The national capital as a fishing base, which surprises people. Murray cod and golden perch on the Murrumbidgee, trout in three rivers off the Brindabellas and a stocked lake in the middle of the city.
Canberra is a fishing town that does not advertise it. The Murrumbidgee runs south to north along the length of the territory, with some very fishable native water within a twenty-minute drive of the centre, Lake Burley Griffin has been stocked with natives, and in the hills to the west there are trout rivers most visitors drive straight past on the way to the Snowies.
Two fisheries share the place, and the year decides which one you are fishing. The cold one is the trout water: the Cotter, Paddys and Naas rivers, fed by snowmelt off the Brindabella Range. The warm one is the native water: the Murrumbidgee through the territory and the lake in the middle of the city, where
golden perch and Murray cod are the fish.
The Murrumbidgee is the highlight for natives, and locals just call it the Bidgee. One angler’s account starts a cod day before sunrise and rates early December as prime time; in our experience drifting or walking the pools is the way to cover it.
The trout rivers are a different trip. The Cotter takes the crown among them: deep nymphs in the slower water off the heavy, icy spring flows, and the larger fish off the back of big deep bends. Paddys and the Naas are the other two bigger trout waters, both suited to deep nymphing.
If you have one day and it is spring, a good bet is golden perch on the edges of the lake. If it is summer, drift the Bidgee for cod at first light. If it is trout you came for, do the Cotter, and check the current brochure before you drive.