Seventeen kilometres of small tableland stream north of Wallerawang, through farms, willows and power-station country, with a gauge at the power station that reads temperature and turbidity as well as flow.
The Coxs begins as a small trout stream in open farm country north of Wallerawang, about two hours from Sydney, with willows on the banks and the power station on the skyline. Most anglers drive past it on the way to somewhere else. In October that is a mistake.
This stretch is the first seventeen kilometres of the river, from its headwaters down to Lake Wallace, the first of the storages on the river. It is small, gently falling water in farm country. The fish are brown and rainbow trout, and a good bet is that the bigger ones have spent time in the lake below, which makes a brown of surprising size possible in water this size.
It is an early-season river. This is a general trout water, closed from the June long weekend to the October one, and the weeks after the October opening are the trip: pools full from winter, the water still cool, and fish that have not seen a fly since June. From Christmas the hoppers come off the paddocks. In our experience a dry summer leaves the stream low and warm, and you are better off on the permanent pools below Lyell or on the lakes. Do not come in winter: this stretch is closed.
The banks are mixed ground, with farms and power-station land along the river, and a gate and a fence are the answer to any question about where you may walk. The gauge at the power station reads water temperature and turbidity as well as flow, and its readings sit under Conditions. After rain, give it a few dry days.