Australian bass
Fair
Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Bellinger River at Thora Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Bellinger above Bellingen at Thora: bass in the clear pools under the Dorrigo escarpment, with the Bureau’s gauge at the village.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
1.41 m
Air / High
14 °C / 25 °C
Wind
N 4 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 205002, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bellinger River at Thora is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. The gauge reads 1.41 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 5 km/h, rising pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 25 °C. Water sits around 16 °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.
Bream
Fair
Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 27 °C. 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 australian bass here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD NSW before you keep anything; the Australian bass page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Bellinger River at Thora today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:35), sunset (17:46), 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 205002 (BELLINGER @ THORA).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 205002. Latest reading 2026-09-23 22:15.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low25 °C / 12 °C
WindN 4 km/h, gusts 11 km/h
Pressure1030.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain2% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset05:35 / 17:46
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~16 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Bellinger River at Thora
The best day on Bellinger River at Thora this week looks like Thursday 1 Oct, 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: Thursday, 1 Oct — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
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
- 05:35 to 17:46
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Bellinger River at Thora: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Australian bass
September to April in the rivers; closed June to August in NSW rivers
Open now Closes 1 May 2027. Closed 1 May to 31 August in all rivers except rivers above impoundments; dams are not closed. Rule as read from DPIRD NSW on 2026-09-23.
The native sportfish of the east-coast rivers and the stocked dams. Surface lures in summer, deep in winter, and a river closed season for spawning. Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Bream
Year-round; summer and autumn in the estuaries, winter at the mouths
Yellowfin bream on the east coast, black bream in the southern estuaries. Structure fish: rock walls, jetty piles, oyster racks, snags and pontoons. Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
When to come: the Bellinger River at Thora 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
Australian bass
Bream
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 16 °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 Bellinger River at Thora 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. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 23 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 24 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 19 °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, from A$7 for three days, applies; our New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Bellinger River at Thora is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Bellinger River at Thora: the full guide
The reach
The Bellinger at Thora is the river above Bellingen at the foot of the Dorrigo escarpment, clear and fast over gravel and rock through rainforest and dairy flats, with the Waterfall Way crossing, the Thora village reserve and long pools between the rapids. It is bass water of the purest kind, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Thora supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Australian bass are the fish, in the pools, the snags and the rock walls from spring to autumn on surface lures at dusk and small hardbodies and plastics by day, closed in the river from 1 May to 31 August under the New South Wales rule computed on the species card; eel-tailed catfish and freshwater herring are in the pools; and the Bellinger River snapping turtle, endemic and endangered, lives here and must not be disturbed. Bream and flathead are in the tidal river at Bellingen and Urunga.
Where to fish it
The village reserve and the Waterfall Way crossing give bank access to the pools, and a canoe or a kayak launched at the reserve covers the reach downstream toward Bellingen through pool after pool; the snags and the rock walls at the heads of the pools are the bass water, and a walk along the gravel bars reaches water no boat can. Dusk under the rainforest is the bass hour.
Reading the report
The chart shows a mountain river that rises fast after rain on the escarpment and falls back to its pools in a day or two; a fresh colours the river and moves the bass, a clear, low river makes them wary. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, runs cooler under the escarpment and gives the bass band from October to April; the valley shelters the water; pressure counts on the summer evenings.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days, applies; our New South Wales licence page has the fees. The reserve and the crossing are public; DPIRD’s limits, the bass river closure and the protection of the snapping turtle are in the sources.
Common questions
Is the Bellinger good for bass?
Among the best on the coast: clear pools under the Dorrigo escarpment, fished by canoe and on foot from spring to autumn, closed from 1 May to 31 August.
Do I need a licence at Thora?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Bellinger River at Thora 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 205002 — BELLINGER @ THORA
- 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.