Australian bass
Fair
Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Cressbrook Dam Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Toowoomba’s supply dam in the Brisbane Valley: bass, golden perch and cod-stocked water at Crows Nest, with a camp, a permit and a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~16 °C est.
Air / High
14 °C / 23 °C
Wind
SE 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 70, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Cressbrook Dam has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 275.28 m. Today brings clear skies, wind SE around 8 km/h, falling pressure near 1031 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 22 °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 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 Cressbrook Dam today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:37), sunset (17:48), 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 70 (Cressbrook Dam).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 70.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low23 °C / 13 °C
WindSE 8 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1030.6 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain23% cloud, 68%
Sunrise / Sunset05:37 / 17:48
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~16 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Cressbrook Dam
The best day on Cressbrook 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
- 05:37 to 17:48
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 68%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Cressbrook 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 Cressbrook 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 Cressbrook 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 25 °C, wind to 19 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 19 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
Cressbrook is a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water; the permit, from age 18, costs 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
Cressbrook Dam is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Cressbrook Dam: the full guide
The lake
Cressbrook Dam holds Cressbrook Creek east of Crows Nest in the Brisbane Valley, the largest of Toowoomba’s three supply dams, a lake in open grazing and timber country with a camping and recreation area, a ramp and long, sheltered arms, run by the regional council with boating under its rules. It is bass and golden perch water 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 deep water off the points and the wall in winter and spread along the edges and the timber in summer; golden perch are stocked and fish the points from spring to autumn; Mary River cod are stocked and protected; silver perch and eel-tailed catfish are present; and red claw are a pot fishery. The stocking group publishes its releases. The council restricts boating to low-powered and electric craft.
Where to fish it
The recreation area and the ramp at the wall are the access, and the timbered arms upstream and the points along the shores are the bass and perch water, a boat and kayak fishery; the deep water off the wall holds the winter schools. Bank fishing from the camping area works at dusk, and the arms shelter the water when the wind is up.
Reading the report
The water temperature estimate, labelled as an estimate, moves the bass with the season in this inland lake, deep in the short winter and along the edges from October; the chart shows the supply draw-down. The arms shelter the water and the wind matters less than on the open dams; pressure counts before a summer storm.
Permits, access and rules
Cressbrook is a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water; the permit, from age 18, costs 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 council sets the recreation area and boating rules; the Queensland rules and the protection of Mary River cod are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Cressbrook Dam?
Australian bass and golden perch, with silver perch and catfish; Mary River cod are protected and go back.
Do I need a permit at Cressbrook Dam?
Yes, from age 18: the Stocked Impoundment Permit, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year.
Is fishing good at Cressbrook 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
- 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.