Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
Darling River at Tilpa Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Darling at Tilpa between Louth and Wilcannia: Murray cod and golden perch in remote outback country, with a Bureau gauge.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Level
0.56 m
Air / High
25 °C / 29 °C
Wind
SE 2 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 425900, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Darling River at Tilpa sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 0.56 m, holding steady. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SE around 2 km/h, rising pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 29 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:30 PM-1:30 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Murray cod
Closed today
Reopens 1 Dec 2026. Closed 1 September to 30 November in all waters except Blowering and Copeton dams.
Tie on: Soft plastic on a 1/4 oz jighead · Small hardbody, shallow diver · Squid jig, size 3.0 · Fresh pipi or worm on a small hook. Prime windows: 11:30 PM-1:30 AM, 11:57 AM-1:57 PM, 5:24 AM-6:24 AM. Warmer at 34 °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 Tilpa today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:20), sunset (19:52), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:30 PM-1:30 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 PM; minor 5:24 AM-6:24 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 425900 (DARLING@TILPA).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 425900. Latest reading 2026-11-07 22:45.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp25 °C
High / Low29 °C / 13 °C
WindSE 2 km/h, gusts 2 km/h
Pressure1015.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain55% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:20 / 19:52
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Darling River at Tilpa
The best day on Darling River at Tilpa this week looks like Friday 13 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today.
Best day this week: Friday, 13 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 11:30 PM-1:30 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 PM
- Minor period
- 5:24 AM-6:24 AM
- Sun
- 06:20 to 19:52
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Darling River at Tilpa: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Murray cod
Closed 1 September to 30 November in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, and 1 August to 31 October in Queensland; check the exempt lakes
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.
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. Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
When to come: the Darling River at Tilpa 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 19 °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 Tilpa today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 26 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 29 °C, wind to 29 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 30 °C, wind to 13 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
At Tilpa the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days; see our New South Wales licence page.
About this water
Darling River at Tilpa 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 Tilpa: the full guide
The Darling at Tilpa
Tilpa is a tiny settlement and crossing on the Darling River between Louth and Wilcannia, deep in the western plains where the river winds between coolibah and river red gums. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Tilpa, station 425900, supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. The Darling at Louth has its own page.
Species and seasons
Murray cod and golden perch are the fish of the Darling at Tilpa, the cod in the snags and deep holes, the yellowbelly in the warm months on shrimp and worms; carp are common. Freshwater catfish may not be kept in any western-flowing river. The species card applies the New South Wales cod closure, which runs through spring from 1 September to 30 November.
Where to fish it
The crossing and the riverbank near the settlement are the obvious access, and camping spots along the river roads reach the snag-lined bends. The fishing is from the high banks with bait and heavy line, and a long-handled landing net saves fish on the steep clay.
Planning a visit
Tilpa is reached only by unsealed roads that close after rain. Carry fuel, food, water and a way to call for help, bring cod gear and bait for yellowbelly, and allow for the heat.
The river through the year
The Darling at Tilpa carries water that fell weeks earlier in Queensland and northern New South Wales, so a rise here can arrive in cloudless weather, and a flood can take a long time to pass. In drought the river can stop flowing and shrink to pools between the clay banks, and the fish crowd into the deeper holes. Cod feed through summer and autumn in the snags, and golden perch bite best on a rising river in the warm months, when a fresh is the signal to fish. The chart shows which way the river is moving, and on the Darling the direction matters more than the level.
Reading this report here
The chart shows whether the Darling at Tilpa is flowing or reduced to pools; flows from Queensland take weeks to arrive. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, climbs high in summer; pressure and sky build the score at Tilpa.
Licence, access and rules
At Tilpa the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days; see our New South Wales licence page. The DPIRD freshwater closures sit in the sources below.
Common questions
Where is Tilpa?
On the Darling River between Louth and Wilcannia in western New South Wales.
What can I catch at Tilpa?
Murray cod and golden perch; carp turn up often.
Do I need a licence at Tilpa?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies at Tilpa, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Darling River at Tilpa right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 425900 — DARLING@TILPA
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- 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.