Macquarie River at Dubbo Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Macquarie through Dubbo: cod and golden perch off the town’s river parks and bridges, with the Bureau’s gauge in the city.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
1.18 m
Air / High
20 °C / 28 °C
Wind
NNE 9 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 421001, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Macquarie River at Dubbo has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 1.18 m, up 0.05 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 10 km/h, steady pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 28 °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 28 °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 (05:51), sunset (18:03), 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 421001 (MACQUARIE @ DUBBO).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 421001. Latest reading 2026-09-23 22:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp20 °C
High / Low28 °C / 13 °C
WindNNE 9 km/h, gusts 17 km/h
Pressure1026.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain6% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:51 / 18:03
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °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 Sunday 27 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: Sunday, 27 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
- 05:51 to 18:03
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Clear, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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
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 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 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 Macquarie River at Dubbo 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 28 °C, wind to 16 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 26 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch 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, from A$7 for three days, applies; our New South Wales licence page has the fees.
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 is the river through the central west’s biggest city, below Burrendong and Wellington, running under the Emile Serisier and LH Ford bridges past Sandy Beach, the Macquarie Lions Park and the levee walks, with red gums and sand bars on the bends and the zoo on the western bank. It is cod and perch water in a city, and 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 fish the snags, the bridge pylons and the deep bends through summer and autumn on lures and bait, closed from 1 September to 30 November under the New South Wales rule the species card computes; golden perch are the everyday fish from spring to autumn; silver perch are protected and go back; eel-tailed catfish feed in summer; and carp are numerous under the DPIRD rules. The Burrendong releases upstream shape the flow.
Where to fish it
Sandy Beach and the river parks give bank access in the middle of the city, the bridges hold cod at night, and a kayak launched at the parks covers the reach from the zoo bend to the bridges; the deep outside bends and the timber upstream toward Wellington are the cod water. Night fishing with surface lures along the town snags is the summer method.
Reading the report
The chart follows the Burrendong releases with a day’s delay, high and steady through the irrigation season and low in a dry autumn, which drops the river onto its sand; the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the cod band from November to April. The open plain lets the wind cross the river; pressure counts before a summer storm and the planner picks the night.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days, applies; our New South Wales licence page has the fees. Sandy Beach, the parks and the levee walks are public; DPIRD’s limits and the cod closure are in the sources.
Common questions
Can I fish the Macquarie in Dubbo?
Yes, from Sandy Beach, the river parks and the bridges, for cod in season, golden perch and catfish in the warm months.
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: 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 421001 — MACQUARIE @ DUBBO
- 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.