leave Eucumbene on Saturday, but we’d promised ourselves a decent crack at Tantangara. It couldn’t have looked more different to the big lake. Although 19% and just starting to rise, Tantangara had dropped like a stone over the preceding months and was ringed by rock and mud instead of grass. Still, it was fishably clear, the sky was pleasantly overcast and the breeze a light westerly. We launched Steve’s boat and made our way to the top half of the western shore. There were few signs of trout on top, but searching with Woolly Buggers soon showed there were plenty below. We landed 4 between a pound and two, and missed double that.
Tantangara produced despite low-ish levels.When the wind started to pick up around midday, we left Tantangara and headed to the Murrumbidgee. A new section of this fine river didn’t disappoint with another 8 trout all on dries, including a cracking 2 lb rainbow to Steve.
More success on the 'bidgee.Back to Providence, where the ever-hospitable Chris agreed to our request for another early dinner and I promised to eat all my dessert! Actually it looked like an easy promise to keep. The temperature had dropped into the teens, a stormy sky loomed over the lake, and a rising nor’wester swept up a decent wave. There were no risers visible from the lodge window, and there was no rush to the water. Still, Steve found a semi-sheltered corner after dinner and almost at once we spotted a rise… then another. In the bleak conditions, the frenzy of the previous evening was never going to happen, but we were thrilled to spot a riser somewhere every few minutes, and once again the dry did the job – this time a Dishington Deer Hair as well as the good old Claret Carrot. Notwithstanding some missed chances, we landed a further 3 trout in great condition.
Anxious moments in Steve's calm corner on Saturday night.The sky lived up to its threat, and spits as we headed back to the lodge in the dark turned to full-blown rain around midnight. The temperature plummeted to single figures and the wind howled down from the mountains, where snow was falling on the highest peaks. Steve braved a brief morning session on the Eucumbene River. However two inches of rain had turned it into a discoloured torrent – good for the trout perhaps, but not so good for flyfishing.
The Eucumbene trout are in superb condition.By midday the weather was clearing. We rounded out the trip with an afternoon session and one this morning on yet another stretch of the Murrumbidgee. Protected to some extent from the downpour by Tantangara, this stream remained fishably clear and only rose a little. Both sessions were terrific, adding over 30 trout, although the dry fly fishing that dominated the first part of the trip all but vanished with nymphing taking over except for a brief evening rise.
The 'bidgee kept on giving.We finished the trip at lunchtime today in bright sun with warmth creeping back into the landscape. Steve had me sweating on my flight as he raced back up the hill to the car a little later than we’d agreed. “Sorry, had to get my first double-figure session for the season,” he puffed as he pulled his rod apart. We wondered if the Virgin staff would be sympathetic if I was late? “Certainly sir, stuck on 9 trout and needing 10? We understand, we’re holding the plane til you get here.” As it turned out, we didn’t have to put that one to the test!
Hard to leave!
