Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
Murrumbidgee River at Hay Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Murrumbidgee on the Hay plains: slow, red-gum-lined cod and perch water and the Hay Weir closed zone.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Level
6.41 m
Air / High
20 °C / 25 °C
Wind
NE 2 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 41010928, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Murrumbidgee River at Hay sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 6.41 m, easing 0.36 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind NE around 3 km/h, rising pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:28 PM-1:28 AM and 11:56 AM-1:56 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: 11:28 PM-1:28 AM, 11:56 AM-1:56 PM, 5:14 AM-6:14 AM. Warmer at 32 °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 Murrumbidgee River at Hay today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:12), sunset (19:56), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:28 PM-1:28 AM and 11:56 AM-1:56 PM; minor 5:14 AM-6:14 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 41010928 (HAY STORAGE (Hay Weir pool)).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 41010928. Latest reading 2026-11-08 23:47.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp20 °C
High / Low25 °C / 9 °C
WindNE 2 km/h, gusts 5 km/h
Pressure1015.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain98% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:12 / 19:56
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Murrumbidgee River at Hay
The best day on Murrumbidgee River at Hay this week looks like Friday 13 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today.
Best day this week: Friday, 13 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 11:28 PM-1:28 AM and 11:56 AM-1:56 PM
- Minor period
- 5:14 AM-6:14 AM
- Sun
- 06:12 to 19:56
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Murrumbidgee River at Hay: 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 Murrumbidgee River at Hay 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 Murrumbidgee River at Hay 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 22 °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 21 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 27 °C, wind to 14 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, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the other terms.
About this water
Murrumbidgee River at Hay is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Murrumbidgee River at Hay: the full guide
The reach
The Murrumbidgee at Hay runs slow and wide between red gums across the Hay plains, a long way down the river from the dams that regulate it. Hay Weir holds the pool, and DPIRD prohibits all fishing for set distances above and below it. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge in the town no longer reports, so the level and 30-day chart on this page come from the Hay Weir pool gauge, about 12 km downstream at the weir, on the same stretch of river.
Species and seasons
Murray cod and golden perch are the target fish; cod close from 1 September to 30 November under the NSW rule computed on the species card, and golden perch move when the river rises. Silver perch, freshwater catfish, trout cod and Macquarie perch are closed to take. Murray crayfish are closed here all year, because the winter window applies only upstream, between Gundagai and Berembed Weir.
Where to fish it
Snags, deep bends and the weir pool are the places to fish, but the weir’s closed water must be avoided: from 74 metres upstream of where the wall meets the northern bank and 140 metres upstream on the southern side, down to 154 metres below the weir face. Outside that zone, night fishing with bait along the timber suits a plains summer, and dawn and dusk sessions avoid the worst of the heat. The Victorian Fisheries Authority’s guide names bardi grubs, yabbies and worms as baits for cod and golden perch in the Murray system, and the same baits are the usual choice on the plains reaches of the Murrumbidgee.
Reading the report
The chart follows irrigation releases from far upstream and the management of the weir pool; a rise brings perch on, and a heatwave can shut the river down in the middle of the day. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, runs hot on the plains and gives the cod band from about November to April. Wind crosses the open country; pressure counts before a summer storm.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the other terms. DPIRD’s general closures page gives the exact Hay Weir zone and its summary page the species closures; both are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Hay?
Murray cod in season and golden perch; silver perch, freshwater catfish, trout cod and Macquarie perch must be released, and Murray crayfish may not be taken here.
Can I fish at Hay Weir?
Not in the closed zone: DPIRD prohibits all fishing from 74 to 140 metres upstream of the wall, depending on the bank, down to 154 metres below the weir face.
Is fishing good at Murrumbidgee River at Hay right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 41010928 — HAY STORAGE (Hay Weir pool)
- 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.