Darling River at Menindee Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Darling at Menindee town, between the lakes: cod and yellowbelly in the river below the Menindee Lakes scheme, with a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
3.28 m
Air / High
26 °C / 35 °C
Wind
NW 11 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 425001, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Darling River at Menindee rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. The gauge reads 3.28 m, holding steady. Today brings cloud cover, wind NW around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 35 °C. Water sits around 13 °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.
Murray cod
Slow
Slow it down: heavier spinnerbaits, slow-rolled swimbaits and bait on the bottom next to the deep 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 35 °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 murray cod here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD NSW before you keep anything; the Murray cod page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Darling River at Menindee today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:16), sunset (18:28), 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 425001 (DARLING@MENINDEE TWN).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 425001. Latest reading 2026-09-23 22:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp26 °C
High / Low35 °C / 16 °C
WindNW 11 km/h, gusts 18 km/h
Pressure1023.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain94% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:16 / 18:28
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Darling River at Menindee
The best day on Darling River at Menindee this week looks like Saturday 26 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 3 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: Saturday, 26 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 06:16 to 18:28
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Darling River at Menindee: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Murray cod
December to August; closed September to November
Closed now Reopens 1 Dec 2026. Closed 1 September to 30 November in all waters except Blowering and Copeton dams. Rule as read from DPIRD NSW on 2026-09-23.
The giant of the inland rivers and the big lakes (Hume, Mulwala, Eildon). A snag fish that eats big lures, and a species with a closed season across the Murray-Darling. Slow it down: heavier spinnerbaits, slow-rolled swimbaits and bait on the bottom next to the deep snags.
Golden perch
Best: November to April
Yellowbelly. The bread-and-butter native of the Murray-Darling lakes and rivers; loves warm water, structure and a lure worked slowly past its nose. Slower. Work the deeper timber and the drop-offs with vibes and bait.
When to come: the Darling River at Menindee 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
Murray cod
Golden perch
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 13 °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 Darling River at Menindee 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. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 34 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 28 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at good. High of 22 °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 is required at Menindee, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales page has the fees.
About this water
Darling River at Menindee is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Darling River at Menindee: the full guide
The Darling at Menindee
Menindee is the town on the Darling River beside the Menindee Lakes, the chain of storages that holds the river’s floods, and the river runs past the town between the weirs and on toward Pooncarie. The river here is managed by releases from the lakes. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Menindee town supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. Lake Menindee has its own page.
Species and seasons
Murray cod and golden perch are the fish of the Darling at Menindee, cod on the snags and in the deep holes, yellowbelly on shrimp and worms through the warm months; carp are abundant, and freshwater catfish are protected west of the Divide. The New South Wales Murray cod closure, 1 September to 30 November, applies; the species card computes it.
Where to fish it
The riverbank in Menindee and the reaches below the weirs give access to the Darling, and Kinchega National Park, beside the town, has riverside camping along the river. The lakes are a separate fishery on their own page.
Planning a visit
Menindee is about an hour from Broken Hill by sealed road, with a pub, a store and camping. Bring cod gear and bait, and check the releases from the lakes, which change the river quickly.
The river through the year
The river at Menindee saw mass fish deaths in the summer of 2018–19 and again in March 2023, when low flows, heat and algae left the water without oxygen. Releases from the lakes set the flow past the town, and the chart shows them; a steady release through the warm months is when the cod and yellowbelly feed.
Reading this report here
The chart matters here, because the Darling below Menindee follows what the lakes release; a steady flow fishes more predictably than a sudden change. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is hot in summer; pressure and sky build the score at Menindee.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required at Menindee, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales page has the fees. Kinchega National Park has its own rules, and the DPIRD rules are in the sources.
Common questions
Is this page about the river or the lakes?
The river at Menindee town; Lake Menindee has its own page.
What can I catch at Menindee?
Murray cod and golden perch; carp are abundant.
Do I need a licence at Menindee?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Darling River at Menindee right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 425001 — DARLING@MENINDEE TWN
- 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.