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.
Wingecarribee Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Southern Highlands trout lake near Moss Vale: shore fishing for rainbows and browns in a Sydney-supply reservoir, with the level read by the Bureau.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
676.57 m25,493 ML
Air / High
15 °C / 24 °C
Wind
NNW 9 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 212212, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Wingecarribee Reservoir is in its winter rhythm: deep, slow and around the middle of the day. The gauge reads 676.57 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 8 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 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 Wingecarribee Reservoir today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:44), sunset (17:56), 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 212212 (GLENQUARRY CUT).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 212212. Latest reading 2026-09-24 22:30.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low24 °C / 13 °C
WindNNW 9 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1026.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 20%
Sunrise / Sunset05:44 / 17:56
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Wingecarribee Reservoir
The best day on Wingecarribee Reservoir this week looks like Wednesday 30 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 2 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 — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:44 to 17:56
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 20%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Wingecarribee 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 Wingecarribee 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 Wingecarribee 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 22 °C, wind to 18 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 15 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 11 °C, wind to 18 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, as the New South Wales licence page sets out.
About this water
Wingecarribee Reservoir is a lake in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Wingecarribee Reservoir: the full guide
The lake
Wingecarribee Reservoir sits on the Wingecarribee River between Moss Vale and Bowral in the Southern Highlands, a Water NSW storage that pumps water to the Sydney system and to Fitzroy Falls, and one of the few Sydney-catchment reservoirs open to shore fishing, with designated fishing areas along the foreshore near the dam. It is cool, high and grassy, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Rainbow and brown trout are stocked and are the fish people come for, from the bank along the edges and the drop-offs in the cool months on bait, lures and flies and deeper through summer, with no closed season because the reservoir is a storage; redfin are numerous and take small lures through the year; Australian bass and golden perch have been stocked and show in the warm months; and carp are present with the DPIRD release rules. The highland streams around the lake follow the trout stream closure.
Where to fish it
The fishing areas the water authority designates along the foreshore near the dam are the access, and they put a bank angler on the drop-off where the trout feed at first light; no boats are allowed, so the fishing is a shore fishery of long casts and patience. The grassy edges flood in a full year and the browns feed over them at dawn.
Reading the report
The highlands are cool and misty and the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, sits in the cool and cold bands for most of the year, which suits the trout; the chart shows the pumping transfers that move the level. A westerly across the open water is cold and the wind row matters for comfort more than safety on a bank fishery. Pressure and sky fill the score.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies from A$7 for three days, as the New South Wales licence page sets out. Fishing is shore-only in the designated areas under the water authority’s rules, with no boats and no wading; DPIRD’s trout rules are in the sources.
Common questions
Can I fish Wingecarribee Reservoir?
Yes, from the shore in the designated fishing areas near the dam, under the water authority’s rules; no boats. It is one of the few Sydney-catchment reservoirs open to fishing.
Is there a closed season for trout at Wingecarribee?
No; the reservoir is a storage and is open all year. The New South Wales stream closure applies to the rivers around it.
Is fishing good at Wingecarribee Reservoir right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 212212 — GLENQUARRY CUT
- 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.