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Tantangara is one of my favourite lakes not only because its fishes well most of the time but also because it is harder than most of the lakes in the scheme to access and consequently it doesn't get as much fishing or boat pressure as some of the other lakes. Completed in 1960 by damming the Murrumbidgee river it is one of 16 lakes in the iconic Snow Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme. The full water level is 1080 meters putting the lake around 150 meters higher than Lake Jindabyne. The gravity concrete dam wall holds back up to 238,800 mega liters of water making it one of the smaller impoundments in the scheme and less than 1/12 the capacity of Lake Jindabyne. Those statistics are however misleading and Tantangara provides a significant flow of water on almost a continual basis through a gravity fed tunnel that delivers water to Lake Eucumbene at Providence Portal.

Water flows into Lake Eucumbene from:

• Tantangara dam has its catchment principally from the East and North and includes the Murrumbidgee River and other rivers and creeks.
• General catchment inflows including numerous small streams.

Water leaves Lake Eucumbene via:

• Providence Portal trans-mountain gravity fed tunnel to Lake Eucumbene .
• Environmental flows to the Murrumbidgee River.

To many Tantangara reservoir is one of Australia's prime fishing impoundments.

 

Given its altitude its not surprising that this true alpine lake can get very cold and windy so think carefully about the safety of both you and your companions safety.

• Keep an eye on the weather and always know where your going to retreat to.
• Let others know where your going to be fishing and your timetable.
• Always wear a life jacket.
• Never wear thigh waders in the boat particularly if your fishing by yourself.
• Take plenty of spare warm clothes and wet weather gear.
• Mobile phone reception is non existent.
• Only fish Tantangara in suitable craft. This is not a venue for little dinghies with low sides.
• Always be on the lookout for submerges rocks, trees and fences and in times of rising weather also keep an eye out for floating timber.
• Don't think for a moment that you know the lake. Water levels are changing all the time and consequently where obstructions were below your propeller yesterday they can be right in your path today.

 

How to get there

The turn off for Tantangara is approximately 19 kilometres west of Adaminaby on the road between Adaminaby and Thredbo. From there it's a solid half hour drive along the 17 Kilometres of dirt road that can vary in condition from week to week and even within the same day. If your going up there in winter the road will probably be closed by snow and on the fringes of winter it's always worth remembering to keep an eye on the weather so as to avoid getting snowed in.

View Larger Map

 

Open season

Tantangara Reservoir is open all year but there is too much snow on the dirt road to access Tantangara during much of the snow season. Please note that the actual rivers in the region have a closed fishing period and they can only be fished from the start of the long weekend in October through to the end of April.
You should also check out licensing requirements and bag limits.

Services & facilities available

There is nothing by way of facilities at Tantangara so you have to take every thing in with you. Don't forget to take your rubbish out with you. There is no boat ramp but depending on water levels most of the time you can launch at the end of the road just north east of the dam wall. When arriving at Tantangara if you intend to launch a boat it's worth having a look at where you are going to launch the boat before driving down because when the water is up a little there is unlikely to be anywhere to turn at the bottom of the road. If that is the cases its easier to back down than to back up the steep hill. Also make sure you park you car and trailer well away from where you launch as you don't know haw good a backer the next person launching a boat will be. Whilst camping is apparently not permitted I have camped there several times and have never been challenged. There is no sign banning camping. I would however make sure you to have the appropriate National Parks pass just in case the rangers do turn up.

 

Target species

Tantangara is managed as a wild trout fishery and has naturally recruited populations of both browns and rainbows. There has been no stocking in recent years and no stocking is planned for the foreseeable future. Sizes range through the full spectrum from fingerlings right through to some serious browns and rainbows but the average size seems to between 35 and 40 centimeters.

Food chain

Tantangara is quite a weedy lake and its no surprise that it has significant populations of mayfly, caddis and damsel nymphs as well as mudeyes and yabbies and of course chironomids. During summer there can also be significant terrestrial activity with hoppers, beetles and other bugs finding themselves on the trout's menu.

	What trout eat - sub alpine NSW and Vic - fish activity What trout eat - sub alpine NSW and Vic - food sources

 

Techniques

Whilst I am sure there are plenty of fish cruising the margins they are more difficult to polaroid in Tantangara because of the dark colour of the bottom than say Lake Jindabyne because of the sandy bottom colouring. Bank fishing is popular and productive but by in large most fishing is from boats with loch style fishing from boats becoming more popular in recent years.

Loch style fishing tips

 

Fly suggestions

Because of the harsh environment I reckon a lot of the food is stunted in size so I tend toward using smaller flies. Small brown, black and olive woolly buggers all work well but its always worth trying other colour variations. Orange is a great attractor colour and when loch style fly fishing and during the summer its always worth having a zulu, doobry,bibio or diawl bach on the top dropper.

If your matching the hatch or want to seek out other fly options, keep the above tips about size and colour in mind and have a look at my fly boxes for other options:

My trout lake wet fly box
My trout booby fly box
My trout dry fly box

Here area few prospecting tips and fly team selections that work well. Use these teams as guidance when you make up your own loch style teams of flies.

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