Rainbow trout
Slow
Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Jounama Pondage Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The small Snowy Scheme pondage between Talbingo and Blowering: trout and natives in a water that rises and falls with the power station, with a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~8 °C est.
Air / High
15 °C / 24 °C
Wind
SSE 5 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 410573, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Jounama Pondage is in its winter rhythm: deep, slow and around the middle of the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSE around 5 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Water sits around 8 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Brown trout
Slow
The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
Tie on: Bait on the bottom, running sinker · Heavy blade, deep · Slow-rolled swimbait · Live bait, deepest hole. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 24 °C with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
New South Wales requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$7.00. New South Wales fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD NSW before you keep anything; the Rainbow trout page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Jounama Pondage today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:52), sunset (18:05), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 410573 (Jounama Pondage RL).
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low24 °C / 12 °C
WindSSE 5 km/h, gusts 8 km/h
Pressure1025.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain96% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:52 / 18:05
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Jounama Pondage
The best day on Jounama Pondage this week looks like Sunday 27 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Sunday, 27 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:52 to 18:05
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 10 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Jounama Pondage: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open all year No closed season in lakes and dams; the winter closure applies to streams only. Rule as read from DPIRD NSW on 2026-09-23.
The stocked lakes of the Snowy Mountains, the Victorian highlands and the Tasmanian central plateau. Closed seasons apply on the rivers: check the state rules. Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Brown trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open all year No closed season in lakes and dams; the winter closure applies to streams only. Rule as read from DPIRD NSW on 2026-09-23.
The wild trout of the highland rivers and Tasmania's lakes. Spawns in autumn, hence the closed rivers through winter in NSW and Victoria. The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
When to come: the Jounama Pondage calendar
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 8 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Jounama Pondage today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 23 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 21 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 17 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7.00, the same for residents and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by DPIRD NSW and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the New South Wales licence page before you keep anything.
Access
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee from A$7 for three days applies; the New South Wales licence page has the details.
About this water
Jounama Pondage is a lake in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Jounama Pondage: the full guide
The lake
Jounama Pondage is the regulating storage immediately below Talbingo Dam on the Tumut River, a small, deep pondage that Snowy Hydro fills and empties with the Tumut 3 power station and that spills into Blowering below; a picnic area, a ramp and easy bank access at the Talbingo end make it a family fishery that fishes very differently from one hour to the next. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge on the pondage records the swings, and the reading with its time and a 30-day chart are on this page.
Species and seasons
Rainbow and brown trout are the fish, in cold water released from the bottom of Talbingo, along the edges and in the current at the head of the pondage on bait, spinners and flies through the cooler months and at first light in summer; golden perch and Murray cod drop down from Talbingo or up from Blowering and hold in the deeper water in the warm months, the cod closed from September to November under the rule the species card computes; redfin are present. There is no closed season for trout on the pondage.
Where to fish it
The Talbingo end has the picnic area, the ramp and the bank access, and the current where the water enters from the power station is where the trout feed when the station is running; the edges downstream fish on bait and the deep water near the Jounama dam holds the natives. A kayak covers it comfortably and a bigger boat is unnecessary.
Reading the report
The level chart on this page is unlike any lake’s: it swings with the generation schedule, sometimes metres in a day, and a rising pondage means the station is running and the trout are feeding in the current. The water temperature estimate runs cold because the release comes from the bottom of Talbingo, and the page labels it as an estimate. Wind matters less in the narrow pondage.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee from A$7 for three days applies; the New South Wales licence page has the details. Snowy Hydro’s rules on the water and the exclusion zones near the outlet and the dam apply; DPIRD’s trout rules and the cod closure are in the sources.
Common questions
When does Jounama Pondage fish best?
When the Tumut 3 station is running and cold water is entering the head of the pondage, which the level chart shows as a rise; the trout feed in that current.
Do I need a licence at Jounama Pondage?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Jounama Pondage right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.