Australian bass
Fair
Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Bjelke-Petersen Dam Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Lake Barambah near Murgon: bass and golden perch in a shallow South Burnett lake with a holiday park, a permit and a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
306.87 m125,513 ML
Air / High
14 °C / 23 °C
Wind
SE 7 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 136210A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bjelke-Petersen Dam rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. The gauge reads 306.87 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind SE around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Water sits around 16 °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: 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 23 °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 Bjelke-Petersen Dam today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:38), sunset (17:49), 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 136210A (BP Dam HW).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 136210A. Latest reading 2026-09-24 11:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low23 °C / 13 °C
WindSE 7 km/h, gusts 13 km/h
Pressure1030.3 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain6% cloud, 61%
Sunrise / Sunset05:38 / 17:49
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~16 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Bjelke-Petersen Dam
The best day on Bjelke-Petersen Dam this week looks like Sunday 27 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: Sunday, 27 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
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
- 05:38 to 17:49
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 61%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Bjelke-Petersen 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 June to August in NSW rivers
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.
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 Bjelke-Petersen 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 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 Bjelke-Petersen 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. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 24 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 24 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
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 28 °C, wind to 16 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
Bjelke-Petersen is a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water; the permit is required from age 18, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year, as read from the Queensland Government, with details on our Queensland licence page.
About this water
Bjelke-Petersen Dam is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Bjelke-Petersen Dam: the full guide
The lake
Bjelke-Petersen Dam, Lake Barambah, holds Barker Creek south of Murgon in the South Burnett, a shallow, open impoundment in farmland with a holiday park, ramps and camping on its northern shore, drawn down for the irrigators through the dry and refilled by the summer storms. It is a bass and golden perch lake stocked by the local group, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Australian bass are stocked and school in the deeper water off the points in winter and spread along the weed and the timber in summer; golden perch are stocked and fish the points and the timber from spring to autumn; silver perch, saratoga and eel-tailed catfish are present; and red claw are a pot fishery. The stocking group publishes its releases. Barramundi are not the fishery in this cooler southern lake.
Where to fish it
The holiday park and the ramps on the northern shore are the access, and the drowned timber in the arms and the points along the southern shore are the bass and perch water; the deeper water near the wall holds the fish in a low year, and a shallow lake in a draw-down concentrates them in the old channel. Bank fishing from the park works at dusk.
Reading the report
Shallow and open, the lake warms fast in spring and the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the bass and perch band from September to April; the chart shows the draw-down that can shrink it a long way. The wind crosses the open water and stirs the shallows, so the wind row matters; pressure counts before a summer storm.
Permits, access and rules
Bjelke-Petersen is a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water; the permit is required from age 18, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year, as read from the Queensland Government, with details on our Queensland licence page. The holiday park, camping and ramps are open; the Queensland rules are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Lake Barambah?
Australian bass and golden perch, with silver perch, saratoga and catfish, and red claw in the pots.
Do I need a permit at Bjelke-Petersen Dam?
Yes, from age 18: the Stocked Impoundment Permit, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year.
Is fishing good at Bjelke-Petersen 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 136210A — BP Dam HW
- 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.