Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Burdekin Falls Dam Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Queensland’s largest dam on the Burdekin: barramundi, sooty grunter and the vast timbered lake behind the falls, exempt from the closure, with a permit and a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
152.87 m1,626,031 ML
Air / High
19 °C / 27 °C
Wind
E 10 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 120016A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Burdekin Falls Dam has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. The gauge reads 152.87 m, easing 0.08 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 10 km/h, steady pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 27 °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 28 °C with a rain chance. 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 Burdekin Falls Dam today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:58), sunset (18:08), 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 120016A (Burdekin Falls Dam).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 120016A. Latest reading 2026-09-24 11:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low27 °C / 17 °C
WindE 10 km/h, gusts 21 km/h
Pressure1024.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain2% cloud, 49%
Sunrise / Sunset05:58 / 18:08
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Burdekin Falls Dam
The best day on Burdekin Falls Dam this week looks like Saturday 26 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: Saturday, 26 Sept — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
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
- 05:58 to 18:08
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 49%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Burdekin Falls Dam: 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 Burdekin Falls Dam is a stocked dam 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. Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
When to come: the Burdekin Falls 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
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 Burdekin Falls Dam 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 28 °C, wind to 21 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 27 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Barramundi led the card at fair. High of 29 °C, wind to 26 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
Burdekin Falls 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
Burdekin Falls Dam is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Burdekin Falls Dam: the full guide
The lake
Burdekin Falls Dam holds the Burdekin River south-west of Townsville, the largest storage in Queensland, a lake that spreads for kilometres through dry-country timber and rock with the dam’s spillway thundering in the wet and a camping ground, a ramp and a kiosk at the wall reached by a long road from Ravenswood or Collinsville. It is barramundi and sooty grunter water on a scale of its own, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are stocked and fish the timber, the rock bars and the creek mouths at dawn, dusk and at night through the warm months, and the dam is on the Queensland Government’s exempt list, so the closure does not apply and the species card shows open all year with the rule linked; sooty grunter are everywhere on the rock and the timber; and red claw are a pot fishery. The Burdekin below the dam is barramundi and grunter river water with its own closure. Crocodiles are in the lake.
Where to fish it
The ramp and the camp at the wall launch onto the lower lake, and the fishing is a boat fishery up the arms into the timber and the rock, far enough that fuel and a plan matter; the rock walls near the dam and the creek mouths in the arms are the barramundi water, and the grunter are on every rocky point. Bank fishing from the camp is possible at dusk.
Reading the report
The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the barramundi band from September to April in this hot, dry country; the chart shows the wet-season fill, when the spillway runs, and the long dry draw-down. Pressure counts before a storm, and the lake is open enough that the south-easterly through the dry decides where a boat can go; the wind row is worth reading before a long run.
Permits, access and rules
Burdekin Falls 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 camping ground, the ramp and the kiosk are public; the Queensland rules are in the sources.
Common questions
Is barramundi open all year at Burdekin Falls Dam?
Yes. The dam is on the Queensland Government’s list of stocked dams exempt from the closure; the species card shows it with the rule.
Do I need a permit at Burdekin Falls Dam?
Yes, from age 18: the Stocked Impoundment Permit, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year.
Is fishing good at Burdekin Falls 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 120016A — Burdekin Falls 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.