There is something that keeps drawing me back to the NSW High Country; the inclement weather, the harsh environment and remote solitary of Long Plain and surrounds conversely clash with the almost upbeat and trendy Jindabyne with it’s cool mountain bike and hiking trails, ski lodges and popular spumante of trendsetters.
For me this time round, it was the allure of spawn run trout.
While this trip was not a completely solo adventure, two thirds was. It started with the battle of Monday morning Sydney traffic prior to jumping on the Hume which for me doesn’t start to feel less Sydney like until beyond the Old Hume turn off.
First stop was Goulburn, where absolutely nothing could frighten a Triton!
I caught up with a bloke I’ve known since year one of school, over a bacon and egg roll and coffee we discussed mostly first world problems.
Next stop was Jindabyne, after a quick check-in to I was off for a cast to Bullocks Flat.
With the overcast afternoon quickly disappearing, no torch packed and some wild pig markings noted, it felt best to abandon early and resume in the morning post dinner comprising of a surprisingly good venison burger.
A quick breakfast and straight onto the Thredbo at the Kosciuszko Bridge for some bush bashing that ended up becoming a U turn affair. In a past era this was a little more accessible, unfortunately fishing solo with no phone reception made the more cautious me surface.
There were some really nice fish lining up under the bridge, unfortunately they outclassed me. I decided to wander upstream, something I’d never done previously, the hiking trail following the river it made what was once tough gig a much easier task. By the time I finished up the score was still trout 1 Dave 0.
Feeling a little delusional I packed up and made an on the fly decision to head back to Bullocks (the other option being Guthega).
It’s a brisk twenty minute walk to the spot I wanted to fish, I did stop for some exploratory casting into some very trouty water along the way with the success scorecard still remaining at zero.
I finally hit the spot, and if you know – you know!
I found a redd where a few large trout were moving around, after multiple casts and missed strikes with a dual nymph rig I decided to switch over to a glow bug / nymph rig which proved to be the difference. I’m not the biggest fan of glow bugs, but sometimes you’ve got to do what it takes to get onto the fish.
With my satisfaction levels very moderate and the sun starting to hid behind the mountains, I begrudgingly decided to head back to the trusty Hilux and return to Jindabyne.
You get to see some cool stuff around this neck of the woods!
With a full belly and weary legs I decided to bunk down early in prep for a big day of travel to the other side of the range.
The next morning I packed my bags and decided to have one last fish on the Thredbo; it is such a pristine watercourse surrounded by native flora and tannin colours, it hurt to leave!
A quick stop at Jindabyne central (Nuggets Crossing) for my first pie of the trip and some shopping, which sadly signalled the end of this leg of my adventure.
Off to Anglers Reach…