Rainbow trout
Slow
Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Googong Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Sun, 27 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The reservoir south-east of Canberra: trout, golden perch and cod in a water the ACT manages and New South Wales licenses, with a level read from the Bureau.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
662.79 m119,621 ML
Air / High
11 °C / 12 °C
Wind
SSE 5 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 410748, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Googong Reservoir has cold water and fish that move for very little; fish the sunniest hours. The gauge reads 662.79 m, holding steady. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSE around 5 km/h, falling pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 12 °C. Water sits around 8 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 12:06 AM-2:06 AM and 12:06 PM-2:06 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Brown trout
Slow
The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
Tie on: Bait on the bottom, running sinker · Heavy blade, deep · Slow-rolled swimbait · Live bait, deepest hole. Prime windows: 12:06 AM-2:06 AM, 12:06 PM-2:06 PM, 6:36 AM-7:36 AM. Warmer at 16 °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 rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD NSW before you keep anything; the Rainbow trout page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Googong Reservoir today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:46), sunset (18:03), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 12:06 AM-2:06 AM and 12:06 PM-2:06 PM; minor 6:36 AM-7:36 AM. Full Moon, 99% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 410748 (Googong Res at Dam).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 410748. Latest reading 2026-09-25 18:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low12 °C / 8 °C
WindSSE 5 km/h, gusts 16 km/h
Pressure1029.5 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 84%
Sunrise / Sunset05:46 / 18:03
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Googong Reservoir
The best day on Googong Reservoir this week looks like Monday 28 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: Monday, 28 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 27 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 12:06 AM-2:06 AM and 12:06 PM-2:06 PM
- Minor period
- 6:36 AM-7:36 AM
- Sun
- 05:46 to 18:03
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 84%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Googong Reservoir: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open all year No closed season in lakes and dams; the winter closure applies to streams only. Rule as read from DPIRD NSW on 2026-09-23.
The stocked lakes of the Snowy Mountains, the Victorian highlands and the Tasmanian central plateau. Closed seasons apply on the rivers: check the state rules. Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Brown trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open all year No closed season in lakes and dams; the winter closure applies to streams only. Rule as read from DPIRD NSW on 2026-09-23.
The wild trout of the highland rivers and Tasmania's lakes. Spawns in autumn, hence the closed rivers through winter in NSW and Victoria. The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
When to come: the Googong Reservoir 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 8 °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 Googong Reservoir today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSat, Sep 26
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 24 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Fri, Sep 25
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 22 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Thu, Sep 24
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 22 °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 applies at Googong, from A$7 for three days, even though the ACT manages the reservoir; our New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Googong Reservoir is a lake in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Googong Reservoir: the full guide
The reservoir
Googong Reservoir is the storage on the Queanbeyan River south-east of Canberra, a long, deep lake in dry hills that supplies the capital and is managed by the ACT Parks and Conservation Service, though it sits inside New South Wales: which is why the New South Wales rules and fee apply on its banks and why the ACT licence page on this site sends people here. It is a shore fishery for the most part, with a foreshore recreation area at the dam end, walking access along the shore and no powered boats, and it fishes for trout in the cold months and natives in the warm ones. The storage level in the report comes from the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam, stamped with the time of the reading.
Species and seasons
Brown and rainbow trout are the cool-season fish, stocked and taken from the bank along the drop-offs and the points from autumn through spring on bait, lures and flies; golden perch fish the timber and the points from spring to autumn; Murray cod are stocked and fish the same water in the warmer months, with the closed season from September to November that DPIRD publishes; and redfin and carp are present, with the rules on carp. The reservoir has the general trout waters limits of New South Wales rather than the trout stream ones.
Reading this report for Googong
The level is in the report and the 30-day chart, and it matters because a rising lake floods the grass edges where the trout and the perch feed and a falling one pulls the fish to the points; the wind row decides which shore to fish, because the reservoir is long and a westerly funnels down it. The barometer and the cloud fill in the score; the water temperature is a seasonal estimate for a tableland reservoir, labelled as such; and the planner picks the day.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies at Googong, from A$7 for three days, even though the ACT manages the reservoir; our New South Wales licence page has the fees. The foreshore recreation area and the walking tracks are public under the ACT parks service’s rules, which ban powered boats and set the hours; the DPIRD limits, the cod closed season and the trout rules are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
Which licence do I need at Googong?
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days: the reservoir is in New South Wales even though the ACT manages it. See our New South Wales licence page.
Can I use a boat on Googong?
The ACT parks service’s rules for the reservoir ban powered boats and set the access hours; its page is linked in the sources.
Is fishing good at Googong Reservoir 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 410748 — Googong Res at Dam
- 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.