Murrumbidgee River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The river of the Riverina and the capital: cod and golden perch in the lowland reaches, trout in the mountains, and a thousand kilometres between them.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~13 °C est.
Air / High
11 °C / 23 °C
Wind
SW 1 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Murrumbidgee River has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings cloud cover, wind SW around 2 km/h, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 23 °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. Warmer at 27 °C with a rain chance. 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 Murrumbidgee River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:49), sunset (18:01), 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
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low23 °C / 8 °C
WindSW 1 km/h, gusts 9 km/h
Pressure1026.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain80% cloud, 16%
Sunrise / Sunset05:49 / 18:01
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Murrumbidgee River
The best day on Murrumbidgee River 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
- 05:49 to 18:01
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 16%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Murrumbidgee River: 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 Murrumbidgee River 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 Murrumbidgee River 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 22 °C, wind to 14 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 19 °C, wind to 16 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 12 °C, wind to 10 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 New South Wales reaches, from A$7 for three days; the ACT reaches are under the territory’s rules, which this site has not yet verified; our New South Wales and ACT licence pages explain both.
About this water
Murrumbidgee River is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Murrumbidgee River: the full guide
The river
The Murrumbidgee rises in the Snowy Mountains, runs through the Australian Capital Territory past Canberra, then across the Riverina through Gundagai, Wagga Wagga, Narrandera, Hay and Balranald to join the Murray, and it is the second great river of the Murray-Darling and a fishery along its whole length. The reach this page scores is the one near the capital, where the river runs through gorges and reserves between the territory and Burrinjuck, and where the Cotter joins it; the Riverina reaches, with their cod and perch water at Wagga and Narrandera, enter in a later phase as their own entities, because one point cannot stand for a thousand kilometres of river.
Species and seasons
Murray cod are the river’s fish in the lowland reaches and the gorges, in the snags, the rock walls and the deep bends in the warmer months, with the closed season from September to November that both New South Wales and the ACT publish; golden perch fish the same water from spring to autumn; trout hold in the cold upper reaches and the tributaries in the mountains; and redfin and carp are present, with the rules on carp. Silver perch and the Macquarie perch of the upper river are protected and must go back; the trout cod of the upper Murrumbidgee is protected too.
Reading this report for the river
The river’s flow decides everything, and it is regulated from Burrinjuck and Tantangara: a rising or falling river moves the cod and the perch, and the water authority publishes the flows that this page does not have. The wind matters little in the gorges; the water temperature decides whether the cod feed, and the seasonal curve on this page is an estimate for a tableland river and says so. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies on the New South Wales reaches, from A$7 for three days; the ACT reaches are under the territory’s rules, which this site has not yet verified; our New South Wales and ACT licence pages explain both. The river reserves at Uriarra, Casuarina Sands, Kambah Pool and Tharwa in the territory and at the crossings in New South Wales are public; the DPIRD limits, the cod closed season and the protected species are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
Which licence do I need on the Murrumbidgee?
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee on the New South Wales reaches; the ACT reaches are under the territory’s rules, which this site has not yet been able to verify on the government’s page.
When is cod season on the Murrumbidgee?
Murray cod are closed from September to November in New South Wales and the ACT; the species card rates the month.
Is fishing good at Murrumbidgee River 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
- 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.