Lake Menindee Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Darling River’s outback lake near Broken Hill: golden perch and cod when it holds water, dry sand when it does not, with the Bureau’s gauge telling which.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
55.63 m29,794 ML
Air / High
27 °C / 36 °C
Wind
NW 11 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 425022, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Menindee has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 55.63 m, holding steady. Today brings cloud cover, wind NW around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 36 °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 Lake 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 425022 (LAKE MENINDEE).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 425022. Latest reading 2026-09-24 09:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp27 °C
High / Low36 °C / 16 °C
WindNW 11 km/h, gusts 18 km/h
Pressure1023.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain93% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:16 / 18:28
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Menindee
The best day on Lake 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 Lake 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 Lake 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 Lake 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 11 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 16 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, from A$7 for three days, applies; the New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Lake Menindee is a lake in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Menindee: the full guide
The lake
Lake Menindee is the largest of the Menindee Lakes, the chain of natural overflow lakes on the Darling River near the town of Menindee, an hour from Broken Hill, that Water NSW regulates as a storage for the lower Darling and the Murray. Full, it is a vast, shallow inland sea with red cliffs, dead trees and pelicans; empty, it is a dry bed of sand and scrub, and it has been both within a few years. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge on the lake supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page, and they decide whether there is fishing at all.
Species and seasons
When the lakes hold water, golden perch are the fish, in numbers that make Menindee a destination, on the drowned trees, the channels and the regulator outlets from spring to autumn; Murray cod hold in the deeper channels and the inlet regulators and are closed from 1 September to 30 November under the rule the species card computes; silver perch are protected in these waters and go back; bony bream fill the lakes; and carp are numerous, with the release rules. The Darling itself, above and below the lakes, is its own fishery.
Where to fish it
The town of Menindee, Copi Hollow and the regulator channels between the lakes are the access points, with ramps that reach the water when the level allows; the inlet and outlet regulators are the classic perch and cod spots when water is moving, and the drowned timber along the shores is a boat fishery in a full year. In a low year Copi Hollow, kept fuller for the town, is often the only water.
Reading the report
The chart is the whole question at Menindee: whether the lake has water, how much and which way it is going. A filling lake, after rain far to the north, brings the perch on for months; a drying one concentrates them, then ends the fishing. The wind row matters on a lake this open, the water temperature estimate runs hot in summer, marked as an estimate, and the rain row is a poor guide because the water comes from Queensland.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days, applies; the New South Wales licence page has the fees. The lakes are part of Kinchega National Park and the Water NSW scheme, with camping at the park and at Menindee; DPIRD’s limits, the cod closure and the protection of silver perch are in the sources.
Common questions
Does Lake Menindee have water?
The level chart on this page, read from the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge, station 425022, shows the current level and the last 30 days; the lake has been full and dry within a few years.
What can I catch at Menindee?
Golden perch when the lakes hold water, Murray cod outside the September to November closure; silver perch are protected and must go back.
Where do I launch at Menindee?
At the town, at Copi Hollow and at the regulator channels, when the level reaches the ramps; Copi Hollow is kept fuller and is often the one that works in a dry year.
Is fishing good at Lake 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 425022 — LAKE MENINDEE
- 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.