Lake Jindabyne recovered nicely from the October Snowy River water release, with rain on top of the snowmelt bringing the lake level back up nicely and now the water has warmed, the fish are on the bite well and truly.

The rivers have been also fishing well and the season is ‘normal’ after a few years of crazy weather.

The trolling has been good and I expect it to remain stable for the rest of this month.

You should catch fish in the early morning surface trolling from about 5am to 6.30am and then go deeper using lead-core line at four colours. If it’s really sunny and warm, it will be better with downriggers at 10m around the middle of the day.

The best lures will be black and orange Tasmanian Devils like the Y82, preferably in Dual Depth (20g to get a little deeper), the YFreddo or Y50. The Y48 Dual Depth is also worth a try on dull days or deeper down.

New Tassie colours that are going well in Lake Jindabyne include No 107 and No 102. The new orange tiger in the Rapala CD5 and CD7 is still going well.

East Jindabyne islands, Hayshed Bay, Lion and Cub Islands and the South Arm have been fishing very well.

When bait fishing at this time of year, look for steeper drop-offs, especially in the brighter parts of the day.

The best artificial baits at the moment are rainbow paste, chunky cheese, lime twist, sherbet and the old favourite lemon twist.

Scrub worms off the bottom and a PowerBait dropper will be the best in the middle of the day for the brown trout.

For a big brown bardi grubs are best although there have been some good fish also taken on mudeyes.

Best areas for bait fishing will be Hatchery Bay, East Jindabyne and the Claypits through to the Jindabyne Holiday Park.

The best lure spinning on the lake will be early and late in the day. If you want to spin in the middle of the day, work close around rocky outcrops and in deeper water.

The new Rapala Trout Quivers have been excellent and the new colours in the Gillies Bendbacks are also catching their fair share of rainbows.

Use smaller lures like Mepps spinners, Celtas or Gillies spinners around the shallow bays after dark.

Check out the new luminous Vibrax spinners; you will be surprised how well they work in fringe light to full dark around the edges of the rising lake in the shallows.

Have a look also at the lures that are working for the trollers; they also should be good from the shoreline.

When working the lake edges, don’t stay in one place too long and put in only a couple of casts in each area. Keep moving!

The best lures for spinning the Thredbo River have been Rapalas in rainbow trout and brown trout patterns. In the shallows a silver Mepps Aglia spinner or No 2 Celta also will be deadly.

For soft plastics, try the PowerBait Ripple Shads in holographic gold/black and rainbow trout. The Tasmanian Strike Tiger Homebrew Grubs are also worth looking at; there are some neat new frog patterns that are catching big browns.

The quality fly-fishing on the Thredbo River is expected to continue, with an excellent flow of water. Carry flies to imitate ants, beetles, grasshoppers, mayfly and caddis.

The ti-trees still haven’t started to flower so some of our normal fly patterns, like beetles and white moths, are still a way off yet.

The Mowambah is fishing OK lower down towards the weir and caddis and ant patterns are best there.

The lake fly action has been just fantastic with Woolly Buggers or larger flies still the best. Craig’s Nighttime and Williamson’s Goldfish have been well worth using at dawn and dusk.

The weed beds are now up to the water’s edge and if you sight a fish in the shallows you may be better to cast a smaller fly than a larger one, something like a Green Nymph.

All the best for Christmas and thanks for your support and kind emails and I look forward to catching up with some of you. Remember, we have a full range of tackle for hire at my shop and fishing tours are available.