A small, artificial fly and lure only trout stream that feeds the Snowy River in New South Wales. Brown and rainbow trout are stocked, and FlyLife's writers describe fish around a pound with the odd cruiser well above that for anglers prepared to work.
The Mowamba is a small trout stream that feeds the Snowy River, and the reason to drive to it is the chance of a better fish than a stream this size looks able to hold. FlyLife’s writers describe a healthy run of trout around a pound, with some cruising fish of two to three pounds, for anglers willing to work for them.
By FlyLife’s account it rises in Kosciuszko National Park and is spring-fed along its course, running down to its junction with the Snowy. You will also see it called the Moonbah. The change that matters to you is in character, because FlyLife’s writers describe heavy weed on the longer, shallower stretches.
That gives you two trips, and the first is where to start.
Start on the deeper, cleaner runs for brown and rainbow trout, both stocked, in the warmer months with a dry fly or a small nymph, walking in from one of the ways in named on the access card. The whole river and every creek above the Snowy junction is listed as artificial fly and lure only water, which in practice means no bait anywhere on it, from the top down to where the Snowy begins. Check the current NSW guide for the season and licence before you go.
The second trip is the weedy shallows, and it is a hunt rather than a drift. FlyLife’s writers say the weed makes nymphing difficult there, so leave the weighted fly in the box, walk slowly, and look for the cruisers before you cast. Save it for a bright, calm day once the runs are familiar.
Pick a way in from the access card, tie on a small dry, and walk upstream with your eyes on the water.