G'day fishos.
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Just a reminder that a couple of big events are taking place over the next two or three weeks.
Trout season closes in both NSW and Vic streams at midnight on Monday June 13, so not a lot of the season left.
On the positive side, cray season opens in both states on June 1.
Crays have been sensational the past few years with terrific numbers and size and there's no reason to think they'll be any different this year.
We used to be out after them constantly years ago, but I've only chased them a couple of times over the past two seasons.
We've had a ball, easily bagging out, showing the kids how to do it and teaching them about sustainability. Showing them that, if you do the right thing, you can come to the same spots each year, catch a feed and have a great time again and again.
There have been some monsters about the past couple of years too.
There's also a little more water just been released into the river, so that'll also help us get about.
Dartmouth (93.58 per cent): Fished well for some this week with Rich Urbanavicius and brother, David landing 20 for the day on Monday, with most picked up in the main basin on yellow winged Tassies.
The boys did an overnighter and gave the Dart arm a try but ended up back in the main basin for a few more
Water temperature was around 15 degrees.
Things are definitely shaping up well for the Dart Cup which, just another reminder, starts on June 10, only three weeks away.
Streams: were a tad high and murky in some cases for the start of last weekend after a few rain squalls.
I was lucky enough to get up to the Snowy creek for the weekend, just above Mitta, and it wasn't what you'd call perfect conditions.
The stream was still a tad high and had a bit of colour on Saturday morning but had cleared reasonably well by the afternoon.
A couple of mates and I managed about 15 streamies, nothing huge, on a mix of spinners and drifting scrubbies, despite not putting in a hell of a lot of effort.
We were also lucky enough to come across a few trout that were actually spawning and visited the same area three times over the weekend to watch as the males and females went about trying to get the next generation happening.
At one stage there were about 10 fish over the same redd (nest), with the females actively working the gravel so they could deposit their eggs and the males could deliver their milt. Fantastic to see it all firsthand.
The bulk of the spawning fish we saw were between one and two kilos with a couple of larger ones poking about too.
Nice to see fish of that size up the creeks, and with near perfect conditions predicted, it should be a very successful spawning season.
The one big name stream, which is always a destination for keen trout fishos at this time of year is Eucumbene River, and it hasn't disappointed from all the reports.
There's been big numbers of big fish caught and conditions would indicate that it's not going to slow down before the season closes.
One fisho nailed around 50 for the day with a double hook-up of five-pound trout on his glow bug/nymph combo.
Hume Dam (90 per cent): is still seeing good bags of reddies and it may be like last year, where we saw them bite right through winter. Still trolling and plastics, vibes, blades etc doing the job.
John Morey tells me he's up to five cod in three trips out there while he's chasing the reddies on the troll.
Still haven't heard of a trout though
Murray Below Hume: Water had been low but fishing well for all species.
All sorts of lures are going okay below the wall, but small minnows are a good general choice.
Water releases have recently risen from 600meg to 5000 though, expected to go to 8000meg over coming days.
Mulwala (35 per cent): has been dropping faster than predicted, (around 35 per cent this week). Let's hope those fish find their way out of the shallows and into those deeper areas.
The fishing's been fantastic, with heaps of smaller cod coming in as well as quite a few belters.
Access is changing by the day, and we believe the Yacht Club ramp is the only one open, but we've been told it will be fenced off during the week.
Kiffin's was also an option at time of writing but is pretty ordinary and a second car might be required to help you out. Not sure what the situation will be later in the week.
That's all we can fit in this week; hope you get the chance to get out and about.