NEW WATER ON THE SWAMPY PLAIN RIVER

It's possible this stands as the cleanest river I have ever fished. I don't think I have ever seen such clear flowing water. There is no algae, or debris build up on the river bed, the rocks in this section aren't even slippery, I would expect it receives good flows all year round. The Swampy Plain River flows uninterrupted from well above my location here, straight from the high alpine peaks as snow melt, wild and free. It has etched itself into fly fishing stories as one of the top tier trout fishing waterways in the New South Wales High Country in Australia.

Despite my efforts on a number of trips in the past, I had never actually cast a fly on this river until the summer of 2026, and I found that a little hard to believe. It seemed as though I always had other locations in mind or simply didn't have what felt like enough time to get into this location and do it justice. I did make the trip recently, about six months prior with the intention to fish, but the area experienced a deluge of rain the night before I arrived and the river you see running beautifully clear in the photographs, was high and chocolate brown. I never even got any gear out on that recent occasion, it just wasn't worth it.

So I was keen to get back and explore, joined by a good mate and keen fly fisherman.

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS

We managed to get slightly more than a day on the river on this trip. We did spend about two hours late afternoon fishing lower runs, and the water was beautiful. One run in particular saw a reasonable fish take great interest in my Patch Adams dry, but it never hooked up. I would suggest it was a Brown, and it was moving quickly. I watched as it came from the bottom and sat just under the waters surface, following my fly until it finally had a go at it, only to miss. The experience left an appetite to want to see more the next day, not long after that and after trying a few more runs, we retreated back to camp by dusk.

I spent most of that night comfortably inside my four wheel drive in my makeshift bed, listening to rain softly hitting the roof. We camped at Geehi Flats campground right next to the river. It was reassuring to know that we were getting rain after what had been a dry Summer to date, it could only be good for the river and surrounds. Given it was light rain, I didn't expect it to affect the water height too greatly. Near our camp spot you drive across the river, and it looked amazing at first glance. It was clear, running well and there did appear to be a plethora of insects around. The rain cleared overnight, and I woke to clear early morning skies and couldn't wait to get on the water.

Camp at Geehi before the rain set in.

We proceeded to walk up stream for a few kilometers, to get away from the camp sites and possible pressure. Most steps would stir up grasshoppers of varying sizes. We headed down a rocky embankment to find the river flowing nicely, possibly up slightly from the overnight rain and was still crystal clear. It looked an absolute picture. With its rocky bottom and what seemed like endless runs, pocket water and habitat for trout, I expect I could explore this stretch of the river for weeks. I likened the quality of this river to what I had seen in videos of some of the New Zealand streams, so clean and healthy. There was Dragonflies and Damselflies everywhere, in bright blues. One of the key things I noticed about the stretch of river we fished was the absence of deeper holes for fish to hold up in. Just about all of what we fished was knee to waist deep, and you could see everything given the water clarity. The walking was relatively easy, in and out of the water and it made covering ground straight forward.

Searching for fish in crystal clear water.

THE FISHING

Simple to say the fishing was tough. I spooked a couple of smaller fish in the mid morning light, but then things got really quiet during the day. I had a slight interaction with a number of smaller fish in a classic run, but they never hooked up, I suspect they were only about six inches long. I wondered if the amount of sunlight and lack of deeper water, as mentioned above, played into these quiet periods but honestly it didn't matter. I need to spend more time getting to know this river and its characteristics. Similar to the Geehi River, but perhaps more so here, the water depth was misleading at times. There were pools that I felt were knee deep, only to find myself in waist deep water when I stepped in. I suspect the river was probably down from its usual flow levels, and there is certainly deeper water down stream, maybe that area holds more fish.

As we progressed up the river, the conditions changed, the water became less about longer runs and more about pocket water and high sticking. But still we didn't really see any fish feeding or holding up. I tried a myriad of dry flies including mayfly and hopper patterns.

Fishing pocket water up stream.

As the day moved on, we made a decision to fish one last run, it also didn't hold any fish that we could see, at least and nothing looked at our flies. It was time to call it a day. With a walk out, pack down and a long drive home, we decided it was time to leave.

A WANT TO RETURN

There is a real curiosity to return to this stunning place one day soon. To see more water and perhaps figure things out a little more. Good hatches early in the morning and late in the evening seem to be worth a try, but I need to get a better lay of the land. I suspect this river, like many others in this region, has suffered in the last two years. It's not through lack of food or good water though, there just didn't appear to be a population of feeding trout here on this day. An all too familiar experience lately.

But things will change and I will be back here. I am just glad we get to experience places like this, with so much natural and wild beauty.

Some of the deeper water we found, but it was very quiet.

Dragonfly shucks could be seen everywhere from recent hatches.

Choosing flies as the sun started to get low.