Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
Dawson River at Theodore Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 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 on the pool.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
133.05 m
Air / High
21 °C / 30 °C
Wind
NNE 4 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 130305A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Dawson River at Theodore sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 133.05 m, easing 0.58 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NNE around 5 km/h, rising pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 30 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 10:33 AM-12:33 PM and 10:57 PM-12:57 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: 10:33 AM-12:33 PM, 10:57 PM-12:57 AM, 4:12 AM-5:12 AM. Similar at 31 °C. 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 (05:07), sunset (18:20), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:33 AM-12:33 PM and 10:57 PM-12:57 AM; minor 4:12 AM-5:12 AM. New Moon, 0% 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 2026-11-08 11:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low30 °C / 17 °C
WindNNE 4 km/h, gusts 9 km/h
Pressure1016.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain26% cloud, 31%
Sunrise / Sunset05:07 / 18:20
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Dawson River at Theodore
The best day on Dawson River at Theodore this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:33 AM-12:33 PM and 10:57 PM-12:57 AM
- Minor period
- 4:12 AM-5:12 AM
- Sun
- 05:07 to 18:20
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 31%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
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. Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
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 19 °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 dataSun, Nov 8
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 32 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 33 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 33 °C, wind to 11 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, and Theodore Weir is not a stocked impoundment under the permit scheme.
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 held into a pool by Theodore Weir beside the irrigation town, running between river gums and farmland downstream toward Moura and Baralaba, with timbered reaches upstream toward Taroom. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the weir, station 130305A, records the storage level of the weir pool and supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Golden perch are the species this page follows, taken on the snags and deep bends from spring to autumn. Saratoga cruise the surface along the timber early and late; the Queensland rule is a 50 cm minimum and one fish. Any barramundi fall under the statewide freshwater closure, 1 November to 31 January, because the Dawson is not among the exempt waters, and they may not be targeted even for release in that period.
Where to fish it
Sunwater lists a boat ramp, picnic areas and toilets at Theodore Weir, with camping upstream at Junction Park run by Banana Shire Council. It does not permit boating or fishing near the weir, warning that conditions can be dangerous and that water can be released at any time. A boat or kayak covers the pool upstream through the timber.
Reading the report
Because this gauge reads the weir pool, the chart moves little except in a flood. The modelled water temperature on this page is an estimate and gives the golden perch band from October to April. Nothing stops the wind on the Dawson plain, so read the wind row; a falling barometer before a storm is often when the perch bite.
Rules and access
No licence is needed in Queensland, and Theodore Weir is not a stocked impoundment under the permit scheme. The possession limits and the barramundi closure, on the Queensland Government pages linked below, are the rules to know.
Upstream toward Taroom
Above Theodore the Dawson runs through sandstone country toward Taroom, a river of pools and sand that shrinks to a chain of waterholes in a long dry. In those conditions the Theodore pool is the reliable water. Taroom has its own page, as does the Dawson at Baralaba downstream.
Common questions
Where can I camp at Theodore?
Sunwater points to camping upstream of the weir at Junction Park, managed by Banana Shire Council.
Do I need a licence at Theodore?
No licence: Queensland has none for rivers, and Theodore Weir is not on the stocked impoundment permit list.
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: 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 130305A — Dawson_R Theodore
- 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.