Australian bass
Excellent
Prime. Cast spinnerbaits, small hardbodies and surface lures tight to structure in the rivers; sound up the schools in the dams.
Bill Gunn Dam Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Lake Dyer at Laidley in the Lockyer Valley: bass, golden perch, Mary River cod and silver perch, a Stocked Impoundment Permit water shared with skiers, with a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
109.11 m6,079 ML
Air / High
18 °C / 26 °C
Wind
ESE 10 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 143228A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bill Gunn Dam sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 109.11 m, up 0.25 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ESE around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Water sits around 21 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 10:24 AM-12:24 PM and 10:45 PM-12:45 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
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: 10:24 AM-12:24 PM, 10:45 PM-12:45 AM, 3:57 AM-4:57 AM. Warmer at 28 °C. 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 australian bass here? Check the size and bag limits with Queensland DPI before you keep anything; the Australian bass page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Bill Gunn Dam today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (04:54), sunset (18:14), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:24 AM-12:24 PM and 10:45 PM-12:45 AM; minor 3:57 AM-4:57 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 143228A (Bill Gunn Dam L Dyer).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 143228A. Latest reading 2026-11-08 09:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp18 °C
High / Low26 °C / 13 °C
WindESE 10 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure1018.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain34% cloud, 4%
Sunrise / Sunset04:54 / 18:14
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~21 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Bill Gunn Dam
The best day on Bill Gunn Dam this week looks like Friday 13 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Friday, 13 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:24 AM-12:24 PM and 10:45 PM-12:45 AM
- Minor period
- 3:57 AM-4:57 AM
- Sun
- 04:54 to 18:14
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 4%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Bill Gunn Dam: 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 1 May to 31 August in NSW rivers, and dams stay open
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. Prime. Cast spinnerbaits, small hardbodies and surface lures tight to structure in the rivers; sound up the schools in the dams.
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 Bill Gunn 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
Australian bass
Golden perch
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 21 °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 Bill Gunn Dam today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 31 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 31 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 28 °C, wind to 21 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
Bill Gunn Dam is a Stocked Impoundment Permit water: from age 18, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year, as read from the Queensland Government; our Queensland licence page has the details.
Permit
Bill Gunn Dam 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
Bill Gunn Dam is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Bill Gunn Dam: the full guide
Bill Gunn Dam
Bill Gunn Dam forms Lake Dyer on Laidley Creek at Laidley Heights, about 12 km south-east of Gatton in the Lockyer Valley west of Ipswich. Seqwater owns it and describes it as the supply for the Central Lockyer Valley irrigation scheme, with the Lake Dyer Day Use Area on its shore. It is a family fishing lake on the Queensland Government’s stocked impoundment list, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
The Queensland Government lists Australian bass, golden perch, Mary River cod and silver perch as stocked at Bill Gunn. Bass and golden perch are the fish of the lake, taken on lures along the edges and on shrimp and worms from the bank; silver perch school in open water; Mary River cod are few and prized. There is no closed season on these species in the dam, and the species card is scored for bass and golden perch.
Where to fish it
The day use area gives easy shore fishing at Lake Dyer, casting from the points and the edges of the weed. Seqwater lists electric and fuel-powered boating here, along with jet skis, water skiing, wakeboarding and tubing, as well as kayaks, canoes, rowing and sailing, so the open water is shared on warm weekends; the bank and the early morning are the quiet option. The lake warms fast, so the edges fish early and late in summer.
Planning a visit
Laidley is a short drive west of Ipswich, and the lake sits just outside the town toward Gatton. Get the permit sorted before the drive. Light gear for bass and golden perch, a folding chair and bait for the kids suit the lake; in a dry year check how far the water has fallen before making the trip, because an irrigation storage can draw down a long way.
Reading this report here
A small, open lake on the valley floor, Bill Gunn is stirred by a westerly and the wind row decides the bank to fish; the chart shows how far the storage has drawn down, which in dry years is a long way. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm in summer; pressure and sky build the score at Bill Gunn Dam, and the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Bill Gunn Dam is a Stocked Impoundment Permit water: from age 18, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year, as read from the Queensland Government; our Queensland licence page has the details. Seqwater sets the recreation and vessel rules, the Lockyer Valley Fish Restocking Association and Lockyer Valley Regional Council are listed as the dam’s managers, and the Queensland freshwater size and bag limits apply.
Common questions
Is Lake Dyer the same as Bill Gunn Dam?
Yes. Bill Gunn Dam at Laidley Heights forms Lake Dyer, and the Queensland Government lists it as Bill Gunn Dam (Lake Dyer).
What can I catch at Bill Gunn Dam?
Australian bass, golden perch, Mary River cod and silver perch are the species stocked here.
Can I take a powered boat onto Lake Dyer?
Yes. Seqwater lists electric and fuel-powered boating, and skiing and jet skis, at Lake Dyer, as well as paddle craft; its page has the vessel requirements.
Is fishing good at Bill Gunn Dam 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
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 143228A — Bill Gunn Dam L Dyer
- 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.