Australian bass
Excellent
Prime. Cast spinnerbaits, small hardbodies and surface lures tight to structure in the rivers; sound up the schools in the dams.
Macleay River at Kempsey Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Macleay at Kempsey, inside the estuary: bass above the tide, bream in the tidal reaches, the winter bass closure and the Bureau’s gauge.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
0.51 m
Air / High
14 °C / 24 °C
Wind
WSW 5 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 206402, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Macleay River at Kempsey has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. The gauge reads 0.51 m, up 0.56 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind WSW around 5 km/h, rising pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Water sits around 21 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Bream
Good
Prime bream weather. Cast small vibes, crankbaits and 2 to 3 inch plastics at every piece of structure on the rising tide.
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: 11:46 PM-1:46 AM, 11:22 AM-1:22 PM, 4:49 AM-5:49 AM. Similar at 24 °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 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 Macleay River at Kempsey today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:46), sunset (19:18), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM; minor 4:49 AM-5:49 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 206402 (MACLEAY @KEMPSEY TB).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 206402. Latest reading 2026-11-07 22:45.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low24 °C / 10 °C
WindWSW 5 km/h, gusts 10 km/h
Pressure1019.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain3% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:46 / 19:18
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~21 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Macleay River at Kempsey
The best day on Macleay River at Kempsey this week looks like Friday 13 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Friday, 13 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM
- Minor period
- 4:49 AM-5:49 AM
- Sun
- 05:46 to 19:18
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Macleay River at Kempsey: 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 1 May to 31 August in NSW rivers, and dams stay open
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. Prime. Cast spinnerbaits, small hardbodies and surface lures tight to structure in the rivers; sound up the schools in the dams.
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. Prime bream weather. Cast small vibes, crankbaits and 2 to 3 inch plastics at every piece of structure on the rising tide.
When to come: the Macleay River at Kempsey 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 21 °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 Macleay River at Kempsey today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 29 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 29 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 25 °C, wind to 18 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
Fresh or tidal, the Macleay needs the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Macleay River at Kempsey is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Macleay River at Kempsey: the full guide
The reach
The Macleay is the fourth largest coastal river in New South Wales, a barrier river with a permanently open, trained entrance, the state’s estuary page records, and Kempsey Shire Council manages the estuary. DPIRD’s rules treat the river from Belgrave Falls, Kempsey, upstream as non-tidal, so the town reach below the falls is tidal water. The estuary was graded excellent for water quality in its 2018–19 sampling. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Kempsey supplies the river level and the 30-day chart.
Species and seasons
Australian bass live in the fresh water above the tide and around its limit, and estuary perch hold near the top of the tide; both are closed in rivers from 1 May to 31 August under the NSW rule the species card computes. Bream, the other species on the card, fish the snags and walls of the tidal reaches through the year. Silver perch are closed to take in all rivers.
Where to fish it
In the tidal reaches, fish the run-out tide along snags and rock walls for bream; above the tide, bass sit tight to timber in the pools. A boat opens up the reaches downstream, and a canoe the fresh water upstream. Nets other than landing nets are banned in the non-tidal Macleay from Belgrave Falls upstream.
Reading the report
The chart can show the tide’s influence at the town as well as the freshes that come down after rain in the ranges, which colour the river for days and push fish downstream. This page shows the gauge, not a tide prediction, so use the official tide tables for times. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the bass band from about October to April; pressure and sky fill in the score.
Licence, access and rules
Fresh or tidal, the Macleay needs the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees. DPIRD’s species and general closures and the state’s estuary page for the Macleay are in the sources. South West Rocks, at the mouth, has its own page.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Macleay at Kempsey?
Bass in the fresh reaches from spring to autumn and bream in the tidal water through the year; bass and estuary perch are closed in rivers from 1 May to 31 August.
Do I need a licence at Kempsey?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Macleay River at Kempsey 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 206402 — MACLEAY @KEMPSEY TB
- 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.