One of the ACT's bigger trout waters, listed as trout water for its whole catchment, and a deep-nymphing river first.
Paddys River is one of the ACT’s bigger trout waters, and the territory classifies the whole catchment as trout water, so the rules do not change along it.
It is a deep-nymphing river first. The Cotter usually ranks first, and Paddys sits with the Naas as the pick for deep nymphing. In our experience, as the river drops through summer the same runs fish to a dry-dropper, and the banks are worth a hopper from midsummer.
Trout water means a season from the October Labour Day long weekend to the end of the June King’s Birthday long weekend, fly and lure only, no bait, and one rod at a time.
If you are new to the ACT’s trout, learn the Cotter first and come here second.
Fish in this water
Each fish is rated by its strongest evidence. A rating says how sure we are a fish is here, not how many there are, whether it is worth fishing for or whether you may keep it.
Confirmed
Recorded on this water in the last 15 years, or named for it by a fishery agency, its fishing rules or a fishing publication.
The mapped river is about thirty-two kilometres of mainstem. The flow charts show the river’s year and flow duration from its gauges, with the fall of the river and the bank survey beside them. In our read it is a river of runs and pools that rewards getting a nymph to the bottom.
BANK COVER ALONG THE RIVER · SATELLITE-CLASSIFIED, 2023–25
Dense trees
Open woodland
Sparse trees
Native grass & tussock
Cultivated
Fish and forage
The territory classes the river as trout water, and its trout rules name brown and rainbow trout. Records of either in Paddys itself are thin, so read the river for what it shows you.
In our experience, mayfly on the warm afternoons, hoppers along the banks in summer, and the general drift of a cold clear river are the food. Check the current ACT fishing brochure for protected species before you fish.
Observation history
Regulatory mentions
Occurrence records do not establish present abundance or angling suitability. Counts are records, not fish. Environmental DNA indicates a detection in water, not a captured fish.
These records fall inside the mapped waterbody or within 250 m of a mapped waterway. Records with stated positional uncertainty above 1 km were excluded; some included locations have unstated uncertainty.
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. In our experience spring is for deep nymphs, from late November the river settles into dry-dropper water, and summer afternoons are for a hopper tight to the bank.
THE YEAR ON THIS WATER
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Early-season high water
Flow · Sep–Nov
In our experience, deep nymphs in the slower water.
Dry-dropper season
Fly · Nov–Apr
Once the river drops back, a dry with a nymph below it covers the runs and the pockets.
Hoppers on the tussock
Food · Dec–Mar
A good bet in summer is a hopper fished tight to the bank in the afternoon.
How to fish it
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.
Access and safety
Use formed public roads and tracks, obey signs and gates, and check the ACT Parks nature park finder before you go. As on any mountain river, if the water is running high, fish from the bank or come back later.
Ways in
Where roads, tracks and paths reach the water, from mapped roads. Not a right of entry: check gates, land tenure and closures.
The ACT 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.
Check the current territory brochure for any size or bag limit before you fish.
Permitted with conditions
ACT
ACT Trout Waters are: the Gudgenby, Naas, Paddys and Orroral Rivers and their tributaries in full; Condor Creek and its tributaries; the Cotter River between Bendora Dam and the Condor Creek junction; and the Molonglo River between the Queanbeyan River junction and the ACT/NSW border.
ACT Government (Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate / City and Environment Directorate), citing the Fisheries Act 2000