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.
Burdekin Falls Dam Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Lake Dalrymple behind Burdekin Falls Dam, Queensland’s largest water storage: stocked barramundi exempt from the closure, camping by the wall and a ramp that closes at extreme levels.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
152.20 m1,499,765 ML
Air / High
27 °C / 34 °C
Wind
NE 17 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 120016A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Burdekin Falls Dam runs hot and bright: the fish feed early, late and deep. The gauge reads 152.20 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 18 km/h, rising pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 34 °C. Water sits around 29 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:09 PM-1:09 AM and 10:45 AM-12:45 PM: 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: 11:09 PM-1:09 AM, 10:45 AM-12:45 PM, 4:32 AM-5:32 AM. Similar at 34 °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 Burdekin Falls Dam today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:25), sunset (18:25), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:09 PM-1:09 AM and 10:45 AM-12:45 PM; minor 4:32 AM-5:32 AM. New Moon, 0% 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 2026-11-08 11:05.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp27 °C
High / Low34 °C / 24 °C
WindNE 17 km/h, gusts 31 km/h
Pressure1013.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 88%
Sunrise / Sunset05:25 / 18:25
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~29 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Burdekin Falls Dam
The best day on Burdekin Falls Dam 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
- 11:09 PM-1:09 AM and 10:45 AM-12:45 PM
- Minor period
- 4:32 AM-5:32 AM
- Sun
- 05:25 to 18:25
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 88%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
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. 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 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.
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F
M
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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 Burdekin Falls Dam 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 36 °C, wind to 23 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 34 °C, wind to 18 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 36 °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
A Stocked Impoundment Permit is required from age 18 at Burdekin Falls Dam: A$13.60 covers a week and A$64.58 a year.
Permit
Burdekin Falls 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
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, completed in 1987, forms Lake Dalrymple on the Burdekin River, a catchment Sunwater puts at about 13 million hectares, nearly 7 per cent of Queensland. Sunwater calls it the largest water storage asset in the state. It supports the Burdekin region’s agriculture, dominated by sugar, and supplies Townsville, about 150 kilometres to the north. The Bureau of Meteorology’s station at the dam, 120016A, supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are the only species on the Queensland Government’s stocking list for Burdekin Falls Dam. The dam is exempt from the 1 November to 31 January barramundi closure, as are the waterways upstream of it, so the species card shows barramundi open all year; the Burdekin River below the dam is not exempt. Barramundi feed most actively in warm water, and in a lake this size finding them is often about locating the right bay, point or timber line.
Where to fish it
Plan for long runs: fuel, navigation and weather matter on a storage this big. Barramundi hold on points, rock bars, creek mouths and timber edges, and respond to slow-rolled swimbaits, weedless plastics and suspending hardbodies at dawn, dusk and after dark. Sunwater does not allow fishing on or near the dam wall. It closes the boat ramp for safety when the lake is near or above full, or very low, and posts alerts on its website and app.
Reading the report
The chart is essential here: a lake near 100 per cent may mean the ramp is closed, and a big wet-season rise changes where fish sit. The estimated water temperature row shows when barramundi are likely to be most active. Open water means the wind row can decide whether a run up the lake is safe.
Permits, access and rules
A Stocked Impoundment Permit is required from age 18 at Burdekin Falls Dam: A$13.60 covers a week and A$64.58 a year. Sunwater runs a campground near the wall on the north side of the river with powered and unpowered sites, hot showers and a dump point; no bookings are taken.
Common questions
Is barramundi open all year at Burdekin Falls Dam?
Yes, in the dam and upstream waterways, which the Queensland Government exempts from the 1 November to 31 January closure.
Is the boat ramp at Burdekin Falls Dam always open?
No. Sunwater closes it when the lake is near or above full, or at low levels, and posts the status on its alerts page and app.
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: 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 120016A — Burdekin Falls Dam
- 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.