Lake Jindabyne

Reservoir · Fresh water · in New South Wales

One of the two largest of the Snowy Hydro lakes, at the town of Jindabyne, fed by the Snowy and Thredbo rivers. The department says it suits soaking a bait, land-based sight fly fishing, lure casting and trolling, and maps shore areas for lure, fly and bait and productive trolling water. Atlantic salmon are stocked into it from the hatchery at Jindabyne.

FishingHQ describes what this place is, not whether you may fish it. Access, permits and who to ask.

What you can catch here

Documented at this place, grouped by how you would be fishing, with how strongly the sources support each one. This is what has been written down, not a forecast, and being listed is never permission to fish.

What these strengths mean

Regular local target: Fishing sources describe this as a normal local target here, not merely as caught.
How breadth is counted: A fish documented at six marks is shown as six marks: breadth never raises the strength on its own. A fishery account describes the fishing; a recorded catch reports one specific catch. How evidence is weighed.

How people fish it

Practised here: Fly fishing, Lure fishing.

Methods the sources name for this ground. Each one is explained in full on its own page.

Stillwater fly fishing
Fly fishing without current, where the angler supplies every movement and the problem becomes finding fish rather than presenting to them.
Trolling
Towing lures or baits behind a moving boat to cover large volumes of water and locate scattered fish.
Spinning
Casting an artificial lure and retrieving it so that it moves like something alive — the most direct form of lure fishing.
Ledgering
Fishing a bait on the bottom held by a weight, with no float — the simplest way to fish at distance, in depth, or in wind.
Float fishing
Suspending a bait at a controlled depth beneath a buoyant indicator — the most visual, most controllable and most widely applicable method in angling.

Baits and lures for these fish

The baits and lures each of the fish above is commonly taken on, from that fish’s own page. This is what works for the fish, not a report of what people use on this particular water — local knowledge and the conditions on the day still decide.

Baits

Maggots — for Brown trout

Lures

Streamers — for Atlantic salmon, Brown trout, Rainbow trout
Dry flies — for Brown trout, Rainbow trout
Nymphs — for Brown trout, Rainbow trout
Wet flies — for Atlantic salmon, Brown trout
Spinners — for Rainbow trout
Spoons — for Atlantic salmon
Terrestrial fly patterns — for Brown trout

How to catch them: Salmon fishing · Brown trout fishing

The ground and the water

The ground: One of the two largest of the Snowy Hydro lakes, at the town of Jindabyne, fed by the Snowy and Thredbo rivers. The department says it suits soaking a bait, land-based sight fly fishing, lure casting and trolling, and maps shore areas for lure, fly and bait and productive trolling water. Atlantic salmon are stocked into it from the hatchery at Jindabyne.

Through the year

The department's 2024 guide says lakes and impoundments in the region are open all year. Brown trout run up the rivers from the big lakes to spawn, and Atlantic salmon struggle in summer warmth.

Rules and access

Licence

The NSW recreational fishing fee must be paid, and the receipt carried, in fresh water as in salt. The state fisheries department collects it.

Permission to fish

Separate. The fee is not permission to fish a particular water. The department says most of the Snowy Mountains fishery is in Kosciuszko National Park, whose rules apply too.

Particular to this water: The department's 2024 guide gives two rods per person on the region's lakes and a daily bag and minimum size for trout and salmon together; check the current rules before going. The lake has marked speed-limit areas for boats.

Beyond what is stated above, FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. The New South Wales fishing fee applies in fresh water too, trout rivers and streams have a closed season and some are lure and fly only, and much of the high country is national park. All of it changes. Check the current position with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development before going.

Who holds the answer:

The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, which publishes the freshwater rules and trout seasons.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service, where the water is inside a national park.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, which sets the recreational fishing fee and its exemptions and publishes the rules, closures, marine park zoning and freshwater seasons.
Service NSW, the state's service through which the licence is bought.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service, where the water or shore is inside a national park such as Kosciuszko.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development: collects the fishing fee and publishes the bag and size limits, closures and reserve rules for this water.

Nearby fishing

Other publicly documented places within about 40 km, by distance. Positions are approximate public geography and are never exact marks.

Thredbo River — 10–25 km · River reach
Eucumbene River — 25–40 km · River reach
Lake Eucumbene — 25–40 km · Reservoir

Lake Jindabyne and the publicly documented places around it. Approximate positions, not marks. On a narrow screen the plot is wider than the screen and scrolls sideways inside its frame. Positions are approximate by design — they are capped at about a hundred metres and describe where a named public place is, not where fish are and not a mark. Everything plotted here is also listed below.

Sources for this place

Go Freshwater Fishing — Snowies trout waters — NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 2024 (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The state fisheries department's Snowy Mountains trout guide: this water, the fish it gives, the methods and tackle, and the rules as stated in 2024.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Recreational fishing fee — NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: That the NSW recreational fishing fee must be paid, and a receipt carried, when fishing in any NSW water.States this directlyPassage read and verified

How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy. Last reviewed 2026-10-22.

Before you go

Fish documented here: 9 at this place itself. See them.
Getting there: Not recorded. FishingHQ holds no sourced description of the way in.
Rules particular to this water: The department's 2024 guide gives two rods per person on the region's lakes and a daily bag and minimum size for trout and salmon together; check the current rules before going. The lake has marked speed-limit areas for boats. Dated 2024: NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Whether it still applies is not established. Applies to: Lake Jindabyne.
Nothing here is watched for change. Sources and who to ask.
Hazards particular to this place: None recorded for this place; the hazards of the wider coast or water still apply.

Check before you travel

Whether you may fish here, and whether a licence or permit is needed — start with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
Who holds the fishing right on the water you mean to fish.
Anything recorded here was true when it was read; it is not watched for change.

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