The Pages gathers its water and delivers it to the Hunter River. The flow chart shows its usual pattern across the year, and the chart beside it breaks that flow down week by week, which is a fair guide to when the river is low and clear or up after rain.

In our experience, carp in a river like this sit wherever the current eases: the slow margins of pools, flats below a bend, soft water behind a snag or a fallen tree. They feed with their heads down, so the water you want to look into is shallow, slow and clear enough to show a tail or a cloud of mud. Catfish are a deeper-water fish by habit, so the bottom of the bigger, quieter pools is where to try for one.

Fish records for the Pages list seven species. European carp are the main fly target, and goldfish, their smaller cousins, turn up too. Freshwater catfish are the native worth hoping for. Longfin eels live in the river but are not a fly fish. Cox’s gudgeon, Australian smelt and eastern gambusia are the small fish.

For the fly box, that means two kinds of food. Carp and catfish both feed mostly on the bottom, on small insects, snails, shrimp and whatever they root out of the mud, so small weighted nymphs in dull, muddy colours and olives are the core. The small fish give you a reason to carry a slim, dark streamer as well. The survey chart shows how lightly the river has been sampled, so read the list as a starting point rather than every fish that lives there.

In our experience, carp fishing on a NSW river is a warm-weather game. From late spring through summer and into early autumn, carp feed more openly and move into shallow water where you can see them. Mornings and still, bright days make spotting easier; late afternoon into dusk is the better window for a catfish. In the cold months carp slow down and hold deeper, and sight-fishing gets hard. Whatever the month, check the flow chart and the live conditions card before you leave. After heavy rain, give the river time to drop and clear, because you cannot fish to a carp you cannot see.

Walk slowly, keep low and look before you cast. A 6 weight rod, a floating line and a leader of about 9 feet down to 3X or 4X tippet will handle a carp without spooking it, and has enough backbone for a catfish.

When you find a feeding carp, drop a small weighted nymph, size 10 to 14, a little ahead of it and let it sink into its path. Carp pick food up gently, so watch the fish rather than the line: if it tips down or stops over the fly, lift. A cast that lands on a fish’s head scatters it; a short, soft cast from behind and to one side works better. In the deeper pools where you cannot see into the water, a small dark Woolly Bugger crawled slowly along the bottom is a reasonable way to search, and it is the fly most likely to find you a catfish.

The access card names the access points. Treat them as locations, not a statement of permission, and respect any fence or sign you meet on the ground.

As on any bush river, tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back, carry water and a small first-aid kit, and watch your footing on muddy or undercut banks. Keep an eye on the weather: a river can rise quickly after rain upstream, so check the live conditions card and never wade a crossing you are unsure of.

No water-specific rule was found for the Pages River. Before you fish, read the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recreational fishing guide, including what it says about licences, bag and size limits, protected species, closed seasons and closed waters, and take the rules from it.