Barramundi
Excellent
Dawn, dusk and the run-off drains and creek mouths on the falling tide; hardbodies and soft vibes cast tight to snags and rock bars.
Ben Anderson Barrage Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Burnett River barrage at Bundaberg: stocked barramundi in the freshwater pool above the tide, open through the east coast closed season, with a Bureau gauge at the barrage.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
3.77 m28,755 ML
Air / High
21 °C / 25 °C
Wind
NE 11 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 136020A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Ben Anderson Barrage is in full summer mode: early starts, shade at midday, and the evening change. The gauge reads 3.77 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Water sits around 29 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 10:24 AM-12:24 PM and 10:46 PM-12:46 AM: plan around them and beat the heat.
Tie on: Soft plastic, 3 to 5 inch paddle tail · Pilchard on ganged hooks · Metal slug, 20 to 40 g · Surface walker at first light. Prime windows: 10:24 AM-12:24 PM, 10:46 PM-12:46 AM, 4:03 AM-5:03 AM. Similar at 27 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Queensland has no general fishing licence, but rules and permits apply. Queensland fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing barramundi here? Check the size and bag limits with Queensland DPI before you keep anything; the Barramundi page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Ben Anderson Barrage today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (04:58), sunset (18:11), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:24 AM-12:24 PM and 10:46 PM-12:46 AM; minor 4:03 AM-5:03 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 136020A (Ben Andersen HW).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 136020A. Latest reading 2026-11-08 11:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low25 °C / 20 °C
WindNE 11 km/h, gusts 18 km/h
Pressure1017.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 35%
Sunrise / Sunset04:58 / 18:11
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~29 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Ben Anderson Barrage
The best day on Ben Anderson Barrage this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:24 AM-12:24 PM and 10:46 PM-12:46 AM
- Minor period
- 4:03 AM-5:03 AM
- Sun
- 04:58 to 18:11
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 35%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Ben Anderson Barrage: 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
Open all year Ben Anderson Barrage is exempt from the closed season Rule as read from Queensland Department of Primary Industries on 2026-09-23.
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. Dawn, dusk and the run-off drains and creek mouths on the falling tide; hardbodies and soft vibes cast tight to snags and rock bars.
When to come: the Ben Anderson Barrage 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.
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F
M
A
M
J
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A
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Barramundi
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 29 °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 Ben Anderson Barrage today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 33 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 29 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 29 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence; permits apply on some waters and the limits and closures do. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by Queensland DPI and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Queensland licence page before you keep anything.
Access
The Ben Anderson Barrage pool is a Stocked Impoundment Permit water: anglers from age 18 need the permit, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year as read from the Queensland Government, with the details on our Queensland licence page.
Permit
Ben Anderson Barrage is in Queensland’s Stocked Impoundment Permit scheme: anyone 18 or over fishing it with a line needs the permit, and one permit covers every scheme water. What the permit costs and where to buy it. Compare it with every other storage in the state on Queensland dam levels today.
About this water
Ben Anderson Barrage is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Ben Anderson Barrage: the full guide
Ben Anderson Barrage
The Ben Anderson Barrage holds back the Burnett River about 26 km from its mouth, according to Sunwater, which owns it, turning the river through and above Bundaberg into a freshwater pool of 30,300 megalitres that runs upstream between cane fields and riverbank parks. It was built as the Burnett Barrage and renamed for the long-serving chairman of the local irrigation committee. It is a stocked impoundment on the Queensland Government’s list, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the barrage supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page. Bundaberg and the tidal Burnett below the barrage have their own page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are the species the Queensland Government lists as stocked in the barrage pool, and they are why it is fished: along the weed edges, the fallen timber and the deeper bends, on soft plastics, hardbodies and surface lures, best from late spring into autumn. The government’s freshwater closed-season page exempts the Ben Anderson Barrage, together with Paradise Dam, Claude Wharton Weir and Jones Weir and the waterways upstream of them, from the 1 November to 31 January barramundi closure; the species card computes that with the rule linked.
Where to fish it
The riverbank parks and walkways along the city reaches give shore access to the weed edges and the snags, and a boat or a kayak works the bends and the timber upstream. Sunwater does not permit boating or fishing near the barrage itself and asks boats to stay at least 200 metres from the wall, or as signed. The deeper outside bends and the drop-offs hold barramundi in the cooler months; the shallow weed beds are the summer water at dawn.
Planning a visit
Bundaberg has everything a visiting angler needs within minutes of the barrage pool: tackle shops, accommodation and fuel. Buy the permit before you launch. Barramundi gear and a landing net big enough for a metre fish are the kit, and there is no tide to plan around: the pool is fresh water held above the tidal river.
Reading this report here
The pool is a warm, sheltered river and the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is the number that matters most, because barramundi slow right down when the water cools in winter. The chart shows the barrage level; Sunwater warns that water can be released at any time, so the river below the barrage can change quickly. Pressure and sky build the score at Ben Anderson Barrage, and the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
The Ben Anderson Barrage pool is a Stocked Impoundment Permit water: anglers from age 18 need the permit, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year as read from the Queensland Government, with the details on our Queensland licence page. The Bundaberg Sportfishing Club and Bundaberg Regional Council are listed as its managers; Sunwater does not permit onshore fishing, swimming or camping near the barrage, and the Queensland size and bag limits for barramundi apply.
Common questions
Is the Ben Anderson Barrage open during the barramundi closed season?
Yes. The Queensland Government lists the barrage, together with Paradise Dam, Claude Wharton Weir and Jones Weir and the waterways upstream of them, among the waters where the east coast closed season does not apply.
Do I need a permit to fish the Burnett above the barrage?
Yes. The barrage pool is a stocked impoundment, so anglers aged 18 and over need a Stocked Impoundment Permit.
Can I fish right at the barrage wall?
No. Sunwater does not permit fishing on or near the barrage and asks boats to stay at least 200 metres from the wall, or as signed.
Is fishing good at Ben Anderson Barrage 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 136020A — Ben Andersen HW
- 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.