Australian bass
Fair
Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Paterson River at Gostwyck Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Paterson River at Gostwyck in the Hunter: Australian bass in a green valley river, with a Bureau gauge and the winter bass closure.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
0.67 m
Air / High
16 °C / 31 °C
Wind
NNW 4 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 210079, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Paterson River at Gostwyck has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 0.67 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 3 km/h, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 31 °C. Water sits around 16 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Bream
Fair
Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Cooler at 19 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 Paterson River at Gostwyck today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:38), sunset (17:52), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 210079 (PATERSON R@GOSTWYCK).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 210079. Latest reading 2026-09-23 22:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low31 °C / 13 °C
WindNNW 4 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1026.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain4% cloud, 19%
Sunrise / Sunset05:38 / 17:52
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~16 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Paterson River at Gostwyck
The best day on Paterson River at Gostwyck this week looks like Thursday 1 Oct, at 5 out of 5, against 2 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: Thursday, 1 Oct — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 26 Sept — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:38 to 17:52
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 19%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Paterson River at Gostwyck: 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 June to August in NSW rivers
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. Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
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. Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
When to come: the Paterson River at Gostwyck 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 16 °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 Paterson River at Gostwyck today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 29 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Thu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 26 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Australian bass led the card at good. High of 25 °C, wind to 13 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 is needed on the Paterson, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales page has the fees.
About this water
Paterson River at Gostwyck is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Paterson River at Gostwyck: the full guide
The Paterson at Gostwyck
Gostwyck is the river crossing on the Paterson River near the village of Paterson in the lower Hunter, where the river runs between green dairy flats and casuarina banks below Lostock Dam toward its junction with the Hunter. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Gostwyck supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. Lostock Dam upstream and the Hunter at Greta have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Australian bass are the fish of the Paterson at Gostwyck, holding under the casuarinas and the snags, taken on surface lures, spinnerbaits and small hardbodies from spring to autumn; the tidal water downstream holds bream and estuary perch. New South Wales closes bass and estuary perch in rivers from 1 May to 31 August; the Paterson here is below the dam, so the closure applies, and the species card computes it.
Where to fish it
The crossing at Gostwyck and the reserves near Paterson give bank access, and a kayak drifts the river between the crossings, casting to the shaded banks. Summer evenings on the surface are the classic bass session.
Planning a visit
Gostwyck is near the village of Paterson, north of Maitland in the lower Hunter, and Maitland has tackle and supplies. Bring small surface lures and spinnerbaits for bass and a kayak for drifting between the crossings; the bass season on the river runs from September to April.
Reading this report here
The chart shows the Paterson rising after rain in the Barrington foothills and falling back; a clearing river after a fresh often fishes well. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm from spring to autumn, the bass season; pressure and sky build the score at Gostwyck.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is needed on the Paterson, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales page has the fees. The crossings and reserves are public, and the bass closure and the DPIRD rules are in the sources.
Common questions
When is bass fishing closed on the Paterson?
From 1 May to 31 August, the New South Wales closure for bass and estuary perch in rivers.
What can I catch at Gostwyck?
Australian bass; bream and estuary perch in the tidal water downstream.
Do I need a licence on the Paterson?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Paterson River at Gostwyck 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 210079 — PATERSON R@GOSTWYCK
- 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.