Keen to confirm the legitimacy of the photo, I tracked down Brett Smith and Bryn Coan, the two fishermen-come-photographers who not only confirmed the image was genuine but who also invited me to the very dam, at Moonbah, near Jindabyne where the dramatic photo was snapped.

"A few years ago, a number of guests reported seeing a very large brown trout surface feeding in the little lake," explains Smith, whose property boasts two knock-out log cabins highly sought-after by high country fishers for weekend adventures.

"On each occasion it apparently broke the water with its head and then with its back arched, dived back down," reports the matter-of- fact Smith, adding, "all reports suggested the fish was beyond the magic 'double figures' (10lbs), which would have broken the previous largest fish caught in the lake at around 9lb 4 oz nearly 10 years ago."

Initially, Smith was somewhat sceptical of the reports. "We all know that fishers are often prone to exaggerating, and a few 'gun' fly-fishers reported near misses, but nobody had actually 'hooked up," explains Smith.

However, it didn't take long for Smith to realise he really did had a monster trout lurking in the murky depths of his small dam. "The first shock came when I saw a day old Eurasian Coot [a waterbird] vanish before my eyes," says Smith pointing to the far side of the dam, adding "there was simply a swirl of water and the little ball of feathers was gone - the poor mother went berserk, she had looked away for a minute and whack one of her four babies was gone."

Over the next two springs, Smith noticed "the coots were continually losing a couple of their newborn in the first few days of their lives," and "suspecting it was the work of the monster fish", last year he summonsed a group of tech-savvy friends to try and capture it on camera.

One of those Smith invited was Coan (www.herogear.com.au), a high country distributor of accessories for the new age Go Pro range of cameras that many amateur (and professional) adventurers use to record action scenes.

"We wanted to capture the trout taking a fly," recalls Coan, who along with Smith and his shutter-bug mates, "set up five cameras in and out of the water."

"The aim was to hook this 'monster' and get some footage to prove its existence and then to let it go," exclaims Coan.

"We toyed with the idea of tying a fly that mimicked a baby coot but decided it would be near impossible to cast," muses Smith, who instead "settled on a 'mouse' pattern that was tied by New Zealand fly tying guru Stu Tripney."

However, after more than one hundred casts with no sign of the giant fish, Smith and Coan "decided this monster obviously didn't feel like mice on this day, and tied a new pattern."

"Again, cast after cast resulted in no sign of the giant trout, and when all seemed lost I called, "one last cast", recalls Smith, adding, "and sure enough as if on cue, when lifting the fly off the water, the monster fish struck."

"It exploded from the water like a whale!" exclaims the duo.

"The giant trout missed the fly, but we had our shot and proved that he was indeed real after all," says Smith, adding, "to this day he still hasn't been caught but the reports and sightings of the 'one that got away' still surface from time to time."

While Smith and Coan agree that the trout "looks extra big in the photo due to wide-angle lens," they both estimate it to weigh in excess of 10lbs, but as they are yet to get a clear view of the entire fish, are unsure of its length.

Trout fishing: All trout fishing rivers in NSW and the ACT are closed from the June long weekend to October long weekend each year to allow the trout to spawn. Lakes are open year round.

Elusive shot: Have you invested similar time and effort in an attempt capture an image of local wildlife? If so, I'd love to hear from you.

Moonbah Hut: Want to try and get your own shot of the 'Moonbah Monster'? Bunk down in one of these luxurious log cabins located fifteen minutes south of Jindabyne. The one room (plus ensuite) Lake Hut sleeps up to four (although best suited for a couple), while the larger River Hut can accommodate five. From $245 per night. Ph: (02) 6457 8311 or www.moonbahhut.com

Prompted by this column's recent exposé on swinging bridges (May 13), many readers wrote in with their own favourite far-flung rickety crossings.

Both Tom Corra and Neal Gowen nominated the swinging bridge in Abercrombie National Park, to the north of Goulburn as top of their list. "We first came across it when camping in the park about four years ago," writes Gowen, adding "it was near the campsite and as the sign indicated it was a bit dodgy, so we didn't try walking across it."

Gowen also remembers the original swinging bridge at Cotter Avenue, constructed in the early 1900s to provide access across the Cotter River. "It was on the walk up to the old dam," recalls Gowen, adding "I always remember as a kid trying to get it to swing from side to side."

