Australian bass
Fair
Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge in Kangaroo Valley: bass above Tallowa Dam, outside the river closure, with no current Bureau level series.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~16 °C est.
Air / High
17 °C / 30 °C
Wind
NNW 9 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NNW around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 31 °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 31 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:43), sunset (17:56), 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
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp17 °C
High / Low30 °C / 14 °C
WindNNW 9 km/h, gusts 24 km/h
Pressure1025.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain49% cloud, 19%
Sunrise / Sunset05:43 / 17:56
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~16 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge
The best day on Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge 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, 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
- 05:43 to 17:56
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 10 km/h
- Rain chance
- 19%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge: 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 all year The Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge is above Tallowa Dam, and the closure does not apply in rivers above impoundments 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 Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge 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 Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge 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 26 °C, wind to 11 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 19 °C, wind to 8 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 15 °C, wind to 10 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
Fishing the Kangaroo River takes the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge: the full guide
The Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge
Hampden Bridge is the historic sandstone suspension bridge over the Kangaroo River at Kangaroo Valley in the Southern Highlands escarpment country, where the river runs between farmland and forest before it backs up into the Kangaroo arm of Lake Yarrunga behind Tallowa Dam. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Hampden Bridge has not reported recent readings to Water Data Online, so this page carries no level chart. Tallowa Dam has its own page.
Species and seasons
Australian bass are the fish of the Kangaroo River, in the pools, under the casuarinas and around the rock bars, taken on surface lures, spinnerbaits and small plastics, with the river paddled by canoe and kayak. New South Wales closes bass and estuary perch in rivers from 1 May to 31 August, but not in rivers above impoundments, and the Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge is above Tallowa Dam; the species card shows the exemption with the rule linked.
Where to fish it
The reserve at Hampden Bridge and the canoe launches along the valley give access to the river, and paddling downstream toward the lake is how the Kangaroo is usually fished. The river is popular with paddlers in summer, and early mornings are quieter.
Planning a visit
Kangaroo Valley village sits beside Hampden Bridge, with a pub, cafes, canoe hire and camping at Bendeela and along the river. A canoe or a kayak with a light bass rod is the way to fish the river down toward the lake; start early in summer, when the river is busy with paddlers.
Reading this report here
Without a current level series, the weather rows carry the page: heavy rain on the escarpment raises the river fast, and a flooded Kangaroo is dangerous to paddle. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm through the bass months; pressure and sky build the score at Hampden Bridge.
Licence, access and rules
Fishing the Kangaroo River takes the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees. The reserves and canoe launches are public, and the DPIRD closure summary, with its above-impoundment exemption, is in the sources.
Common questions
Is bass fishing closed in winter on the Kangaroo River?
Not at Hampden Bridge: the New South Wales river closure does not apply in rivers above impoundments, and this reach is above Tallowa Dam.
How is the Kangaroo River usually fished?
By canoe or kayak, paddling downstream from the valley toward Lake Yarrunga.
Do I need a licence on the Kangaroo River?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge 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
- 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.