Wyangala Dam

By Barrie Gill

Wyangala Dam is situated north of the township of Cowra NSW, and south of Bathurst NSW, the turn off to the dam is on the Mid Western H-Way. Wyangala has been stocked with 92,900 Murray Cod, 723,300 Golden Perch, 522,200 Silver Perch, Eel-Tailed Catfish (Indigenous & self supporting), 10,000 Brown Trout & 199,000 Rainbow Trout, Atlantics Salmon have also found their way into Wyangala, but I can not find any record of them ever being stocked, and unfortunately Carp also inhabit the area. This dam also holds reasonable numbers of Macquarie Perch, which are mainly captured, in the back section of the dam in the Abercrombie arm. Wyangala sees more that its fair share of water skiers and other recreational users in the warmer months, but you can usually find a place out of the way, as this is a big water storage impoundment. Wyangala was first constructed in 1936, and received an upgrade in 1971 to increase its storage capacity. The dam wall holds back some 1,220,000 mega litres of water when at 100% of capacity, and was constructed for the purpose of irrigation, hydro-electricity and for recreational use.

As a native fishery Wyangala is up there with the best of them, and techniques that work in other impoundment's certainly work just as well. Wyangala is particularly noted for its Trout & Eel Tailed Catfish fishing, but this is probably due to the fact that a lot of people leave setlines in over night. Casting lures into likely structure is certainly worth more than a go, as is casting from suitable sections of bank. Trolling is another method that will work, and will see you taking both native and trout species. You really need a boat at Wyangala to be able to target the better locations. Sure it is possible to fish around the various camping areas, but they do get hit pretty hard when the crowds are about. Down rigging is a technique that is seeing a lot of use in Wyangala these days, and those that have a good working understanding of this tactic, are seeing the lions share of the trout. However these downriggers are also starting to account for a few Silver Perch as well, so some serious work needs to be put into down rigging for native species. In Southern Queensland impoundment's, down rigging for natives such as Bass and Silver Perch is really taking off, with some impressive results being leaked out.

As well as a fine native fishery, and an excellent Trout fishery, Wyangala also has some fine fishing for Carp. Especially if you target them with fly gear while sight casting to them. I know that they are nothing but vermin, but they do fight hard when hooked on fly tackle despite their reputation. Some of my close friends have had some pretty memorable session’s sight casting to Carp with fly gear in Wyangala. Please remember to dispatch of any Carp in a humane manner well away from the water's edge.

Wyangala seems to fish best for the native's between the months of September through to around April, but really peaks between October to December. If trout were your main target species, then you would be best served fishing from March through to August. You will still catch fish of selected species out side of the times mentioned above, but the above months would have to be the optimum times for the mentioned species. In the summer months the heat can get to almost unbearable temperatures, and the fishing at this time is best carried out early morning and late afternoon. Leave the middle of the day for other activities, such as swimming etc. During the winter this area is well noted for its very cold conditions, so please take a lot of warm clothing as well as wet weather gear with you on you outing. The wind can be pretty fierce during the winter, with south westerlies roaring through the area. These winds can whip the water to foam in a very short time, so be careful and be warned.