THE Blue Mountains has traditionally been considered a marginal trout region. It’s susceptible to drought and the altitude above level and latitude means its prone to hot summers. However, the are plenty of rivers, creeks and dams in the area with rainbow, brown and, more recently, the odd tiger trout.
There are tiny creeks that run across farmland, remote mountain streams, larger rivers and a few lakes.
Many of the rivers and creeks are accessible via private property, while others have access through state forests and National Parks.
Access is probably one of the biggest barriers to fishing the Blue Mountains. It’s the type of place that takes years to “work out”. I’ve been fishing this region since I was a kid and I’m still discovering random streams or areas of access to places I knew about, but never worked out how to reach.
For that reason alone, most fishos keep their locations a secret. These creeks and rivers are delicate and don’t handle a lot of pressure. The proximity to Sydney also makes exploiting these streams a genuine risk. But not all is lost, you too can do your research and find your own spots. Find public access or knock on some doors and hope for the best. Finding fishing spots is all part of the fun. As I said, it takes some time, but finding your own little piece of paradise is worth the effort!
There’s another option… hire a guide.
AUSSIE FLY FISHER
Josh Hutchins operates a guide service under the name Aussie Fly Fisher. If you frequent Instagram, you may have come across him and his team of guides around Australia as they fish around the country and the world.
Josh lives in the Blue Mountains, about an hour west of Sydney, while his Blue Mountains guide, Murray Stewart lives out near Lithgow on the other side of the Mountains. Murray’s old man, Glen, is a gun fisho and it makes sense Murray would follow in his footsteps.
I met Josh and Murray on their “day off” from guiding and the plan was to join them while fishing a few local streams. After a quick stop at the bakery for a coffee and some food, we jumped in the cars towards our first stop.
As promised, this little creek was full of healthy brown trout and they were hungry!
The plan was for us all to fish some prime trout water west of the Blue Mountains in the morning before driving further west in search of some Murray cod.
The boys had arranged access to some private property along a popular river. Some of these rivers are accessible around bridges and some property owners turn a blind eye to fishos accessing short stretches of river. There’s also the access rule that allows anglers to walk in the river bed.
The advantage, however, of fishing with a guide and accessing private property is seclusion. You will fish a stretch of river that doesn’t see daily lures or multiple people stomping up and down the river all weekend. You stand a much better chance of catching fish!
Of course, fishing with a guide is much more than just access. They’re on the rivers daily and understand what’s going on. The understand where the fish are, and where they aren’t, and they know what methods are working at the time. It’s also an ideal learning process.
THE SEARCH FOR TROUT
The river, like most in the area, was recovering from several seasons of heavy rainfall. The floods had changed the shape of the river. Small, deep, and slow running pools were dotted along the river. We started searching with streamers.
These sculpin flies are bulky and bigger than usual and a great way of finding trout in the slower moving pools. Josh and Murray caught a few trout and a few small redfin. The trout went back and the redfin didn’t. We fished up river and Josh and Murray continued catching fish on nymphs, streamers and dry flies. Most of the fish were small to medium rainbows with a couple of nice brown trout mixed in.
After fishing for a few hours and walked back across the paddock to the cars.
We had a few hours up our sleeve and Josh and Murray were keen to show off another river. This time it was a smaller, less accessible option with a good chance of sizeable brown trout.
Again, the access was via private property and a steep decent into the river. The banks were overgrown and difficult to access.
As promised, this little creek was full of healthy brown trout and they were hungry! Josh and Murray spotted a few early on and it didn’t take long before several were landed and released.
I was surprised just how close we were able to get and cast these fish. Trout are known as a spooky fish, but it goes to show, with the right approach, a hungry fish can be coaxed into taking a fly within a few metres.
I was even more surprised just how large some of these brown trout were. Here we were, only two hours west of Australia’s biggest city experiencing some incredible trout fishing action!
TROUT GALORE
Floods and droughts are all part of living in Australia and western NSW had, until a few ago, experienced one of the worth droughts in history. Trout aren’t native and depending on the variety, don’t respond too well to excessive heat and dry rivers. Native fish, however, fare much better and typically find refuge pools where they survive during prolonged periods of drought and heat. Even natives often die in these extreme conditions, especially once the drought breaks and the inevitable “black water” enters the waterways. This was the case when the most recent drought broke. Many natives and trout didn’t survive.
Now for some good news. After the drought broke, western NSW experienced some unprecedented rainfall. Rivers were consistently in flood and behind the scenes, NSW DPI Fisheries, along with local fishing clubs and stocking groups were restricting rivers and working on conservation projects to maximise these favourable conditions.
It didn’t take long for the natives to bounce back, and soon after, the trout returned.
As any keen trout fisho would know, the best fishing on the mainland has traditional been the Snowy Mountains and the Victorian High Country. The high altitude and snow fall, combined with its isolation and distance from large towns and cities has meant it’s a constantly productive fishery for trout. It’s also a nice place to fish and has a lot of variety and wild trout to target. Elsewhere, Tasmania and New Zealand has world class trout fishing.
But it wasn’t until the past couple of seasons that the Blue Mountains become the hot spot. For Sydney-siders, why drive six hours to the Snowy Mountains or jump on a plane to Tasmania or New Zealand when there are some many big fish only two hours or less from your front door?
The good news, is at the time of writing (mid October), this red hot trout fishing continues. I fished the opening weekend at another river in the Lithgow area and experienced some incredible fishing with my son. There were no shortage of hungry trout willing to take flies. We released most and kept one for dinner.
It’s good to make hay while the sun shines and the past few seasons have shown what a “marginal” trout region can produce when the rivers are stocks with trout and the weather is conducive to good fishing.
NATIVES
Unfortunately, while I’d like to say the day got better, the cod fishing wasn’t so easy. The plan was to travel further west and fish a river for Murray cod, camp the night, and continue chasing some natives on fly in the morning.
While the trout were switched on back near Lithgow, a slight weather change, a barometer drop, not to mention ultra-clear water, meant the natives played hard to get. That’s fishing!
More info about Aussie Fly Fisher at aussieflyfisher.com.
GEAR
Blue Mountains streams are typically small and the fly gear is best kept light. I prefer to fish with anything from a 3 wt to a 5wt. A 3or 4 wt of perfect for most of the small streams and the 5 wt is better where you’re expecting to encounter larger fish, bigger water or on the local lakes. The lakes can be windy and a larger outfit really helps.
A floating line is the best all-round line. These days there are many types and it’s best to talk to your tackle shop for the best advice before buying. As with any gear, buy the best you an afford, but if you’re new to fly fishing and are afraid of the exorbitant cost of some gear, rest assure, you can purchase more affordable gear and catch just as many fish!
Take a variety of leaders and tippets. Breaking strains can be anywhere from around 4lb to 6lb depending on where you’re fishing, the size of the fish and the type water.
Experiment with flies and take some streamers, nymphs and dries. Each work well at different stages of the season and, again, depending on the location.
Other items include a small bag, net, and a first aid kist with snake bandage! You will come across snakes!
