{{+1}}Cobungra River{{-1}}

The Cobungra River has it source in the shadow of the Great Dividing range just North East of Anglers Reach where it joins the Mitta Mitta River. By many, the Cobungra is regarded as one of the jewels in the crown of river fishing in Victoria. The river has a decomposed grant bottom and by in large meanders through alpine plains, farmland and light forested areas. Access is limited and in many places restricted to 4 wheel drive and even horseback, as access was portrayed in that iconic series "A river somewhere".

If accessing private property always ask for permission.

Getting there.

The closest commercial activity is Anglers Rest which is around 150 kilometres from Albury which is on the Hume Highway. From Albury follow the signs to the snow fields via the Keiwa Valley highway which takes you through Mount Beauty which has a supermarket, petrol stations, a good range of accommodation options and a few shops. From there follow the signs up to Falls Creek which is has the closest, relatively up market snow field type accommodation, one shop that is not always open but not petrol. Follow Bogong High plains Road the road over the dam wall toward Nelse, Bundarra and Shannonvale where you will find the Mitta Mitta running below the where Bogon High plains road intersects with the Omeo Highway (the river at that point is more properly called Big River but officially it becomes the Mitta Mitta just a little way down river from that intersection. The Cobungra flows into the Mitta Mitta just above the Blue Duck at Anglers Rest.

You can access Anglers Rest from Omeo by travelling northish along the Omeo highway or by turning off from the Murray Valley Highway which basically skirts the southern shore of the Lake Hume. Between Tallangatta and East Tallangatta just before the river runs under the road and into the often dry upper reaches of Lake Hume turn south onto the Omeo Highway. That's about 80 kilometres from Albury. You can follow the Omeo Highway all the way up to the upper Mitta Mitta but you do move away from the river quite quickly and then Omeo Highway is largely well groomed unsealed road but is very windy, tedious and slow going basically from the town of Mitta Mitta all the way up to above Glen Valley. The last time I did this drive I saw only one other vehicle along this stretch of road. I am unlikely to drive it again.coming up from the Lower Mitta Mitta.

For additional directions go to http://maps.google.com.au/ and left click in the box 'Get directions' type in the town or city your coming from in the 'A' box and type the closest town to your destination in the 'B' box. Google maps will generate and present a maps showing the route marked up in blue and if you scroll down the left of the page you will also come to 'Driving directions ...' describing each turn you should take from the start of the trip to the end of the trip including distances between each turn.

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Closed season

The closed season for salmonids in 2012 is from midnight on Monday 11 June, to midnight on Friday 31 August.

Target species

The Cobungra was last stocked in 1978 and is fully reliant on natural recruitment of both browns and rainbows. Browns of up to 2 kilograms are often taken and larger fish of up to 4 kg are not uncommon. The average size of rainbows is around 750 grams with larger fish not being uncommon.

Food chain

Whilst mayfly, caddis and stone fly thrive along the full length of the Cobungra it is probably better known for its terrestrial activity with beetles, grasshoppers and other winged insects making up a large part of the summer diet.

What trout eat – Snowy Mountains of NSW and Victoria

Techniques

A full range of river fishing techniques are generally applied in the Bundarra river with a heavy nymph on the dropper and a lighter nymph on the point being popular through the season, due (nymph under dry) and dry fly fishing also working well and being a bit more visual during the warmer months.