Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Roper River at Roper Bar Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Roper at Roper Bar: barramundi where the fresh crosses to the salt on the road to the Gulf, with the store, the crossing and the Bureau’s gauge at the police station.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~26 °C est.
Air / High
25 °C / 35 °C
Wind
E 20 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge G9030012, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Roper River at Roper Bar sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 21 km/h, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 35 °C. Water sits around 26 °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.
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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 33 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Northern Territory has no general fishing licence, but rules and permits apply. Northern Territory fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing barramundi here? Check the size and bag limits with NT Fisheries before you keep anything; the Barramundi page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Roper River at Roper Bar today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:19), sunset (18:28), 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 G9030012 (Roper River - Police Station-Roper Bar).
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 temp25 °C
High / Low35 °C / 20 °C
WindE 20 km/h, gusts 38 km/h
Pressure1017.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain12% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:19 / 18:28
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Roper River at Roper Bar
The best day on Roper River at Roper Bar this week looks like Monday 28 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: Monday, 28 Sept — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
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
- 06:19 to 18:28
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 27 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Roper River at Roper Bar: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Barramundi
Run-off (March to May) and build-up (October to November) in the north; check the closed season on the Queensland east coast
The north's fish. Tidal rivers, run-off creeks, rock bars and the stocked impoundments. Warm water, moving water and a barometer on the way down. Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
When to come: the Roper River at Roper Bar 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
Barramundi
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 26 °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 Roper River at Roper Bar today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 34 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 34 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 35 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Northern Territory has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and closures do. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by NT Fisheries and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Northern Territory licence page before you keep anything.
Access
The Northern Territory has no fishing licence; the barramundi possession limit, the closed areas and the Aboriginal land permits below the bar apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Roper River at Roper Bar is a river in Northern Territory, Australia, covered from the Northern Territory reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Roper River at Roper Bar: the full guide
The reach
The Roper at Roper Bar is the river crossing on the road from Mataranka to the Gulf of Carpentaria, a rock bar where the freshwater Roper drops into the tidal river, with the Roper Bar store, the camping, the ramp and the reaches upstream through the spring-fed pools of the Elsey country and downstream through the tidal river to Ngukurr and the Gulf. It is barramundi water at the meeting of the waters, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the police station supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi fish the bar, the snags and the deep pools through the dry and on the run-off, with no closed season in the Territory and the possession limit the constraint; sooty grunter are on the rock; black jew and threadfin are in the tidal river below; catfish and archer fish are everywhere; and saltwater crocodiles are in the tidal river and the pools. The road is closed in the wet and the crossing goes under.
Where to fish it
The bar itself is fished from the rocks at the change of the tide with care for the crocodiles, the ramp launches onto the tidal river downstream, and the pools upstream toward Mataranka are a canoe fishery in the dry; the store is the base and the camping is beside it. Aboriginal land downstream toward Ngukurr has its own permits.
Reading the report
The chart shows a river that floods in the wet and falls to spring-fed pools through the dry, with the tidal river below the bar swinging on the tide; the run-off as the river drops is the barramundi time and the rain row shows the wet and the road closures. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives a long barramundi band; pressure counts before a storm.
Rules and access
The Northern Territory has no fishing licence; the barramundi possession limit, the closed areas and the Aboriginal land permits below the bar apply, on the pages linked below. The store, the camping and the ramp are public; the road closes in the wet.
Common questions
When is the road to Roper Bar open?
Through the dry season; it closes in the wet when the crossing goes under, and the rain row on this page shows the wet arriving.
Do I need a licence at Roper Bar?
No. The Northern Territory has no recreational fishing licence; the barramundi possession limit and the land permits below the bar apply.
Is fishing good at Roper River at Roper Bar 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.