"Before the Snowy Scheme, there was a scary one over the Tumut River at the back of the Talbingo Hotel" recalls Wenholz, who clearly recalls his uncle describing it as "a good river to drown yourself in."

"Before it was flooded as part of the Snowy Scheme, there was also a second suspension bridge in Talbingo, over the Jounama Creek," explains Wenholz, whose family holidayed there in 1949. "While my older sister ran across these bridges, I walked tentatively," recalls Wenholz who "didn't want to fall into the freezing waters below".

Meanwhile closer to home, several readers answered this column's call for photos of the historic swinging bridge at Koorabri in the Brindabella Valley which was sadly washed away by the 2012 floods.

Prior to the disastrous flood, the bridge had been a real survivor and had stood strong for exactly 100 years, having been strengthened many times, even enduring the 2003 firestorm which had burnt some of its boards.

The oldest photo submitted of the bridge was from circa 1940s which Peter and Fran Smith, current owners of Koorabri found in an old album, and which clearly shows just how rickety a crossing it really was.

Swinging bridges aren't the only adventurous way to cross our rivers and creeks and several readers have added this column's list of fearless flying foxes (May 20).

Paul Hely, of Moruya, reports that while searching through his old photo albums for a photograph of the flying fox over the Gudgenby River beside Naas Road near Sunshine Road south of Tharwa, he instead found a photo of a flying fox over Valentine Creek in the Snowy Mountains. "It was taken during a bushwalk at Easter 1964," reports Hely, who would like to know "if it is still there". I must say, I was reduced to a double-take when first seeing Hely's photo – resplendent in that hat and khaki, Hely is a dead ringer for a young Tim the Yowie Man.

Meanwhile, the purpose of two elaborate flying foxes which span the Molonglo River have mystified a number of readers. Thomas Schulze would like to know the origins of the flying fox which crosses river "about 600 metres north west of HMAS Harman," while Ian Loiterton is equally as puzzled as to the origins of the flying fox located "two to three of kilometres downstream of Coppins Crossing". "The main cable is quite a thick one and appears to be at least 100m long, and there is a smaller cable below which would have been used to move whatever was conveyed from one side to the other," reports Loiterton, adding, "presumably there is a winch or similar in the shed at the other end."

Loiterton further reports that "it obviously hasn't been used for a long time as the cable now weaves it way through the treetops," adding "it's in the middle of nowhere as there are no houses or suburbs in sight."

While a number of readers continue to marvel at the gnarly inland scribbly gums of Gungahlin's Gungaderra Grassland Nature Reserve (The Secret Seven, May 6), Linda Roberts, of Kaleen, recently stumbled upon this "equally amazing tree with a half dead trunk making for a massive girth" in Callum Brae Nature Reserve near Mugga Lane.

"This tree has to make you smile!" exclaims Roberts, who apart from being impressed by its unique nature, also noticed the grin-like markings near the base of the newer trunk.

Clue: 988

Degree of difficulty: Medium

Last week: Congratulations to Rosemary Jennings, of Dunlop, who was first to correctly identify last week's photo, sent in by Dorothy Cameron as the landmark 200-metre long Taemas Bridge, built in 1931 to replace a washed-out bridge a few hundred metres downstream, over the Murrumbidgee River between Yass and Wee Jasper. Jennings beat a number of other well-travelled readers to the prize including Tony Laizans, of Latham, Carole Purry, of Evatt, and Jan Koehler, of Monash, who reckons "this 'back road to Yass is one of Canberra's best kept secrets."

Meanwhile, the photo brought back childhood memories for Andrew Sutton, of Campbell, who reveals he "grew up on Bloomfield which is the property you can see to the left and right behind the bridge, a brilliant place to grow up, overlooking Burrinjuck Dam."

Special note to Colin Smeal who admitted his tardy entry "was probably too late to win" because it was his birthday and he didn't "get around to opening the paper to early afternoon." Surely there is nothing more anyone would want to do on your birthday than read your favourite newspaper? I expect an on-time entry this week Mr Smeal.

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday June 3, 2017 with the correct answer wins a double pass to Dendy cinemas.

CONTACT TIM: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie Street, Fyshwick. You can see a selection of past columns online.