The Queanbeyan River is a trout river that keeps being topped up. Brown and rainbow trout have both been recorded in it, and NSW has released rainbow trout into it in season after season.

One thing cuts the river in two: a dam. Googong Dam holds a reservoir across the river, so there are two parts to think about. Above the reservoir is the river with its creeks and tributaries; below the dam wall the river runs on until it joins the Molonglo River, the bigger river it feeds. The gradient chart shows how it falls through both parts.

The first trip is the easy one: rainbows in spring. Choose a site from the access card, walk to the first run with some depth and broken water at its head, and dead-drift a small nymph through it. Before you go, read the current NSW fishing guide, including its closed-waters list, and the ACT rules if you are on the territory side, because those guides decide whether trout are open on the day you arrive and what you may keep.

The second trip is for browns, and it asks more of you. Go in autumn or on a summer evening, move slowly upstream, and look for fish holding along undercut banks and tree roots. In our experience a brown that has lived in a river for a few years will not take a fly that lands hard, so lengthen your leader and cast less.

The third trip is a summer one for redfin and carp. Both have been recorded in the river, and in our experience both sit in the slower, warmer pools once the weather settles. A streamer finds the redfin; the carp want a nymph put right in front of them.

Start with the rainbows in spring, and open the NSW fishing guide before you leave home.