The Abercrombie is a mixed bag of a river where a Murray cod, a golden perch, a carp and a trout can all come out of the same river, and a national park with camping areas sits beside it. Come for the natives and the camping, and tie on a Woolly Bugger.
It is one river with two characters, and what divides them is the fish that live in each. It rises in high country near Mount Werong and falls away through farmland and national park until it reaches Wyangala Dam, where it meets the Lachlan. The upper river, upstream of the Retreat River, is where trout were once the usual target. Below that, and down to the dam, it is native and carp water.
The easiest trip is the national park. The local angling writers describe fishing holes in Abercrombie River National Park and three camping areas close to the river, which puts you on the water for the morning and evening. Murray cod and golden perch are the natives they call most prolific, and carp probably outnumber everything. No water-specific rule was found for the river; check the current NSW guide before you fish. Start here, in summer, with a Woolly Bugger and a popper.
The second trip is the Tuena to Trunkey road. The writers describe it as good carp fishing with the odd trout and native, which makes it the place to stop for an hour on the way through rather than the place to spend a weekend. Treat the paddocks either side as private unless you are told otherwise.
The third is the upper river, above the Retreat, for whatever trout are left. The writers talk about trout there in the past tense, so go with low expectations and a dry fly in summer. It is the trip to make once you have fished the park, not before.
Pack the camping gear, check the current NSW guide, and head for the park.
Water and habitat
The Abercrombie starts high, near Mount Werong, and the gradient chart shows the long fall from there to Wyangala. On the way it passes through two kinds of country: open farmland, and the bush of Abercrombie River National Park.
In our experience a river like this fishes as a chain of pools with riffle and run between them. The deep pools, and the slow water on the outside of a bend where timber has piled up, are where cod and golden perch sit; both are ambush feeders that want cover and depth. Carp cruise the shallower, softer edges and the tail of a pool. Any trout left in the upper river will hold where the current is quickest and the water coolest, in the heads of pools and the broken water above them.
The lower river runs down into Wyangala Dam, and it is there that the writers describe silver perch turning up in numbers at times. The live conditions panel gives you the river's height; a clear river after a dry spell fishes differently from a coloured one after rain, and you want to know which you are driving into.
Fish and forage
Native fish lead the list. The local writers name Murray cod and golden perch as the most prolific natives, with silver perch in numbers in the lower river at times. They also name Macquarie perch, river blackfish and trout cod, three natives to handle carefully. Golden perch, Macquarie perch and river blackfish have all been recorded in the river. NSW's recreational fishing trusts report monitoring of fish translocated into the Abercrombie and the neighbouring Retreat River, with recent breeding detected in both.
The introduced fish are carp, redfin, and rainbow and brown trout. The writers call carp probably the most prolific fish in the river now, and describe trout as once the usual target upstream of the Retreat. Rainbow trout have been recorded here.
The forage that matters to a fly box is small fish. Australian smelt and mountain galaxias have both been recorded in the river, and in our experience a cod, a perch, a redfin or a trout will eat either. In summer, add whatever grasshoppers blow in off the farmland banks. A dark streamer covers the baitfish; a hopper covers the rest.
When to fish it
Nothing specific to the Abercrombie sets its calendar, so this is a guide's read rather than a schedule.
Summer is the best of it. Warm water wakes the cod and the golden perch up, the evenings are long enough to fish a popper after dinner at camp, and the grasshoppers are on the banks. It is also when the writers fish a dry fly for the trout. Spring, as the water warms, is a good bet for golden perch on a streamer and for carp tailing in the shallows.
Autumn is quieter but still worth a trip while the water holds some warmth. In winter the natives slow right down; a Woolly Bugger fished slow and deep is the one thing the writers use in every month. Whatever the month, look at the live river height before you go.
How to fish it
A six or seven weight with a floating line covers most of it, with a sink tip on a spare spool for the deep pools. Carry a heavier leader than you would for trout, because cod live in timber.
The writers' fly selection is short and sound: a bead-head Woolly Bugger all year, dries in summer, and hoppers and poppers for the natives. In our experience olive or black Woolly Buggers in 6 to 10 are the workhorse. Cast them across and down into the deep side of a pool, let them sink, and strip back in short pulls. Golden perch and redfin take on the drop; cod tend to hit hard and head for the snag, so keep them out of it from the first second.
On summer evenings go to the surface. A hopper or a popper slapped down tight to a grassy bank or the edge of a log, left to sit, then twitched, is how you find the golden perch. For carp, a small dark nymph or a Woolly Bugger dropped in front of a feeding fish in the shallows, and a slow retrieve, beats blind casting.
In the upper river for trout, a Royal Wulff or a Stimulator in 12 to 14 into the head of each pool, fished upstream, is a good bet.
Spin and bait anglers fish it too. The writers list corn, worms, cheese and PowerBait for bait, and spinnerbaits, blades, minnows and similar lures for the spin rod.
Access and safety
Abercrombie River National Park is the way in for most people. The local writers describe fishing holes in the park and three camping areas close to the river; check with the park before you go for which camping areas are open and what the road in is like. The access card names the access site. The Tuena to Trunkey road is the other named spot; the writers describe it, but that is a description of where people fish, not permission to cross the land either side. Where the river runs through farmland, ask before you cross a fence.
As on any bush river, tell someone where you are going and when you will be back, carry more water than you think you need in summer, and do not cross the river when it is up and coloured. Watch the live river height for a rise after rain upstream.
Regulations
No water-specific rule was found for the Abercrombie River. Check the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recreational fishing guide before you fish, for the licence, the native fish closures, the trout rules and the bag and size limits that apply, and for the status of the rarer natives the local writers name here, including Macquarie perch and trout cod.
