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.
Talbingo Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The deep Snowy Scheme reservoir above Tumut: trout in cold water between steep ridges, a pondage fishery at each end, and the Bureau’s gauge on the level.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~8 °C est.
Air / High
16 °C / 24 °C
Wind
WSW 1 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 410572A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Talbingo Reservoir has cold water and fish that move for very little; fish the sunniest hours. Today brings cloud cover, wind WSW around 2 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 25 °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 Talbingo Reservoir 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 410572A (Talbingo Res - RO).
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 temp16 °C
High / Low24 °C / 11 °C
WindWSW 1 km/h, gusts 18 km/h
Pressure1026.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain80% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:52 / 18:05
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Talbingo Reservoir
The best day on Talbingo Reservoir this week looks like Saturday 26 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: Saturday, 26 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, 11 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Talbingo Reservoir: 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 Talbingo Reservoir 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 Talbingo Reservoir 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 22 °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 17 °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; the New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Talbingo Reservoir is a lake in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Talbingo Reservoir: the full guide
The lake
Talbingo Reservoir is the Snowy Hydro storage on the Tumut River above Blowering, a deep, cold lake between steep, forested ridges with the Tumut 3 power station at its head, the township of Talbingo and a ramp at the lower end, and the Jounama Pondage below the dam. It is hydro water: the level moves with generation rather than irrigation, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge on the reservoir supplies the reading and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Rainbow and brown trout are the fishery, along the edges and the drop-offs from autumn to spring and deep through summer, trolled along the steep banks, cast from the shore near the town and fished on the fly where the creeks come in; Murray cod and golden perch have been stocked and hold in the timber at the lower end in the warm months, the cod closed from September to November under the rule the species card computes; redfin are present in the bays. Talbingo has no closed season for trout, being a storage, and the streams that feed it follow the stream rule.
Where to fish it
The ramp at Talbingo launches onto the lower basin, and the steep banks either side are trolling water for trout; the shore near the town fishes at dawn and dusk from the bank. The upper reservoir near the power station is deep and cold and the fish are along the edges of the outfall; a boat is the only way to cover it. The drowned timber near the dam is the native fish water in summer.
Reading the report
The level is hydro-driven and the chart shows swings that have nothing to do with rain; a rising lake floods the edges and brings the trout in, a falling one exposes them. The valley funnels wind and the wind row matters for a small boat. The water temperature is an estimate for a Snowy storage, marked as one, and it runs cold, which is trout weather for most of the year.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies from A$7 for three days; the New South Wales licence page has the fees. Snowy Hydro sets the boating rules and the exclusion zones near the power station and the dam; DPIRD’s trout rules and the cod closure are in the sources.
Common questions
Is there a closed season for trout at Talbingo?
No. The New South Wales trout closure applies to streams; the reservoir is open all year and the species card says so with the DPIRD rule.
Can I fish near the Tumut 3 power station?
Only outside the exclusion zones Snowy Hydro marks; its rules are linked in the sources and posted on the water.
Is fishing good at Talbingo Reservoir 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.