The Duckmaloi River is a small farmland trout stream just east of Oberon, in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, with a standing reputation for large brown trout and a summer dry-fly game on hoppers and beetles that can be excellent.
It is small for its whole length and it runs through farms, and that shapes the trip more than the water does. Think of it in two parts. The upper river, from the headwaters down to the locality called Duckmaloi, is the water the local accounts credit with the big browns. Below that it carries on through more farmland to join the Fish River downstream of Oberon. The whole way, riffles drop into long, slow pools, and the pools hold the larger fish.
Most of the bank is private and the angling accounts name three ways in, so the day is decided by which one you choose.
The easiest is the public reserve at Bindo Creek, which the magazine accounts single out as the best public stretch, with riffles, runs and pools close together. Fish it in the warmer months for brown and rainbow trout that mostly run half a pound to two pounds, with a hopper when the grasshoppers and beetles are out. No water-specific rule was found for this river, so check the current NSW fishing guide for the licence and for whether a trout-water closure applies here before you drive up. Start here.
The second is a crown reserve near Duckmaloi Farm: the local account turns off Oberon Road at the farm onto Karawina Road and follows it to a four-wheel-drive track that ends at an old road bridge. Fish it with a streamer, as you would anywhere on this river: the pools and deeper bends often hold the bigger, more aggressive fish, and a black streamer worked along the undercuts and logs is the way to meet one of the four or five pound fish a good season can produce.
The hardest is a steep, off-track walk in from the back of Jenolan State Forest, a fit person's route with no coordinate in any account. Leave it for a return visit.
Go to the Bindo Creek reserve, arrive with a hopper tied on, and walk upstream to the first long pool.
Water and habitat
A small, productive trout stream flowing through grazing country on the Central Tablelands, just east of Oberon, feeding the Fish River below the town. The bank cover chart shows how open those banks are: this is mostly grass and pasture rather than forest, which is why the terrestrial fishing matters so much here and why you will be casting from low in the grass rather than from under trees.
The water alternates. Riffles and short runs drop into long, slow pools, and the pools have the features that matter: undercut banks, fallen timber and deeper bends. The larger and more aggressive fish often hold in those pools, tight to the undercuts and the logs, while the riffles carry the smaller fish and the drifting food.
The flow is the thing to watch. The river's level is highly variable, and in a dry year it can drop a long way, which pushes the trout into the deeper pools and leaves the riffles thin. Three gauges sit on the conditions card, and their readings live there rather than in this text; look at them before you commit to the drive.
Fish and forage
Brown and rainbow trout, both of them. The river holds a naturally reproducing population and is also stocked regularly to keep the numbers up, particularly after drought years that cut the flow and knock the fishery back.
Typical fish run half a pound to two pounds, and in a good season the river can produce trout over four or five pounds. The upper river, from the headwaters to the Duckmaloi locality, is where the local reputation for large browns comes from.
Two small fish share the water with the trout. Mountain galaxias, the native one, are a slender little baitfish, and in our read that is why a small black or white streamer draws the bigger trout out of the undercuts. Eastern gambusia, an introduced mosquitofish, are recorded too, and are best treated as a sign of slow, warm margins rather than as something to imitate.
The food that decides the fly box is on the land, not in the water. In the warmer months the hoppers, beetles and cicadas along the grazed banks bring the fish up, and that is when the dry-fly fishing can be excellent. A CDC sedge earns its place in the box. Under the surface it is the usual small-stream fare, and a tungsten-bead nymph in size 14 to 18 covers it.
When to fish it
All anyone has written down on timing is a summer window and a flow warning, so take the rest as a guide's read.
The warmer months are the season. That is when the terrestrials are active and the fish look up, and when a hopper dropped against the bank is the method. Fish early and late on hot days, and give the long pools a long look before you cast into them.
Spring and autumn are the nymphing months, when the riffles and runs are worth working through with a tungsten-bead nymph, and when a streamer in the pools is a fair way to find the bigger fish.
Winter turns on an open question: whether a trout-water closure applies to this river. Many tablelands trout streams carry one. Check the current NSW fishing guide before you plan a cold-weather trip, and if the river is listed, treat the closure as the end of the season rather than a suggestion.
Whatever the month, a dry year changes the river. When the flow drops, the fish gather in the deeper pools and become wary, and the fishing goes from covering water to stalking one pool at a time. The gauge card tells you which river you are driving to.
How to fish it
A small farm stream, fished small. A three to five weight, a floating line, and a leader long enough to keep the fly line off a slow pool will do everything this river asks. Approach from downstream, stay low in the grass, and treat each long pool as its own stalk: look first, find a riser or the shape of a fish over the gravel, then cast to it. Sight-fishing to rising fish with a dry fly is, by one FlyLife writer's account of those long slow pools, the most effective method, and it is also the most fun.
On top, a Hopper in size 10 to 14 in the warm months, dropped with a little splat against the bank and left to sit. A Stimulator in size 12 to 16 when you want a dry that will float through a riffle, and a CDC sedge or a possum-fur emerger in size 14 to 16 for the evening rise in the slow water. If a fish refuses the hopper, go smaller and lower in the film before you go bigger.
Under the surface, a tungsten-bead Pheasant Tail or Hare's Ear in size 14 to 18, either hung under the hopper as a dropper or fished on its own through the riffles and the heads of the runs. That is the fallback for the middle of a hot day and for the months when nothing is on the water. After rain, when the river carries colour, a worm pattern in size 10 to 12 fished dead-drift through the same water is worth an hour.
For the bigger fish, go to the pools and deeper bends with a streamer. A black or white Woolly Bugger in size 10 to 12, or a larger articulated pattern in size 8 to 12, cast tight to the undercut banks and the fallen logs and worked back with pauses. The larger and more aggressive fish often sit in exactly that water and respond to a streamer in it. Fish the streamer first thing, last thing, or on a dull day; in bright sun on low water it will move fish without catching them.
In a dry year, halve everything: fewer casts, longer leaders, smaller flies, more time looking.
Access and safety
Public access to the river is limited, because most of it runs through private farmland. The access card names the ways in; the three routes below are the ones the angling accounts describe, in their words and not as any statement of permission, so confirm on the ground and ask before you cross a fence.
The public reserve at Bindo Creek is the stretch the magazine accounts name as the best public water, with riffles, runs and pools close together. Start here.
A crown reserve sits near Duckmaloi Farm. The route in the local account turns off Oberon Road at the farm onto Karawina Road, follows it to a four-wheel-drive track and ends at an old road bridge. The track is the reason to bring a vehicle that can handle it.
The third route is a steep, off-track walk from the back of Jenolan State Forest. No account gives a coordinate for it. It is a route for a fit angler who has already fished the river, and the climb out with tired legs is the part to plan for.
The local accounts are explicit about not entering private land without permission. Leave gates as you find them and keep to the public pieces unless you have asked.
Regulations
No rule specific to the Duckmaloi River was found. That is not the same as there being none. Many trout streams in the Central Tablelands are listed as trout waters with a seasonal closure, and whether this river is listed, and which stretch the listing covers, is a question for the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recreational fishing guide. Check it for the licence, the bag and size limits for trout, and any closed season before you fish, and take those from the guide.
