Snowy Mountain High

The Snowy Mountains region in NSW has plenty to offer trailerboat anglers. It boasts some of the best trout waters in the world, with brown, rainbow and brook trout as well as Atlantic salmon. The two main bodies of water are Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene, which were created during the construction of the Snowy Mountain scheme during the 1950s and '60s.

While trout are not native to Australia, their introduction to this alpine region has seen them thrive. Keen anglers wishing to do battle with these feisty salmonoids use techniques including bait, lure and fly.

My trip to the mountains was to catch up with one of the angling gurus of the Snowys, local guide, Steve Williamson. While Steve is an expert fly fisherman he meets the needs of his customers by offering all types of trout fishing to cater to all skill levels.

In the mountains the weather can play an enormous part in deciding what option will be best on any given day. Steve decided a morning trolling Lake Jindabyne in his new 6.1m Marlin Broadbill with twin 60hp four-stroke Yamahas would be the perfect start to the day. The fish in Lake Jindabyne average between 1-2kg, and with successful breeding programs and huge spawning runs each year, anglers have a good chance to make a catch.

Steve's boat is designed specifically around his need to troll with various options for trout and to provide a solid shelter to keep anglers dry and warm in a place where all four seasons can often prevail.

As with many fish, the pre-dawn light enables trout to surface feed before the sun hits the water. Steve runs four rigs. Two flatlines with 6lb mono on small threadline outfits positioned a long way back and two outfits on downriggers.

His lure of choice is the Tassie Devil, and while he has used a variety of lures, he seems to keep coming back to these ever-consistent "Devils".

These flatlines keep the lure on the top layer of the water column. Steven positions the two downriggers at 15ft to fish the next level of water.

It's then all eyes on the Lowrance X91 sounder as the transducer position of the unit picks up the lead ball of the downrigger and traces its path under the boat.

The first rod to get nudged was the left flatline and the fish had jumped three times before we were able to lift the rod and take the weight. The shape of a female rainbow trout around 1.5kg continued to jump and take line in sharp bursts. Once the fish was boated, we were pleased to see it was in a healthy state with a magnificent crimson lateral stripe and small black spots heavily marking its upper body.

The flatline was again deployed, and as the sun crept over the distant mountain, on the sounder markings of fish in about 25ft were becoming common. It was surprising to watch the Lowrance and see trout coming up out of 25 and 30ft to take a look at our downrigger and lure. A pattern of vertical zigs and zags appeared as, at times, more than one trout swam up to take a look.

The sharp bounce of the rod tip followed by a straightening of the rod signalled a fish on the downrigger. It was amazing to watch the sounder as the fish, which hit the Tassie Devil, could be seen clearly. A spectacular brown trout of around a kilo rose from the depths. Brown trout better than 5kg have been caught in Lake Jindabyne and vary in colour, often depending on what they have been feeding on and their habitat. Being carnivorous, they feed mostly on insects, worms, crustaceans and small fish, and one of Steve's favourite spots to target browns is amongst the weed beds where they forage for food.

The weed shows up clearly on the sounder, and beds in about 20ft can be trolled with the downriggers running at 12-15ft. When using downriggers, it is often best to locate a suitable running path. By this I mean drive around until you find a suitable bottom that has no sudden rises. Drop-offs are OK, but when the lead weight you are trolling costs over $20, sheering it off on a submerged tree or rockbar could make for an unhappy outing.

Hence the beauty of using a sounder in conjunction with any form of trolling. Steve was right on the spot again as another brown ripped the Tassie Devil from the clip and put up a spirited fight.

A few minutes later, as Steve manoeuvred the boat in a loop over a drop-off into deeper water, another rainbow was boated to finish off the morning.

Many things influence the feeding cycle of trout – water temperature, barometric pressure, solar and lunar activity, water levels and, of course, available food – which makes trout fishing, more often than not, a real angling challenge.

Guides like Steve Williamson provide years of experience and knowledge plus technical advice and tuition, which, when it comes to catching trout, is invaluable. Steve can be contacted on 0408 024 436.

When I was looking for a place to stay, I couldn't go past Snowline Ranch located 20 minutes from Jindabyne in the Moonbah Valley. This 1200 acre alpine retreat has its own trout stream just to get you started.