The predicted cool, inclement conditions will likely yield one of the best freshwater seasons in years.

It's already been an excellent spring on the lakes and rivers, and summer promises more of the same.

Brown and rainbow trout, hailing from northern Europe and North America respectively, despise the heat and bright sunshine.

Typically, by early December, they've started retreating to the depths as the sun beats down.

But not this year, given it's been so cool, wet and grey.

Lake Eucumbene has been a stand-out. It's nearly 45 per cent full and is producing good catches on a very regular basis.

Whether it's bait fishing or fly casting from the shore, or trolling lures from a boat, just about everyone is catching fish.

The size and condition of some of the brown trout is extraordinary. There are also large numbers of hungry rainbows about, from little pocket rockets to fat, silver-flanked, kilo-plus fish.

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Time your visit with late afternoon and evening. There have already been some healthy rises on dusk, and that should continue until Christmas and beyond.

River and stream fishing, meanwhile, remains excellent across the Monaro and Snowy Mountains, with all waterways flowing beautifully after a record wet November.

Murray cod season opened this week. A lot of the favoured cod rivers are running very high and brown right now, which will make productive fishing next to impossible.

Lakes will be a better option until waterways like the Murrumbidgee clear up and return to normal.

On the coast, kingfish have started to show up around Montague Island as water temperatures climb over 18 degrees.