Posts
Introduction:
I had monumental plans for this years Christmas vacation, in previous years I have had some of the best holidaying and fishing adventures during the festive season. All plans fell through at the start of December so no Tasmania trip, no Barra in QLD and definitely no Mexican escape. I was due to hit the family paradise at some stage but opted to first explore beyond the Snowy Mountain region before venturing down the coast. The following is a short summary of destinations reached and passed, more recon work than anything else (Some truly amazing places sought and seen).
The main calling was to rekindle Claire’s childhood camping experiences, culminating in returning her to one of her family’s popular getaways; Nestled 30km in the middle of the Bago State Forest in between Tumbarumba and Batlow lays a pristine location named Paddy’s River Dam. Many of you will have heard of the falls and perhaps the river itself, judging by the top quality facilities, intrepid wildlife and lack of fellow campers I doubt this place gets visited much these days.Claire’s father relayed stories of wild Trout gone by (Beyond pan size), that statement alone was enough for me to unpack the car at lightning speed and set up the Outfitter ready for launch (All this after unpacking tents, collecting firewood and settling Claire).
First sights around 6pm were fish rising everywhere and Platypus galore; while Claire was preparing tea I snuck off solo on the Outfitter and packed a few shallow Min Min’s in spawning colours. With no sounder on board and light fading I wasn’t expecting much, mainly sussing out this location for an early morning attack.Unsure of what species where present I probed around, working lures slowly then working lures aggressively. During a passive aggressive moment I hooked up solid to a well marked 40cm Brown, landing this fish without a net proved particularly difficult (Browns like to churn the water silly). I had manage to go beyond pan size on my fifth cast, pity as I left the camera battery at home which was a good solid half day drive away. As Claire’s dad had requested photos I had already decided we were travelling back to Tumut the next day to purchase something to get us through.
Amazingly pink flesh for a fish that had been dieting strictly on stick caddis and some type of water beetle, we figured it had come up the river to spawn and stayed (Changing diets). The Brown tasted amazing on the coals and before the last light faded away I quickly spun Claire out for a gander. Through the smog I made out what I thought was a horse until quickly realising (Stamping feet, semi circles of death and snorting fire) it was a Brumby, kind of easy to tell as they are kind of testy at the best of times. We returned to camp, set up some bite alarms with Powerbait and called it a night, hoping camping less than 10m away from the Dam had its advantages.
The nights rest was a turbid one with a few loud snorts and some bangs outside the tent (No, not that), seems there was way more than just one lone Brumby around. The bait rods yielded no result till the afternoon when of all things a Brook Trout came to the bank, during the day the fish had been shutdown but the above event signalled the evening change. We discovered a small band camped on the other side of the Dam and said hello, they had been fishing on and off for two days from the bank for little return. After the initial ‘Is that a Hobie?’ conversations died down Claire and I went for a troll around an area she termed ‘Jesus Rock’ (Due apparently to a drunken night on the Canoe many years ago). Amid the Platypus Mecca we hooked and lost a dozen Rainbow Trout, three of those were of legal length and thus kept.
Nothing like exploring an old (Or new for me) place and keeping a few the table, within 24hours I had hooked and landed the wild Trout trifecta. The Brook Trout had what appeared to be a clipping on the top of its caudal fin, the Rainbows still had some roe but neither of them came close to the taste or the fight of that lonely, solo Brown.I was starting to really like this place but alas the following day we had planned to move onto Khancoban, rising early I checked the bait rods while sipping my waking Coffee before packing up all our gear and moving on. The gods must have known we were deserting the place as no sooner had I tightened the last strap that the wind picked up.
Blowing the car around I suggested a tourist detour via Three Mile Dam, Tooma Dam and the various pondages (Hoping to perhaps delay the inevitable). I was up for a bit of Fly Fishing but had to make sure the missus was happy with her surroundings, Three mile was too windy, Tumut Pondage looked scary and Tooma too remote. We hit the long road and delved into the area surrounding Khancoban, a place I had really high hopes for (You know, when you build something in your mind). Pretty disappointed with water level, facilities, 6 day processing of Credit Card at Service Station and shelter from wind. Made the decision to continue on, checking out the National Parks camp sites in hope of a camping miracle.
Today was a long day, 100km’s short of a ton we pulled in at Discovery Caravan Park in Jindabyne eager for some rest. After 4 days of camping with no real facilities we even booked a cabin (Shame, shame), aiming to hit Hatchery Bay and Curiosity Rocks if the weather held off. I could have cried when I awoke to showers and squalling conditions, I quickly abandoned all hopes of breaking out the yak and dragged Claire along to watch me Fly cast in the Thredbo before we headed home.
Conclusion:
Paddy’s River Dam is a general Trout dam and fishing is permitted year round, however it has a stated minimum Trout length of 25cm and a total bag limit of five (Bait fishing is also permitted). It is located within the Bago State Forest approximately 16km’s north east of Tumbarumba along the Hume and Hovell walking track. General 2wd vehicles will manage the road in quite well, although in wet conditions I would definitely recommend a 4wd vehicle only (Hazardous clay).Even though the weather turned foul, the three days prior were some of the most pristine and welcoming available.
The main Dams of Blowering and Talbingo were daunting compared to little Paddy’s River but as we were so isolated and at one with the bush size didn’t matter. Anyone who is in the area should definitely check out our old and new little gem, the camping grounds are excellent and the flora and fauna outstanding… Just do me one little favour please, keep it under your bloody hat!
