Duckmaloi River

A small, productive trout stream flowing through grazing country on the Central Tablelands, just east of Oberon, feeding the Fish River below the town. The bank cover chart shows how open those banks are: this is mostly grass and pasture rather than forest, which is why the terrestrial fishing matters so much here and why you will be casting from low in the grass rather than from under trees.

The water alternates. Riffles and short runs drop into long, slow pools, and the pools have the features that matter: undercut banks, fallen timber and deeper bends. The larger and more aggressive fish often hold in those pools, tight to the undercuts and the logs, while the riffles carry the smaller fish and the drifting food.

The flow is the thing to watch. The river’s level is highly variable, and in a dry year it can drop a long way, which pushes the trout into the deeper pools and leaves the riffles thin. Three gauges sit on the conditions card, and their readings live there rather than in this text; look at them before you commit to the drive.

Brown and rainbow trout, both of them. The river holds a naturally reproducing population and is also stocked regularly to keep the numbers up, particularly after drought years that cut the flow and knock the fishery back.

Typical fish run half a pound to two pounds, and in a good season the river can produce trout over four or five pounds. The upper river, from the headwaters to the Duckmaloi locality, is where the local reputation for large browns comes from.

Two small fish share the water with the trout. Mountain galaxias, the native one, are a slender little baitfish, and in our read that is why a small black or white streamer draws the bigger trout out of the undercuts. Eastern gambusia, an introduced mosquitofish, are recorded too, and are best treated as a sign of slow, warm margins rather than as something to imitate.

The food that decides the fly box is on the land, not in the water. In the warmer months the hoppers, beetles and cicadas along the grazed banks bring the fish up, and that is when the dry-fly fishing can be excellent. A CDC sedge earns its place in the box. Under the surface it is the usual small-stream fare, and a tungsten-bead nymph in size 14 to 18 covers it.

All that is on record for timing is a summer window and a flow warning, so take the rest as our read.

The warmer months are the season. That is when the terrestrials are active and the fish look up, and when a hopper dropped against the bank is the method. Fish early and late on hot days, and give the long pools a long look before you cast into them.

Spring and autumn are the nymphing months, when the riffles and runs are worth working through with a tungsten-bead nymph, and when a streamer in the pools is a fair way to find the bigger fish.

Winter turns on an open question: whether a trout-water closure applies to this river. Many tablelands trout streams carry one. Check the current NSW fishing guide before you plan a cold-weather trip, and if the river is listed, treat the closure as the end of the season rather than a suggestion.

Whatever the month, a dry year changes the river. When the flow drops, the fish gather in the deeper pools and become wary, and the fishing goes from covering water to stalking one pool at a time. The gauge card tells you which river you are driving to.

A small farm stream, fished small. A three to five weight, a floating line, and a leader long enough to keep the fly line off a slow pool will do everything this river asks. Approach from downstream, stay low in the grass, and treat each long pool as its own stalk: look first, find a riser or the shape of a fish over the gravel, then cast to it. Sight-fishing to rising fish with a dry fly is said to be the most effective method in those long slow pools, and it is also the most fun.

On top, a Hopper in size 10 to 14 in the warm months, dropped with a little splat against the bank and left to sit. A Stimulator in size 12 to 16 when you want a dry that will float through a riffle, and a CDC sedge or a possum-fur emerger in size 14 to 16 for the evening rise in the slow water. If a fish refuses the hopper, go smaller and lower in the film before you go bigger.

Under the surface, a tungsten-bead Pheasant Tail or Hare’s Ear in size 14 to 18, either hung under the hopper as a dropper or fished on its own through the riffles and the heads of the runs. That is the fallback for the middle of a hot day and for the months when nothing is on the water. After rain, when the river carries colour, a worm pattern in size 10 to 12 fished dead-drift through the same water is worth an hour.

For the bigger fish, go to the pools and deeper bends with a streamer. A black or white Woolly Bugger in size 10 to 12, or a larger articulated pattern in size 8 to 12, cast tight to the undercut banks and the fallen logs and worked back with pauses. The larger and more aggressive fish often sit in exactly that water and respond to a streamer in it. Fish the streamer first thing, last thing, or on a dull day; in bright sun on low water it will move fish without catching them.

In a dry year, halve everything: fewer casts, longer leaders, smaller flies, more time looking.

Public access to the river is limited, because most of it runs through private farmland. The access card names the ways in; the three routes below are the ones anglers report, not any statement of permission, so confirm on the ground and ask before you cross a fence.

The public reserve at Bindo Creek is said to be the best public water, with riffles, runs and pools close together. Start here.

A crown reserve sits near Duckmaloi Farm. The reported route turns off Oberon Road at the farm onto Karawina Road, follows it to a four-wheel-drive track and ends at an old road bridge. The track is the reason to bring a vehicle that can handle it.

The third route is a steep, off-track walk from the back of Jenolan State Forest. No coordinate is known for it. It is a route for a fit angler who has already fished the river, and the climb out with tired legs is the part to plan for.

Do not enter private land without permission. Leave gates as you find them and keep to the public pieces unless you have asked.

No rule specific to the Duckmaloi River was found. That is not the same as there being none. Many trout streams in the Central Tablelands are listed as trout waters with a seasonal closure, and whether this river is listed, and which stretch the listing covers, is a question for the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recreational fishing guide. Check it for the licence, the bag and size limits for trout, and any closed season before you fish, and take those from the guide.