The Fish River is the trout stream of the Oberon and Tarana country on the central tablelands, and the reason to drive to it is a brown trout of forty centimetres or better in the reaches above Tarana. It was once known as a big-fish river. Drought, silt, willows and water taken by the Fish River Scheme have reduced it since, and good fish are still in it.
Think of the river in two parts, split at the village of Tarana. Above Tarana the river runs north out of the hills through state forest, and cold water released from Oberon Dam keeps that reach steady; two smaller streams join it there and the water is mostly brown trout. At Tarana the river turns west, running through a granite gorge at Evans Crown near the village, and then slows through willowed, weedy farm country toward O'Connell, where it meets another river to form the Macquarie. That lower farmland water is mostly rainbows.
The easiest trip is the lower river. A picnic area on Mutton Falls Road between Tarana and O'Connell gives you easy access, camping, and rainbows that average about twenty-five centimetres and take a dry or a small nymph readily. The park beside the bridge at O'Connell is the other simple option, with willows, sand and weed making it a little harder to fish. Start here.
The second trip is the gorge. A reserve near Tarana gives you a walk down a fence line to granite rapids and sandy pools. The gorge sits at the hinge between the brown trout water above Tarana and the rainbow water below, and the accounts do not say which fish has the better of it there, so go in ready for either. It is a longer day, and a rougher one.
The third trip is the forest reaches above Tarana, reached by fire trails that are often rough and sometimes closed for logging, so plan to walk or ride a bike from the road. In the warmer months it is dry-fly water; in the cooler months fish a bead-head nymph through the rapids.
No water-specific rule was found for the Fish, and NSW trout streams commonly carry a classification that closes them through winter, so check the current NSW fishing guide before you go. A local website also reports a no-fishing zone directly below the Oberon Dam wall; that is not the fishing department's word, so confirm it in the closed-waters notices before you fish near the dam.
Read the current NSW rules, then start at the picnic water below Tarana.
Water and habitat
The Fish rises as a string of small pools in Vulcan State Forest at close to 1,300 metres, runs north into Oberon Dam, and continues north out of it. Two streams, the Duckmaloi River and Bindo Creek, join it upstream of Hampton State Forest. At Tarana it picks up Solitary Creek and turns west toward O'Connell, and below O'Connell, at around 700 metres, it joins the Campbells River to form the Macquarie. Everything below the wall is Murray-Darling water heading west.
Oberon Dam has stood since 1959, and its releases matter more than its size. The magazine writers who fish the reach below the Duckmaloi junction describe it as very consistent because the water coming out of the dam is cold. That is the reach to think of in a hot, dry summer when the gorge and the lower river are warm and low. The gradient chart shows how the river drops from the forest to the flats.
The gorge itself is granite. Rapids run between sandy pools, and fish sit at the heads and tails of the pools and in the pocket water between boulders. Downstream the river flattens, the banks go to willow and the pools fill with sand and weed. Fish there hold under the tree roots and along the edges of the weed beds, and they are harder to reach than they are to find.
The bank cover chart shows how much of the river runs through cleared and farmed country. Where the willows are thick they shade the water and hold the banks, and they also make casting a chore. Silt from the paddocks is one of the things that has reduced this river since its big-fish days.
When the dam spills, lake fish are pushed over the wall into the lower river. The magazine writers describe one such spill as sending thousands of them down, so a wet year that fills Oberon can put an unusual number of fish into the water below it for a season or two.
Fish and forage
Brown trout are the fish of the upper river. Above Tarana, browns of forty to fifty centimetres are not uncommon, which is a good river brown anywhere in New South Wales. They are wary fish in clear water and they hold in the deeper pools and under cover.
Rainbow trout are the numbers fish of the lower river. They are mostly small, around twenty-five centimetres on average, and energetic, and they take a fly with less suspicion than the browns. Both trout are recorded here, as the survey chart shows.
Mountain galaxias are recorded too, and so is eastern gambusia, the small introduced mosquito fish. The galaxias are the native baitfish of these streams and a small dark streamer or a black Woolly Bugger stripped through a pool copies them well enough. Redfin and goldfish are recorded with less certainty. None of those changes what you tie on.