I had monumental plans for this years Christmas vacation, in previous years I have had some of the best holidaying and fishing adventures during the festive season. All plans fell through at the start of December so no Tasmania trip, no Barra in QLD and definitely no Mexican escape. I was due to hit the family paradise at some stage but opted to first explore beyond the Snowy Mountain region before venturing down the coast. The following is a short summary of destinations reached and passed, more recon work than anything else (Some truly amazing places sought and seen).
The main calling was to rekindle Claire’s childhood camping experiences, culminating in returning her to one of her family’s popular getaways; Nestled 30km in the middle of the Bago State Forest in between Tumbarumba and Batlow lays a pristine location named Paddy’s River Dam. Many of you will have heard of the falls and perhaps the river itself, judging by the top quality facilities, intrepid wildlife and lack of fellow campers I doubt this place gets visited much these days.Claire’s father relayed stories of wild Trout gone by (Beyond pan size), that statement alone was enough for me to unpack the car at lightning speed and set up the Outfitter ready for launch (All this after unpacking tents, collecting firewood and settling Claire).
First sights around 6pm were fish rising everywhere and Platypus galore; while Claire was preparing tea I snuck off solo on the Outfitter and packed a few shallow Min Min’s in spawning colours. With no sounder on board and light fading I wasn’t expecting much, mainly sussing out this location for an early morning attack.Unsure of what species where present I probed around, working lures slowly then working lures aggressively. During a passive aggressive moment I hooked up solid to a well marked 40cm Brown, landing this fish without a net proved particularly difficult (Browns like to churn the water silly). I had manage to go beyond pan size on my fifth cast, pity as I left the camera battery at home which was a good solid half day drive away. As Claire’s dad had requested photos I had already decided we were travelling back to Tumut the next day to purchase something to get us through.
Amazingly pink flesh for a fish that had been dieting strictly on stick caddis and some type of water beetle, we figured it had come up the river to spawn and stayed (Changing diets). The Brown tasted amazing on the coals and before the last light faded away I quickly spun Claire out for a gander. Through the smog I made out what I thought was a horse until quickly realising (Stamping feet, semi circles of death and snorting fire) it was a Brumby, kind of easy to tell as they are kind of testy at the best of times. We returned to camp, set up some bite alarms with Powerbait and called it a night, hoping camping less than 10m away from the Dam had its advantages.
The nights rest was a turbid one with a few loud snorts and some bangs outside the tent (No, not that), seems there was way more than just one lone Brumby around. The bait rods yielded no result till the afternoon when of all things a Brook Trout came to the bank, during the day the fish had been shutdown but the above event signalled the evening change. We discovered a small band camped on the other side of the Dam and said hello, they had been fishing on and off for two days from the bank for little return. After the initial ‘Is that a Hobie?’ conversations died down Claire and I went for a troll around an area she termed ‘Jesus Rock’ (Due apparently to a drunken night on the Canoe many years ago). Amid the Platypus Mecca we hooked and lost a dozen Rainbow Trout, three of those were of legal length and thus kept.
Nothing like exploring an old (Or new for me) place and keeping a few the table, within 24hours I had hooked and landed the wild Trout trifecta. The Brook Trout had what appeared to be a clipping on the top of its caudal fin, the Rainbows still had some roe but neither of them came close to the taste or the fight of that lonely, solo Brown.I was starting to really like this place but alas the following day we had planned to move onto Khancoban, rising early I checked the bait rods while sipping my waking Coffee before packing up all our gear and moving on. The gods must have known we were deserting the place as no sooner had I tightened the last strap that the wind picked up.
Blowing the car around I suggested a tourist detour via Three Mile Dam, Tooma Dam and the various pondages (Hoping to perhaps delay the inevitable). I was up for a bit of Fly Fishing but had to make sure the missus was happy with her surroundings, Three mile was too windy, Tumut Pondage looked scary and Tooma too remote. We hit the long road and delved into the area surrounding Khancoban, a place I had really high hopes for (You know, when you build something in your mind). Pretty disappointed with water level, facilities, 6 day processing of Credit Card at Service Station and shelter from wind. Made the decision to continue on, checking out the National Parks camp sites in hope of a camping miracle.
Today was a long day, 100km’s short of a ton we pulled in at Discovery Caravan Park in Jindabyne eager for some rest. After 4 days of camping with no real facilities we even booked a cabin (Shame, shame), aiming to hit Hatchery Bay and Curiosity Rocks if the weather held off. I could have cried when I awoke to showers and squalling conditions, I quickly abandoned all hopes of breaking out the yak and dragged Claire along to watch me Fly cast in the Thredbo before we headed home.
Conclusion:
Paddy’s River Dam is a general Trout dam and fishing is permitted year round, however it has a stated minimum Trout length of 25cm and a total bag limit of five (Bait fishing is also permitted). It is located within the Bago State Forest approximately 16km’s north east of Tumbarumba along the Hume and Hovell walking track. General 2wd vehicles will manage the road in quite well, although in wet conditions I would definitely recommend a 4wd vehicle only (Hazardous clay).Even though the weather turned foul, the three days prior were some of the most pristine and welcoming available.
The main Dams of Blowering and Talbingo were daunting compared to little Paddy’s River but as we were so isolated and at one with the bush size didn’t matter. Anyone who is in the area should definitely check out our old and new little gem, the camping grounds are excellent and the flora and fauna outstanding… Just do me one little favour please, keep it under your bloody hat!
