Dawson River at Theodore Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Dawson at Theodore: golden perch and saratoga in the town weir pool of the irrigation district, with the Bureau’s gauge at the weir.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
133.44 m
Air / High
19 °C / 28 °C
Wind
E 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 130305A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Dawson River at Theodore has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 133.44 m, up 0.45 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind E around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1029 hPa and a high of 28 °C. Water sits around 13 °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 27 °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 golden perch here? Check the size and bag limits with Queensland DPI before you keep anything; the Golden perch page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Dawson River at Theodore today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:46), sunset (17:56), 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 130305A (Dawson_R Theodore).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 130305A. Latest reading 2026-09-24 11:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low28 °C / 14 °C
WindE 8 km/h, gusts 17 km/h
Pressure1028.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain33% cloud, 49%
Sunrise / Sunset05:46 / 17:56
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Dawson River at Theodore
Today is the pick of the week on Dawson River at Theodore, at 3 out of 5. 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: today, 25 Sept — fair at 3/5, 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
- 05:46 to 17:56
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 49%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Dawson River at Theodore: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
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 Dawson River at Theodore 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
Golden perch
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 13 °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 Dawson River at Theodore 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. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 29 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 29 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 32 °C, wind to 18 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
No licence is needed in Queensland; the limits and the barramundi closure, on the Queensland Government pages linked below, are the rules.
About this water
Dawson River at Theodore is a river in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Dawson River at Theodore: the full guide
The reach
The Dawson at Theodore is the river held into a pool by the Theodore weir beside the irrigation town, running between river gums and cotton country toward Moura and Baralaba, with the town’s river park, the weir and the reaches of snags upstream toward Taroom. It is perch and saratoga water on a weir pool, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the Theodore weir supplies the pool level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Golden perch are the fish, on the snags and the deep bends from spring to autumn; saratoga fish the surface along the timber at dawn and dusk; barramundi stocked into the Dawson weir pools hold in the deep water, with the Queensland east coast closure computed on the species card; sleepy cod, spangled perch and eel-tailed catfish are present; and red claw are a pot fishery.
Where to fish it
The river park and the weir give bank access at the town, the water below the weir is the hole, and a boat or a kayak covers the pool upstream through the timber; the deep bends and the snags are the water. Summer nights on the pool’s snags with bait are how Theodore fishes.
Reading the report
The weir holds the pool nearly steady, so the chart moves little except in a flood; the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the perch band from October to April. Nothing stops the wind on the Dawson plain, so read the wind row; the barometer before a storm is the perch trigger.
Rules and access
No licence is needed in Queensland; the limits and the barramundi closure, on the Queensland Government pages linked below, are the rules. The river park and the weir approaches are open to the public, with an exclusion zone at the weir itself.
Isla Gorge and the upper river
Above Theodore the Dawson runs through Isla Gorge and the sandstone country toward Taroom, a river of rock pools and sand that the gorge’s national park camps reach, and the pools of the upper river are quieter perch and saratoga water for an angler with a day; the Theodore weir pool is the reliable water when the upper river is a chain of pools in the dry.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Dawson at Theodore?
Golden perch, saratoga, stocked barramundi outside the closure, sleepy cod and catfish, and red claw in the pots.
Do I need a licence at Theodore?
No licence: Queensland has none; the limits and the barramundi closure apply.
Is fishing good at Dawson River at Theodore 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 130305A — Dawson_R Theodore
- 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.