What's biting around the Wingecarribee in May?

So far this month reports have been coming in that Welby Reservoir has been fishing well for Rainbow Trout to 45cm and Australian Bass to 42cm. Local canoe anglers seem to be having the most success casting and trolling lures over the weed beds. This spike in fish activity isn’t a surprise as trout are becoming more aggressive as they prepare for the spawning season and although they don’t spawn in Welby Reservoir they go through all the motions and should provide good fishing throughout the remainder of the month and well into June/July.

Observant bushwalkers walking the Box Vale Track below Welby Reservoir have reported seeing good size fish schooling in the various pools in the Natai River along the track. These are proving to be Australian Bass and the odd trout that has come over the dam wall during the recent floods.

The Wingecarribee River has been fishing well for Carp since the floods and are most active in the stretch of river between the Ces Hoskins Reserve Weir and Bong Bong Bridge and immediately below the bridge itself. Some of the fish being hooked are quite large being in the 80-85cm range.

No doubt most fishos have heard of all the trout being caught in the Nepean River below Warragamba Dam?  These fish went over the dam wall when the dam flooded a month or so ago. These same floods should prove advantageous to traditional “Blue Ribbon” trout streams like the Cox’s and the Cowmung that enter Warragamba Dam on its western side.

The Wollondilly River below Goodmans Ford should also benefit as a result of these recent rains and it is expected that the “Spawn Run” of Rainbow Trout up the Wollondilly River should be the best in years.

Traditional spinning lures in green/silver, red/gold will do the trick while fluoro orange is worth a go too! Fly fisherman should try fishing across and down with black Wooly Buggers or green Jindy Buggers. One of my favourite rigs at this time of year is a tandem fly rig of an orange Glo Bug (imitation of a trout egg) and a black Wooly Bugger fished around 12-14 inches behind the Glo Bug. This rig has proved deadly to spawn run trout on numerous occasions.

Don’t forget Tallowa Dam as this is the time of the year when BIG Australian Bass are caught as they chow down in preparation for a long winter.

Best of luck.