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Something Fishy in Canberra


ACT - Something fishy in Canberra


Something Fishy in Canberra - Quick Facts
Getting there

Canberra is 306km south-west of Sydney along the Hume Highway.
Weather

January: 12 - 26°C
July: 0 - 10°C
Tourist Information

Canberra Visitors Information Centre

Rob Paxevanos

One of the best things about Canberra is that it offers easy access to the surrounding bush, forests and waterways. To add an unusual twist to your ACT outdoor experience, why not cast a line and fish with a fly?

Never done it before? No worries. Rob Paxevanos, the owner of Fish Finding Adventures is your man. With 10 years experience as a professional fishing guide, and the star of Channel Nine's regional fishing program Fishing Australia, he knows when and where the local fish are biting.

Googong Reservoir

One of the most popular fishing holes he frequents is the huge Googong Reservoir, which supplies Canberra's drinking needs, and is just a 20-minute drive from Parliament House. Here, amongst eagles, platypus, kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas, and rare birds - such as the black goshawk - you can learn to cast or sharpen up your skills.

The prize reservoir fish are Murray cod, as well as both brown and rainbow trout. Cod can reach 22kg or so, but 5kg fish are more common. The trout are really hard to catch, but you might stand a chance if you already have good casting skills. Other fish you might persuade to grab a fly are golden perch (or yellowbelly) and redfin (also known as English perch).

Paxevamos suggests complete beginners need a half-day fishing lesson, followed by half an hour's practice two or three times a month out in the back garden. After six months you should be adept enough to flick a hand-made fly within millimetres of a trout's waiting mouth.

Lake Burley Griffin

Another lake worth fishing is Lake Burley Griffin, right in Canberra's heart. While you can catch red fin and Murray cod here, the fish of choice is carp. The biggest carp ever caught in the ACT weighed-in at 15kg or so, and Lake Burley Griffin has thrown up a 9kg beauty. The average carp weighs around 2kg on the lake though, but it's not uncommon to catch 20 or 30 on a day out.

Trout

Other good trout fishing spots include both the Cotter and Goodradigbee rivers. The former is about 15 minutes from central Canberra, and the later between 30 minutes and an hour away, depending on what part of the river you go to.

Fish Finding Adventures also makes use of Canberra's locality to take people off fly fishing in the Snowy Mountains, or even fishing with flies for flathead and bream at Bateman's Bay and Narooma, on the South Coast.

If you want to go fishing without a guide try Namadgi National Park, just 30km north of Canberra. The park, which covers almost half the ACT has some good trout-fishing streams amongst the rolling hills and scatterings of dense forest. Look out for hundreds of grey kangaroos that come out to graze in the wildflower fields in the early morning and late afternoon.

You can fish the lakes all year round for trout, while most rivers in the ACT have a closed season for trout lasting from June to September. The Murray cod season is closed between August and November. If you fish with a professional guide his licence will cover you too.

Images courtesy of ACT Tourism

All information was correct at the time of writing but may change without notice.

Travellers Tips

Bring warm clothes, Canberra is very cool, especially early mornings when most fishing tours begin. Thomas, Canberra.

Tags:

ACT, ACT , Travel Feed

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