A couple of the hefty rainbow trout recently released into Lake Eucumbene have already been re-captured by lucky anglers.
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Some 150 fish were released last week at three different locations around the lake - Buckenderra, Braemar and Old Adaminaby.
They are ex-breeding fish raised at Gaden Hatchery near Jindabyne. They've been raised in ponds on a diet of pellets and are all big. Some are huge. At up to 6kg, a handful are probably the largest rainbow trout on offer to anglers on the mainland.
The re-captured fish were only around the 2kg mark. They hadn't ventured far from where they liberated, either. The ones I know of were landed at Buckenderra, within a few hundred metres of where they were released.
The lake isn't fishing too badly, with a few browns also being taken on flies and lures flicked from the shore. Bait fishing is good, too.
Eucumbene is pretty low at just 25 per cent capacity but it should start to rise as snow begins to melt in spring. Fishing, especially from the shoreline, should definitely go up a gear over coming weeks.
The freshwater fishing scene elsewhere is slow.
Murray cod anglers have just over a week left to chase the fish of a lifetime, with the three-month cod closed season starting on September 1.
There are a few redfin and golden perch poking around in the local lakes, and out at Googong, but it's been mighty cold and the fish are pretty lethargic.
On the coast, Australian salmon continue to be the mainstay, with most beaches and headlands yielding a fish or two on pilchards or metal lures.
Anglers interested in heading out wide for tuna should focus their efforts north of Ulladulla, with large schools of yellowfin showing up off Nowra and Jervis Bay.
Estuary fishing is quiet. There are a few trevally and salmon around the lower reaches of some systems, and some big black bream in the upper reaches.