Australian bass
Fair
Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Karuah River at Booral Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Karuah River at Booral north of Port Stephens: bass in the fresh river above the tide, with a Bureau gauge at the crossing.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
0.57 m
Air / High
16 °C / 31 °C
Wind
NNE 12 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 209003, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Karuah River at Booral is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. The gauge reads 0.57 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 13 km/h, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 31 °C. Water sits around 16 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Cooler at 20 °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 Karuah River at Booral today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:37), sunset (17:50), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 209003 (KARUAH R @ BOORAL).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 209003. Latest reading 2026-09-23 22:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low31 °C / 14 °C
WindNNE 12 km/h, gusts 25 km/h
Pressure1026.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 8%
Sunrise / Sunset05:37 / 17:50
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~16 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Karuah River at Booral
The best day on Karuah River at Booral this week looks like Thursday 1 Oct, at 5 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 — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 26 Sept — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:37 to 17:50
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Clear, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 8%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Karuah River at Booral: 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.
When to come: the Karuah River at Booral 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
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 Karuah River at Booral today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 28 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Thu, 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 16 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 19 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 on the Karuah, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales page has the fees.
About this water
Karuah River at Booral is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Karuah River at Booral: the full guide
The Karuah at Booral
Booral is the small locality on the Karuah River north of the town of Karuah and Port Stephens, where the river runs fresh through cattle country and forest before it meets the tide and the oyster leases of the lower Karuah. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Booral supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. Port Stephens has its own page.
Species and seasons
Australian bass are the fish of the Karuah at Booral, taken on surface lures and small hardbodies under the overhanging banks and along the snags from spring to autumn; bream, flathead and estuary perch fish the tidal river below. The New South Wales river closure for bass and estuary perch, 1 May to 31 August, applies; the species card computes it.
Where to fish it
The Booral crossing and the reserves along the river give bank access, and a kayak drifts the reaches down toward the tidal limit.
Planning a visit
Booral is off the Bucketts Way between Karuah and Stroud, and Karuah and Raymond Terrace have supplies. Bring light bass gear and a kayak.
The river through the year
At Booral the Karuah is fresh, a river of long pools under overhanging trees, and a few kilometres downstream it meets the tide and becomes the estuary that runs past the oyster leases into Port Stephens. That closeness to salt water shapes the bass fishing: the fish move down to the brackish water in winter to spawn, the reason for the New South Wales closure from 1 May to 31 August, and return in spring to feed through the warm months. Heavy rain on the ranges to the north brings floods, and the chart shows them; the fishing improves as the river drops and clears. The tidal river below is a separate fishery with bream and flathead.
Reading this report here
The chart shows the Karuah rising after rain in the ranges; a clear river after a fresh fishes best. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm through the bass season; pressure and sky build the score at Booral.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies on the Karuah, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales page has the fees. The DPIRD rules are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Karuah at Booral?
Australian bass; bream, flathead and estuary perch fish the tidal river below.
When is bass closed here?
From 1 May to 31 August.
Do I need a licence at Booral?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Karuah River at Booral 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 209003 — KARUAH R @ BOORAL
- 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.