Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
Macquarie River at Dubbo Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Macquarie through Dubbo: cod and golden perch below Burrendong’s releases, the South Dubbo Weir closed zone and the Bureau’s gauge in the city.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
0.75 m
Air / High
17 °C / 23 °C
Wind
SE 2 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 421001, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Macquarie River at Dubbo sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 0.75 m, easing 0.14 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind SE around 2 km/h, rising pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:13 PM-1:13 AM and 11:40 AM-1:40 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Murray cod
Closed today
Reopens 1 Dec 2026. Closed 1 September to 30 November in all waters except Blowering and Copeton dams.
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: 11:13 PM-1:13 AM, 11:40 AM-1:40 PM, 5:04 AM-6:04 AM. Warmer at 30 °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 Macquarie River at Dubbo today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:01), sunset (19:38), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:13 PM-1:13 AM and 11:40 AM-1:40 PM; minor 5:04 AM-6:04 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 421001 (MACQUARIE @ DUBBO).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 421001. Latest reading 2026-11-07 23:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp17 °C
High / Low23 °C / 8 °C
WindSE 2 km/h, gusts 8 km/h
Pressure1017.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain17% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:01 / 19:38
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Macquarie River at Dubbo
The best day on Macquarie River at Dubbo 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
- 11:13 PM-1:13 AM and 11:40 AM-1:40 PM
- Minor period
- 5:04 AM-6:04 AM
- Sun
- 06:01 to 19:38
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Macquarie River at Dubbo: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Murray cod
Closed 1 September to 30 November in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, and 1 August to 31 October in Queensland; check the exempt lakes
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.
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. Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
When to come: the Macquarie River at Dubbo 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 19 °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 Macquarie River at Dubbo today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 29 °C, wind to 31 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 26 °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 covers the Macquarie, starting at A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page lists the rest.
About this water
Macquarie River at Dubbo is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Macquarie River at Dubbo: the full guide
The reach
The Macquarie at Dubbo runs through the city below Burrendong Dam and Wellington, carrying the dam’s irrigation releases between red gums and sand bars. South Dubbo Weir holds part of the town reach, and DPIRD prohibits all fishing within 75 metres downstream of its face. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Dubbo supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Murray cod and golden perch are the target fish; cod close from 1 September to 30 November under the NSW rule the species card computes. Freshwater catfish are closed to take in the Macquarie, as in every river west of the Divide, and silver perch, trout cod and Macquarie perch are protected as well. Golden perch are the fish most likely to be kept, from spring into autumn. They tolerate warm, turbid water and often rest among snags or along the bank out of the current, the Victorian Fisheries Authority notes, so a slow presentation along a shaded bank can find them in the heat.
Where to fish it
In a city reach the structure is the fishing: snags on the outside bends, bridge pylons and the deeper water below riffles. Night fishing with surface lures along the timber is a summer method for cod, and golden perch take small lures and baits on the edges in warm, rising water. A kayak covers the reach well, but keep clear of the weir’s closed water.
Reading the report
The chart follows the Burrendong releases with a delay, high and steady through the irrigation season and low in a dry autumn, when the river drops onto its sand; the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the cod band from about November to April. Wind crosses the open plain; pressure counts ahead of a summer storm, and the planner picks the night.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee covers the Macquarie, starting at A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page lists the rest. DPIRD’s species closures and its list of weir and dam closures, including South Dubbo Weir, are in the sources.
Common questions
Can I fish the Macquarie in Dubbo?
Yes, outside the closed water below South Dubbo Weir, for cod in season and golden perch; freshwater catfish and silver perch must be released.
Do I need a licence at Dubbo?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Macquarie River at Dubbo 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 421001 — MACQUARIE @ DUBBO
- 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.