Prawns are running nightly, with some excellent hauls reported from Coila and Corunna, with others from Wallaga, Durras and other estuaries. Some of the prawns are still a bit small but a couple of dozen of the larger sizes make a substantial feed.

A night out with the family, with inexpensive underwater torches and dip nets, finishing with a load of fresh prawns boiled on site in salt water is uniquely Australian and very hard to beat.

Flathead are on the move also. Some large specimens were reported from Tuross, with three over 80 centimetres and the largest 97cm. The best lure was an Ecogear Prawn Blade, fished with alternate slow and fast retrieve.

Fish the warm shallow water for best results and move carefully and quietly to avoid spooking fish sunbaking on the sand.

Fly anglers have been finding some nice fish dining on the myriad insect hatches developing during the hot weather. Nathan Walker and Ben Elliott landed and released five rainbows in the Goodradigbee River, using parachute dries and nymphs.

The water was gin clear, but with a good flow and the fish were extremely spooky.

Some surprisingly good fish also were encountered in the Thredbo and Eucumbene rivers. They are taking grasshopper patterns and the best fish from the Thredbo was a 2.5 kilogram brown taken on a Joe's Hopper.

Fly fishers also had some great fun chasing carp in the Molonglo River and adjacent Jerrabomberra Wetlands. Sight fishing, they hooked and landed some large fish on Glo Bugs and Woolly Buggers.

Redfin were active in the local lakes. Regulars Brad and Ben landed at least 150 on Celtas at Lennox Gardens in Lake Burley Griffin, together with a 40cm golden perch.

Lots of small golden perch were reported on bait and lure elsewhere in Burley Griffin. Dark soft plastic grubs were the most successful. Yerrabi once again proved its worth as a fishery with the capture of a 110cm Murray cod on "half a scrub worm".

Lake Eucumbene produced some good fish again this week, especially for trollers. One group trolled my own creation, the yellow Y62 Tasmanian Devil, on flatline at Seven Gates, for ten rainbows to 1.5kg and two browns 3kgs and 2.5kg, on an overcast day.

Applications for entry to the annual Canberra Native Cup are being called for by organiser Adam Samios.

The Cup starts on 4 February and is fished over eight weeks with a session on each Thursday night from 6.30pm to 9.30 pm. Contact Adam on 0422 717 077 for a registration pack.

Dr Bryan Pratt is a Canberra ecologist.