With all the rain and snow melt this spring, the regions rivers have been running high a lot of the time. However, at the moment they have dropped to more normal levels, and all of them are looking terrific.

The rivers upstream of the big Snowy Hydro lakes have been holding plenty of rainbows that have stayed up in the rivers following their late winter spawning migration. Most people have been targeting them with weighted nymphs and strike indicators, and while that was the best method earlier in the season, they have been rising well to dry flies for the past few weeks.

The lake rainbows seem to be averaging around a kilo, and give a good account of themselves if hooked in the faster flowing sections of the rivers. Of course, you will also encounter a few brown trout, and some smaller rainbows.

Both the Thredbo River and Eucumbene River have been attracting a lot of attention from fly fishers, so that it has been difficult sometimes to find a stretch of river that has not just been fished by someone else. On a few occasions I have found myself fishing a series of good looking pools with no response from any trout. Getting suspicious, I have then looked carefully at any sandy or muddy patches along the banks, and usually I have found fresh boot prints to explain my lack of success. There is no doubt that if you can arrange to be the first person fishing a section of river on any given day, your chances of catching trout will be significantly improved.

On the tableland rivers, the best of the spring fly hatches have often been spoiled by windy weather. Typically, just as the mayfly duns start coming off in mid-morning, the wind gets up and puts everything on hold. There have been some exceptions, and provided you have been able to identify the flies hatching and fish suitable imitations, then some good sport should have been enjoyed.

The small fertile streams that flow across the Monaro into the Snowy River or the Murrumbidgee have received a very welcome fresh following recent heavy rain. After several years of severe summer drought, they are not holding many large trout at present. I have heard some reports of big browns being caught and released, but unless you know these streams well, it is probably not worth spending much time on them until the stockings of hatchery yearlings introduced last winter become large enough to provide sport. Perhaps we can look forward to good fishing there next season.

With the arrival of warmer weather in recent weeks, there have been some nice mild calm evenings. Whether there is a worthwhile evening rise seems to be something of a gamble, and personally I am not a great fan of standing around in the gathering dusk waiting for something to happen when I could be at home enjoying a glass of wine and a nice meal.

However, don't let me put you off giving it a try, especially if you are on holiday and have nothing better to do. Generally the warmer summer weather also means that the rivers and streams higher in the mountains are starting to come alive. It is too early for terrestrial insects like grasshoppers, but most trout will rise to inspect a well presented dry fly if it looks interesting.