As predicted, the level of Lake Jindabyne is well up and everything looks fantastic.

Trout are still hanging around the snags and trees submerged in the bays and inlets and at dawn and dusk the lure and fly guys targeting these areas are doing very well, with plenty of rainbow trout cruising around.

While the best lure spinning on the lake will be early and late in the day, don’t discount some middle-of-the-day fishing as long as the water remains much cooler than in previous seasons.

Best daytime areas are 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 Celtas or Gillies Spinners around the shallow bays after dark.

Check out the new glow-in-the-dark Vibrax spinners; you will be surprised how well they work in twilight to full dark when used around the edges of the rising lake in the shallows.

Metal blades, especially in gold colours to simulate the feral goldfish in the lake, are also well worth a try. TT Switchblades, Jaz Rayza Blades and Strike Pro Cyber Vibe 50s are a few that are worthwhile having in your tackle box, even for the river when it’s running fast or in deep pools.

Have a look also at the lures that are working for the trollers; they also should be good cast from the shore. 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 the rainbow trout and brown trout patterns. In the shallows, size 2 Celtas in silver and Gillies Tailwalkers have been great.

For the soft plastic users, PowerBait Ripple Shads in holographic gold/black and rainbow trout work well.

, The Tasmanian Strike Tiger Homebrew Grubs are also worth looking at; there are some neat new frog patterns that are catching big browns.

The lake trolling has been good and should remain stable for the rest of this month.

You should catch fish surface trolling from about 5am to 6.30 and then go deeper using lead-core lines 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 be black and orange Tasmanian Devils like the Y82 preferably in Dual Depth (20g to get a little deeper) or the Willy’s Special or Y50 Tassies. The Y48 Dual Depth is also worth a try on dull days or deeper down.

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

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

The bait action has been fantastic over recent months with artificial bait and worms going great, and we should see some mudeye action over December-January.

Scrub worms off the bottom and an artificial bait dropper will be the best tactic for brown trout in the middle of the day. Bardi grubs are also very good for big browns.

Best bait fishing areas will be Hatchery Bay, East Jindabyne and the Claypits. With the water so high, even Widows Creek at the base of Discovery Holiday Park is worth a try when there is not too much boat traffic around.

The dry-fly fishing on the Thredbo River is expected to improve as the Summer progresses. It’s best to have with a mixture of flies to imitate ants, beetles, grasshoppers, mayfly and caddis.

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

On the lake the fly fishing has been fantastic with Woolly Buggers and larger flies still 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.

I wish you all the best for Christmas and thank you for your support and kind emails. For daily reports and updates check out our Facebook page at Steve Williamson’s Lake Jindabyne Trout Fishing Adventures, we’d love you to post some pictures of your latest catches. We have a full range of tackle for hire at my shop and fishing tours are available.