Split Rock Dam Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Manilla River storage north of Manilla: golden perch, cod and catfish in a lake that empties in the dry years, with the Bureau’s gauge at the wall.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
446.47 m345,596 ML
Air / High
15 °C / 24 °C
Wind
NNE 3 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 419080, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Split Rock Dam has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 446.47 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 3 km/h, rising pressure near 1029 hPa and a high of 24 °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 24 °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 Split Rock Dam today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:43), sunset (17:55), 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 419080 (SPLIT ROCK DAM).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 419080. Latest reading 2026-09-24 22:30.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low24 °C / 12 °C
WindNNE 3 km/h, gusts 6 km/h
Pressure1028.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain2% cloud, 4%
Sunrise / Sunset05:43 / 17:55
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Split Rock Dam
The best day on Split Rock Dam this week looks like Sunday 27 Sept, at 4 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: Sunday, 27 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:43 to 17:55
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 4%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Split Rock Dam: 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 Split Rock Dam 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 Split Rock Dam 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 25 °C, wind to 13 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 28 °C, wind to 16 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, as the New South Wales licence page sets out.
About this water
Split Rock Dam is a lake in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Split Rock Dam: the full guide
The lake
Split Rock Dam sits on the Manilla River north of Manilla, upstream of Lake Keepit in the north-west of New South Wales, a storage that Water NSW draws hard for the Namoi and that the drought years have emptied almost to the river bed, with camping and a ramp at the dam and open, grazing shores. Its level is the story of every season, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam is where the reading and the 30-day chart on this page come from.
Species and seasons
Golden perch are the mainstay, stocked and fished on the points and the timber from spring to autumn; Murray cod are stocked and closed from 1 September to 30 November under the rule the species card computes; silver perch may be kept, Split Rock being on the DPIRD exempt list; eel-tailed catfish feed in the warm months; and redfin and carp are present, the carp with the release rules. When the lake is low the fish are concentrated and the fishing can be good if the ramp still reaches the water.
Reading the report
Read the chart before anything: a lake at a few per cent is a different water from a full one, and the ramp and the shore camping move with it. The wind row matters on the open basin, the water temperature estimate, marked as an estimate, sets the perch band, and the pressure row helps for the cod in summer. The planner shows which day to take.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies from A$7 for three days, as the New South Wales licence page sets out. The camping area and the ramp at the dam are open when the level allows; DPIRD’s limits, the cod closure and the exempt impoundment list are in the sources.
Where to fish it
The dam end has the camping and the ramp and, in a low year, the only water deep enough to fish; the old river channel up the middle of the basin is where the perch and the cod hold when the lake is down, and the timber and the points along the shore come into play when it fills. A boat with a sounder finds the channel; bank anglers fish the wall and the points near the ramp.
Common questions
What can I catch at Split Rock Dam?
Golden perch, Murray cod outside the closure, silver perch under the impoundment rules, catfish in summer and redfin.
Do I need a fishing licence at Split Rock?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Split Rock Dam 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 419080 — SPLIT ROCK DAM
- 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.