Little has been written about the forage here, so this is a guide's read. A tableland trout stream with grassy banks and willows feeds its fish on terrestrials from late spring, mayflies and caddis in the riffles, and whatever small fish and yabbies live in the pools. Carry an ant, a beetle, a hopper, a few plain nymphs and one streamer and you have it covered.
When to fish it
The local writers name flies for the warmer and cooler months rather than a best season, so take what follows as a guide's judgement.
Late spring through summer is dry-fly time in the forest reaches. Ants, beetles and small moths are on the water, and a Royal Wulff or an ant pattern drifted through the pocket water will bring fish up. On the lower river the hoppers start in earnest in late summer, and the willowed water around O'Connell is where to drift one.
The cold releases from Oberon Dam should keep the reach below the Duckmaloi junction fishable through the hottest weeks, when the gorge and the farmland water are warm. If you are choosing a reach in February, choose that one.
Autumn is the pick for the browns above Tarana. Fish nymphs through the rapids as the water cools and expect the bigger fish to be on the move. Whether the river closes through winter is a matter for the NSW fishing guide; check it before you plan a cold-weather trip.
How to fish it
For the forest reaches around Black Hole Bend, fish a four- or five-weight with a floating line. In the warm months tie on a Royal Wulff, an ant or a white moth pattern and work the pocket water and the heads of the pools upstream. In the cooler months switch to a bead-head nymph under a small indicator and fish it through the rapids, adding weight until you are ticking the bottom; nymphing this kind of broken water is more about depth than pattern. A black Woolly Bugger swung and stripped through the pools works at any time of year, and it is the fly to try when nothing is showing.
In the gorge at Tarana, fish the seams where the rapids enter the sandy pools and the tails where the water gathers before the next drop. Fish it as brown trout water until the river tells you otherwise: stay low, wade only where you must, and make the first cast count.
On the lower river around O'Connell, the fishing is under trees and over weed. Drift a hopper or a small dry tight along the willow edge and let it ride over the weed beds. A short, accurate cast beats a long one here, and a side cast under the branches will reach fish a straight overhead cast cannot.
Wet-wade in summer and carry a wading staff for the granite. Barbless hooks make releasing a small rainbow quick, and keeping a big brown in the water while you unhook it gives it the best chance.
Access and safety
The access card shows the ways in along the river. What follows is how the local website's writers reach the water; it is not a statement that any route is open to you, and much of the river runs through private land.
The simplest entry is Flat Rock picnic area, a public reserve on Mutton Falls Road between Tarana and O'Connell, with easy access and camping. The park beside the bridge at O'Connell is the other straightforward spot. Evans Crown reserve near Tarana takes more effort: drive past the hilltop car park, park near the small national-park sign at the bottom, cross the fence into the reserve and walk the fence line downhill, keeping to the north side of the river. The website warns you to stay off private land there.
Hampton State Forest and the Black Hole Bend crown reserve are best entered from Cuthill Road off the Rydal to Hampton road, then by fire trails down the ridges and spurs. Those roads are often rough and are sometimes closed for logging, so expect to walk or ride from the road. Wicketty War Road gets you closer to the river than Cuthill Road, but a locked gate now stops vehicles; the website says to contact the landowner before using it.
The gorge is granite, and wet granite is slippery on any river, so move as you would on any rock stream. If you have to cross, do not do it with the river up. There is no live gauge to check here, so look at the river itself before you commit to the walk down. Check for logging closures in the state forest before you drive in, check fire bans as you would for any bush water, and tell someone where you are going, as you would on any walk-in stream.
Regulations
No water-specific rule was found for the Fish. Trout streams in New South Wales commonly carry a classification that sets a winter closure, size and bag limits, and the Fish River may be one of them; whether it is, and what applies where, is a question for the fishing department.
A local fishing website reports that fishing is not permitted for a distance below the Oberon Dam wall. That is not from the fishing department or the water authority, so treat the water right below the wall as off limits until you have confirmed the current closed-waters notices.
Before you fish, read the current NSW fishing rules and regulations, the freshwater bag and size limits and the general freshwater closures, and confirm the fishing fee.
