Australian bass
Excellent
Prime. Cast spinnerbaits, small hardbodies and surface lures tight to structure in the rivers; sound up the schools in the dams.
Cressbrook Dam Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Lake Cressbrook near Crows Nest, a Toowoomba water supply: stocked bass, golden perch, saratoga, silver perch and Mary River cod, outboards at set speeds, and a council campground.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~21 °C est.
Air / High
17 °C / 26 °C
Wind
NE 6 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 70, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Cressbrook Dam sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 274.79 m. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NE around 6 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 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:46 PM-12:46 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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:46 PM-12:46 AM, 3:59 AM-4:59 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 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 (04:55), sunset (18:14), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:46 PM-12:46 AM; minor 3:59 AM-4:59 AM. New Moon, 0% 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 temp17 °C
High / Low26 °C / 13 °C
WindNE 6 km/h, gusts 20 km/h
Pressure1018.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain32% cloud, 8%
Sunrise / Sunset04:55 / 18:14
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~21 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Cressbrook Dam
The best day on Cressbrook Dam this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:46 PM-12:46 AM
- Minor period
- 3:59 AM-4:59 AM
- Sun
- 04:55 to 18:14
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 8%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
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 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 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 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 Cressbrook Dam today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
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 31 °C, wind to 19 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 30 °C, wind to 14 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 27 °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
Cressbrook Dam is in the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme, and the council reminds visitors that fishing needs the state permit, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year for anglers 18 and over.
Permit
Cressbrook 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
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
Lake Cressbrook lies about 50 kilometres by road from Toowoomba and about 15 minutes’ drive from Crows Nest, reached from the New England Highway via Pechey or Crows Nest, or from the Esk to Hampton road near Ravensbourne. Toowoomba Regional Council manages it as a water supply dam and a recreation area for boating, rowing, fishing, sailing, camping and paddling; swimming is not permitted. While the council delivers its dam project, known as the CDSIP, a buoy line keeps watercraft out of the spillway area and Little Oaky Creek. The Bureau of Meteorology publishes the storage level from station 70, with readings that can arrive some days late.
Species and seasons
The Queensland Government lists Australian bass, golden perch, Mary River cod, saratoga and silver perch as stocked at Cressbrook Dam. On this page the species card rates bass and golden perch by month. Bass school in deeper water through the cooler months and move to edges and timber in summer; golden perch feed best from spring to autumn; saratoga take surface lures on warm mornings. Queensland’s possession and size rules for the threatened Mary River cod apply here as well.
Where to fish it
The boat ramps are near the entrance, beside the main day-use area. Outboard motors are allowed, but a local law limits boats to 4 knots inshore and 8 knots offshore to protect water quality. Canoes can be launched from the campground. Work timbered arms and points with spinnerbaits and soft plastics in summer, and look for schooled bass on a sounder over deeper water in winter.
Reading the report
Because the council supplies its data to the Bureau with a delay, check the time on the latest reading before relying on it; the 30-day chart still shows the trend. The estimated water temperature row indicates the move between deep winter bass and summer edge fishing. Sheltered arms help when the wind picks up.
Permits, access and rules
Cressbrook Dam is in the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme, and the council reminds visitors that fishing needs the state permit, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year for anglers 18 and over. The council campground has more than 30 unpowered sites, self-registration on entry and a 14-night limit; alcohol and domestic animals are not allowed.
Common questions
Are outboards allowed on Lake Cressbrook?
Yes. Toowoomba Regional Council permits outboard motors, with a speed limit of 4 knots inshore and 8 knots offshore.
Can I camp at Lake Cressbrook?
Yes, at the council campground with more than 30 unpowered sites; register on entry, and stays are limited to 14 nights.
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
- 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.