Open the stretch you plan to fish for a starting point, a fly box and an approach. Check the current fishing boundaries and rules for your chosen spot before setting out.
High country above Tantangara
Where to start. Begin in the cold, clear snowmelt water above the Tantangara storage, where the river is gravel pockets and bedrock gorges and the fish are brown and rainbow trout.
When. The practical window is late October to December, after the melt drops into its typical range. April and May offer a quieter second shot; in summer, fish early while the water is cool and leave warm trout water alone.
How to fish it. Cover ground on foot, fish the seams and soft edges behind boulders, keep your approach low and make the first cast count. In clear water, the first cast to a pocket is usually the only one that matters.
Conditions and rules. Read the Tantangara chart as upper-river context, then check the nearest station and the Yaouk temperature before you drive. Check the current rules for the exact place.
Monaro and the ACT gorges
Where to start. Choose a named stretch around Cooma, Michelago or the Canberra gorges. The water can be trout-oriented or native-oriented in this middle country: the Numeralla joins near Cooma, and the river crosses the ACT and New South Wales more than once.
When. The upper-river snowmelt sets the broad shape here, but conditions vary by named water. From late October the water is generally clearer and more readable; hoppers come off the tussock banks from Christmas. Read the nearest station before committing to a trip.
What to carry. For a trout-oriented stretch, bring the dry-dropper and pocket-water box from the high-country card, with a
hopper tight to the grassy edge when the tableland banks turn to tussock. If the current water and rules put you in native-fish water, use the lowland card’s structure setup instead.
How to fish it. Match the water: read pocket seams and approach low for trout, or work timber and pauses for natives. Move on rather than showing a wary fish repeated casts in clear water.
Conditions and rules. Find your stretch on the ACT fishing guide’s map and check its current rules before choosing trout or native-fish gear. Use the station nearest your water. The Tantangara chart describes the upper river; it cannot tell you the conditions in every Monaro or ACT stretch.
Lowland below Burrinjuck
Where to start. Below Burrinjuck the river turns slow and muddy across the plains. Look for fallen timber, undercut banks, standing snags and the outside of bends where Murray cod and
golden perch hold.
When. Warm water from November to April is the lowland window. First light, last light and warm overcast days are worth more than a perfect bright noon.
What to carry. Bring a nine or ten weight, a leader heavy enough to turn a fish from cover, big flies for cod and a smaller fly fished deeper for golden perch.
How to fish it. Land the fly against the timber, not a metre off it. Expect the eat on the pause, strip-strike and turn the fish away from the snag immediately. For a following golden perch, stop the fly dead rather than speeding it up.
Conditions and rules. Read a station nearest the lowland stretch you will fish. The Tantangara chart describes the upper river and cannot stand in for conditions on the plains. Check the current cod season and other rules before you fish.