Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn Dam) Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Lake Maraboon at Emerald: the Fairbairn Dam’s barramundi, saratoga and red claw in the central highlands, exempt from the closure, with a permit and a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
195.72 m358,171 ML
Air / High
19 °C / 26 °C
Wind
ENE 15 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 130216A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn Dam) sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 195.72 m, easing 0.07 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 16 km/h, steady pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Water sits around 26 °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: 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, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 28 °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 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 Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn Dam) today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:54), sunset (18:04), 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 130216A (Fairbairn Dam).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 130216A. Latest reading 2026-09-24 11:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low26 °C / 16 °C
WindENE 15 km/h, gusts 27 km/h
Pressure1026.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 31%
Sunrise / Sunset05:54 / 18:04
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn Dam)
The best day on Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn Dam) this week looks like Saturday 26 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: Saturday, 26 Sept — good at 4/5, 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
- 05:54 to 18:04
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 31%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn 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 Fairbairn 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. Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
When to come: the Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn 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
Barramundi
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 26 °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 Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn Dam) today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 27 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 27 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Barramundi led the card at fair. High of 31 °C, wind to 23 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
Lake Maraboon is a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water; the permit is required from age 18, 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
Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn Dam) is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn Dam): the full guide
The lake
Lake Maraboon is the Fairbairn Dam on the Nogoa River south of Emerald in the central highlands of Queensland, the second-largest storage in the state, a broad lake in dry, open country with a holiday village, a caravan park, ramps and long shores of red soil and drowned timber. It supplies the Emerald irrigation area and draws down through the dry; the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are stocked and fish the timber, the rock and the weed edges in the warm months, and Fairbairn is on the Queensland Government’s exempt list, so the closure does not apply and the species card shows open all year with the rule linked; saratoga are the lake’s other drawcard, on the surface along the timber at dawn; golden perch, sooty grunter and sleepy cod are present; and red claw crayfish are the pot fishery Maraboon is known for. The stocking group publishes its releases.
Where to fish it
The holiday village and the caravan park on the eastern shore and the ramps near the wall are the access, and the drowned timber in the arms up the Nogoa and the rocky points along the shores are the barramundi and saratoga water, a boat fishery in a big lake; the deeper water near the wall holds the fish in a low year. Red claw pots go in the shallows near the camps.
Reading the report
The highlands are hot in summer and cool on a winter night, and the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the barramundi band from September to April; the chart shows the irrigation draw-down that can shrink the lake a long way. The open country lets the wind cross the lake and the wind row decides the launch; pressure counts before a summer storm.
Permits, access and rules
Lake Maraboon is a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water; the permit is required from age 18, 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 village, the caravan park and the ramps are public or commercial and open; the Queensland rules, including the red claw rules, are in the sources.
Common questions
Is barramundi open all year at Fairbairn Dam?
Yes. Fairbairn is on the Queensland Government’s list of exempt stocked dams; the species card shows it with the rule.
Can I catch red claw at Lake Maraboon?
Yes, in pots under the Queensland rules linked in the sources; it is one of the lake’s best-known fisheries.
Is fishing good at Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn 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
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 130216A — Fairbairn Dam
- 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.