The mapped river is about thirty-two kilometres of mainstem, rising in the same tussock marshland country as the Cotter and fed from the snow on the Brindabella Range. Early in the season that means a large volume of icy water coming down the main drainage at once; by summer the river is low and clear. Two gauges are bound to Paddys River, and the river’s year and flow duration below are drawn from their daily record, with the fall of the river and the bank survey beside them. What is on record is the character: big water by ACT standards, a river of runs and pools that rewards getting a nymph to the bottom.

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 Paddys-specific record of either species was found, so read the river for what it shows you.

Mayfly on the warm afternoons, hoppers along the tussock in summer, and the general drift of a cold clear river are the food. The ACT’s protected species list applies here as everywhere in the territory: Macquarie perch, trout cod, silver perch and two-spined blackfish must be released and reported if caught.

The season opens on the October Labour Day long weekend and closes after the June King’s Birthday long weekend; the dates move with the calendar. Spring is heavy water and deep nymphs. From late November the river settles into dry-dropper water, and summer afternoons are for a hopper tight to the bank. Autumn is low, clear and deliberate until the close.

In spring, an indicator and a heavy nymph rig, fished in the slower water beside the main current so the flies plummet away from the flow, one run at a time, and expect the take at the tail-out. In summer, a buoyant dry with a small nymph below it through the pockets and runs, and a hopper along the tussock edges in the afternoon.

The gear rules 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 parks service lists a Paddys River area among the territory’s nature park areas, and this guide holds no reviewed access list for the river itself. Use formed public roads and tracks, obey signs and gates, and check the ACT Parks nature park finder before you go. Early-season flows are the hazard: if the river is heavy with melt, fish from the bank or come back later.

The ACT requires no licence to fish its public waters, and it lists Paddys 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.