Fitzroy Falls Reservoir is a stocked still water near the village of Fitzroy Falls, and the reason to drive to it is a rainbow trout you can fish for in any month of the year.
It is one sheet of water, a reservoir with no stretches to choose between. What changes as you walk it is the edge, and in our experience that is where to look for fish.
The easy trip is a cool-season morning with a slow wet fly for rainbows. NSW DPIRD lists the reservoir as a general trout dam that is open to trout fishing all year round, so in practice there is no winter closure to plan around here; check the current NSW freshwater guide for bag, size and gear rules. In our experience a stocked rainbow cruises the margin on a grey day, and a lightly weighted Woolly Bugger worked slow along the bank from the access site is the place to start.
The second trip is a warm-month evening for Australian bass. Bass have been stocked here as well as rainbows, though only in one season, so we would treat them as a bonus rather than a reason to come. Fish a small dark streamer tight to any cover at first or last light and see what the water gives you.
Before you follow a feeder creek upstream, check the current NSW freshwater guide for that creek; the all-year listing names the reservoir.
Read the current NSW freshwater guide, pick a cool, overcast morning, and start walking the bank with a Woolly Bugger.
Water and habitat
The reservoir is a single impounded water. The wet-surface chart shows how much of the basin has held water over the years. In our experience, when the area shrinks, the fish have less edge to spread along and are easier to find.
In our experience fish in a storage hold on structure and on the change from shallow to deep. Look for a point running out into the water, the mouth of a bay, a weed line or a drowned tree, if the bank you are on has one. Wind matters as much as structure. The shore the wind blows onto collects food and, often, fish.
Fish and forage
Rainbow trout are stocked here, and the stocking chart shows them going in over more than one season. In our experience hatchery fish like these are used to pellets and quick to chase a moving fly. A searching pattern is a better start than a precise imitation.
Australian bass have been stocked too, in a single season on the chart. In our experience bass can live a long time in a storage, but we would not plan a trip around them.
A still-water box for this reservoir needs only a handful of flies. Carry a Woolly Bugger in black and olive, a small Pheasant Tail and a Hare's Ear for the indicator, and a couple of small dark streamers for the bass.
When to fish it
The trout season does not close here, so the calendar is set by the fish, not the rules.
The cool months are our pick for rainbows. Trout come up into shallow water when it cools and will chase a slow wet fly along the edge through the day.
Spring is nymph time. As the water warms, fish the shallows and weed edges with a small nymph under an indicator, and watch for fish moving on calm mornings.
Summer is the hardest time for trout in still water. Go early or late, fish deeper off the points in the middle of the day, and give the bass a go at dusk.
How to fish it
A five or six weight with a floating line covers most of it; an intermediate line helps you reach fish holding deeper off a point in summer. Walk the bank and cast along it as well as out from it, because a cruising rainbow often works the margin.
With a Woolly Bugger, cast, count it down a few seconds, and strip slow with pauses. Fan your casts across the water in front of you, then move a few steps along and repeat. When a fish follows and turns away, slow down rather than speed up.
For the nymph, set the indicator so the fly hangs just above the weed and let the wind drift it. Small twitches are enough.
For bass, fish a small dark streamer on a short, stout leader right against any timber or weed at dawn and dusk, with short strips and long pauses.
Wet your hands before you handle a trout, keep it in the water while you unhook it, and clean and dry your boots and waders before you fish another water.
Access and safety
The access card names one angler access site on the reservoir. Check the signs when you arrive, and ask locally before you walk further round the bank.
As on any storage, treat the edge with care: banks can be soft and drop away quickly, so wade only where you can see the bottom, and not at all if you do not need to. Carry layers in the cool months; a still morning on open water can be colder than it looks from the car.
Regulations
NSW DPIRD's Central NSW trout guide classes Fitzroy Falls Reservoir, near Fitzroy Falls, as a general trout dam that is open to trout fishing all year round.
Bag and size limits, permitted gear, and the rules for Australian bass and for any creek that runs in, are set out in the NSW fishing rules and regulations and the freshwater bag and size limits. Read both, and confirm the fishing fee and exemptions, before you fish.
