About thirty-two kilometres of mainstem, rising in the same tussock marshland country as the Cotter and Paddys under the Brindabella and Namadgi ranges, and carrying a large volume of icy water early in the season. No gauge is bound to the Naas, so no live conditions or river’s year are shown; the fall of the river and the bank survey are drawn below. On record is its character among the ACT’s anglers: one of the big waters, a river of runs and pools that fishes best with a nymph on the bottom until it drops.

The territory classes the river as trout water, and anglers report rainbow trout across the ACT’s streams. Brown trout are named alongside rainbows in the ACT trout rules, but no Naas-specific record of either species was found, so fish it for what it shows you.

The food is the general drift of a cold clear river: mayfly on warm afternoons, caddis in the evenings on the Namadgi streams, hoppers along the tussock through summer. The ACT’s protected species must be released and reported if caught: Macquarie perch, trout cod, silver perch and two-spined blackfish are among the seven.

The season opens on the October Labour Day long weekend and closes after the June King’s Birthday long weekend, and the dates move with the calendar. Spring is the melt and the deep rig. From late November the river drops into dry-dropper water. Summer evenings carry caddis and the afternoons carry hoppers. Autumn is low, clear and deliberate until the close.

Spring: an indicator and a heavy nymph rig in the slower water beside the flow, letting the flies plummet, one run at a time. Summer: a buoyant dry with a small nymph below it through the runs and pockets, a hopper tight to the tussock in the afternoon, and a caddis dry as the light goes.

Gear in trout water: one rod at a time, a landing net, no more than two flies or one lure on the line, and no bait rigged or carried beside the water.

The Naas country lies within Namadgi National Park, and no reviewed access list exists for the river. Use formed public roads and tracks, obey signs and gates, and check the ACT Parks nature park finder for current access before you go. Early-season flows are the hazard; if the river is heavy with melt, stay off it or fish from the bank.

The ACT requires no licence to fish its public waters, and it lists the Naas River and its catchment and tributaries as Trout Water. In trout water, fishing is open from the start of the October Labour Day long weekend to the end of the June King’s Birthday long weekend; only artificial fly and lure fishing is allowed in the open season; bait fishing is prohibited; you may use one rod at a time and a landing net; the rod may carry no more than two flies or one artificial lure; and it is an offence to possess a handline, more than two rods, a rod rigged for bait, or any net other than a landing net in or beside the water.

The ACT also sets a minimum size and a combined bag limit for trout. This page does not state the numbers; take them from the current territory brochure before you fish.