Australia Fly Guide
NSW · Hunter River

Polblue Creek

Imagery © Esri

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Before you rely on this page

  • Access here has not been confirmed on the ground — treat every way in as unverified.

Polblue Creek is a small NSW creek worth a visit for stocked rainbow trout, and it suits a light rod and a short walk.

It is one stretch of water that runs down into Omadale Brook. Fish it as a single creek, working upstream.

Come in the warmer months. Start at the access point on the access card, and fish the pools and deeper runs with a dry and a small nymph under it. Read the current NSW trout guide before you pick a date.

Pack a 3 or 4 weight and a few small dries and nymphs.

Water and habitat

A small creek feeding a brook. On water this size, cover decides most things. Where the banks are open, trout see you coming across the grass; where growth overhangs the water, fish have somewhere to sit and food drops in.

In our experience, rainbows in a creek like this hold in the deeper water: the head of a pool where the run tips in, the seam beside faster current, an undercut bank, the slack behind a log or boulder. Shallow, even-bottomed stretches hold fewer fish and spook them first.

Fish and forage

NSW stocking records list rainbow trout released into the creek over recent seasons, and the stocking chart shows the pattern.

The rest of the fly box is a guide's read. Small-creek trout feed mostly on nymphs drifting along the bottom and on whatever lands on the surface, and in warm weather that includes grasshoppers, beetles and ants off the bank. A few buoyant dries, a hopper and some bead-head nymphs in sizes 12 to 16 cover most of it.

When to fish it

Settle the rules first: take any season for the creek from the current NSW trout guide. Within whatever it allows, a small trout creek usually fishes best from late spring into autumn. Summer is the time for hoppers and terrestrials along the banks, fished early and late when the light is off the water. After heavy rain, give a small creek a day or two to drop and clear.

How to fish it

Travel light and fish upstream. A 3 or 4 weight rod of around 8 feet, a floating line and a 9 foot leader tapered to 5X is plenty. Keep low, stay back from the edge, and make short casts with as little line on the water as you can.

Start with a dry and dropper: a size 12 to 14 Royal Wulff with a size 14 to 16 bead-head Hare's Ear or Pheasant Tail under it on a short tippet. Put it in the head of each pool and let it ride down the seam. Two or three good drifts tell you whether a fish is home; then move up. In summer, swap the dry for a hopper and land it close to the bank wherever grass meets the water. In the deeper, slower pools, a small Woolly Bugger stripped past cover can move a fish that will not come up.

Access and safety

The access card marks one access point. Treat it as a location, not a statement of permission, and respect any fence or sign you meet on the ground.

As on any bush creek, tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back, carry water and a small first-aid kit, and watch your footing on wet rock and undercut banks. A small creek can rise quickly after rain, so keep an eye on the sky and never wade a crossing you are unsure of.

Regulations

Before you fish, read the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development trout guide, check its trout-water lists and closed-waters list for the creek, and take any season, bag and size limits and licence requirements from it.

1 named access site

These authority-listed points are separate from the mapped track intersections above. Some were inspected and some are public boat-ramp records; each row says which. A listing does not grant permission across private land, so check closures, signs and gates when you arrive.

Sources: NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

When things happen

The guide's calendar for this water

When things happen

The year on this water

A year at a glance; check current rules

  • Dry and dropper through the pools · Nov to Mar A guide's read, not a record. A size 12 to 14 Royal Wulff with a small bead-head nymph under it is a good first rig on a small creek once the weather warms. Take any season for the creek from the current NSW trout guide before you plan the trip.
  • Hoppers along grassy banks · Dec to Mar In our experience late summer is hopper time wherever grass meets the water on a small creek. Land it tight to the bank and let it sit.
  • Nymphs when nothing is rising · Oct to Apr A size 14 to 16 Pheasant Tail or Hare's Ear fished short and upstream through the deeper runs is the fallback on a cool or bright day.

What the record shows

Flows, river gradient, changing water levels, fish surveys and stocking

What the record shows

Stocking on record

36,000 fish in 6 records, 2021 to 2026

0 2k 4k 6k 8k 2021: 8,000 rainbow trout in 1 record 2022: 8,000 rainbow trout in 1 record 2023: 5,000 rainbow trout in 1 record 2024: 5,000 rainbow trout in 1 record 2025: 5,000 rainbow trout in 1 record 2026: 5,000 rainbow trout in 1 record 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Rainbow Trout, 36,000 across 6 records
Stocked in 6 of the 6 years from 2021 to 2026. These are site-by-year totals, which can combine more than one release. A record is not a promise that stocking continues, and not evidence of what is in the water now.
Source: NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Fisheries).
Source details and licence

NSW Fish Stocking — ArcGIS site markers and linked histories. retrieved 2026-08-29.

Conditions

What the gauges say

Check the water operator or jurisdiction authority for current conditions, and read the water yourself when you arrive.

Questions anglers ask

What will I catch?

NSW stocking records list rainbow trout released into the creek in recent seasons, so rainbows are the fish to plan for. The stocking chart shows which seasons they went in.

Is there a closed season?

Check the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development trout guide, including its trout-water lists and closed-waters list, and take any season, bag and size limits from it before you fish.

Where do I start?

Use the access point on the access card as your starting location, walk to the water and fish upstream from there. It marks a place, not permission, so read the signs and fences on the ground.

What rod should I bring?

A 3 or 4 weight of around 8 feet suits a small creek. Short, accurate casts matter more than distance.

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