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.
Snowy River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
From Jindabyne down through the gorge to the Victorian border: trout in the cold reaches below the dam, and the environmental flows that have brought the river back.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~8 °C est.
Air / High
8 °C / 14 °C
Wind
N 6 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Snowy River has cold water and fish that move for very little; fish the sunniest hours. Today brings cloud cover, wind N around 6 km/h, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 14 °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 12 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 Snowy River 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
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
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 temp8 °C
High / Low14 °C / 5 °C
WindN 6 km/h, gusts 38 km/h
Pressure1027.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain70% cloud, 39%
Sunrise / Sunset05:52 / 18:05
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Snowy River
The best day on Snowy River this week looks like Wednesday 30 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: Wednesday, 30 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, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 39%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Snowy River: 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
Closed now Reopens 3 Oct 2026. General trout streams close from the Tuesday after the June long weekend to the last Friday before the October long weekend. Lakes and dams have no closed season. 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
Closed now Reopens 3 Oct 2026. General trout streams close from the Tuesday after the June long weekend to the last Friday before the October long weekend. Lakes and dams have no closed season. 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 Snowy River 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 Snowy River 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 13 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
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 12 °C, wind to 8 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 8 °C, wind to 11 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 applies, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Snowy River is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Snowy River: the full guide
The river
The Snowy River rises on Mount Kosciuszko and runs south through Jindabyne and Dalgety into the gorge country of the Monaro before crossing into Victoria to reach the sea at Marlo, and it is the river the Snowy Scheme diverted west and the river that environmental flows from Jindabyne have been restoring since the early 2000s. The reach this page scores is the New South Wales one below the dam, from Jindabyne through Dalgety to the gorge, a cold, clear trout river of rock, gravel and long pools whose flow rises and falls with the releases; Lake Jindabyne above it has its own page, and the Victorian Snowy at Orbost and Marlo, with its bream and bass, enters in a later phase.
Species and seasons
Brown and rainbow trout are the river’s fish, on bait, spinners and the fly through the pools and the runs, with the biggest in the cooler months and the spring and autumn the best of it; the New South Wales trout stream season runs from the October long weekend to the June long weekend, and the reach below Jindabyne is a trout stream under the DPIRD rules with their limits and their bait restrictions. Native fish are present in the lower gorge and the rules for them apply; carp are present too, with the rules on their release.
Reading this report for the Snowy
The flow decides everything, and it is the environmental release from Jindabyne, published by the water authority and not on this page: a big release makes the river unwadeable and a low flow concentrates the fish in the pools. The wind matters little in the valley; the water temperature decides whether the trout feed and the seasonal curve on this page is an estimate for an alpine river and says so; and pressure and sky build the score. The planner shows which day to take, and the Monaro’s weather changes fast.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees. The reserves at Jindabyne, Dalgety and the road crossings are public, and much of the gorge is national park with walking access; the DPIRD trout stream rules, with the season and the bait restrictions, are on the page in the sources.
Common questions
When is trout season on the Snowy River?
The NSW trout stream season runs from the October long weekend to the June long weekend; the DPIRD page is linked in the sources and the species card rates the month.
Do I need a fishing licence on the Snowy River?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Snowy River 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.