Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road: Gulf barramundi in the savanna country, with a Bureau gauge and the Gulf closure.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
1.55 m
Air / High
26 °C / 34 °C
Wind
NE 14 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 917014A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 1.55 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 14 km/h, rising pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 33 °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 33 °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 Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:20), sunset (18:29), 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 917014A (Gilbert Rv Burke Rd).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 917014A. Latest reading 2026-09-24 18:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp26 °C
High / Low34 °C / 22 °C
WindNE 14 km/h, gusts 28 km/h
Pressure1019.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain18% cloud, 16%
Sunrise / Sunset06:20 / 18:29
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road
The best day on Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road this week looks like Saturday 26 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 2 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 — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 06:20 to 18:29
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 16%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road: 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 now Closes 7 Oct 2026. Closed 7 October to 31 January in the Gulf of Carpentaria, tidal and fresh. No catch and release in the closure. 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 Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road 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
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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 Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road 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. Barramundi led the card at fair. High of 32 °C, wind to 26 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 33 °C, wind to 18 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 32 °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
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the Gulf barramundi closed season, the limits and the crocodile advice are on the pages linked below..
About this water
Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road is a river in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road: the full guide
The Gilbert River
The Gilbert River runs across the savanna of the Gulf country in north Queensland from the ranges near Georgetown to the Gulf of Carpentaria, a wide sandy river that runs hard in the wet and shrinks to channels and waterholes in the dry; the gauge sits where the Burke Developmental Road crosses it. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge there supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. Karumba has its own page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are the fish of the Gilbert, in the waterholes and the channels, taken on lures; sooty grunter and catfish are also caught. The Gulf of Carpentaria barramundi closed season, 7 October to 31 January, applies; the species card computes it.
Where to fish it
The crossing and the waterholes near it are the access, in the dry season when the roads are open. Estuarine crocodiles live in the Gulf rivers: stay back from the water.
Planning a visit
This is remote Gulf country: carry fuel, water and supplies, and check road conditions, which close in the wet. Normanton and Georgetown are the nearest towns.
The river through the year
The Gilbert is a Gulf river of extremes: in the wet it runs wide and fast across the savanna and can cut the roads for weeks, and in the dry it shrinks to sandy channels and permanent waterholes. The barramundi here move with the water, pushing upstream in the wet and the run-off and holding in the waterholes and the snags through the dry, and sooty grunter and catfish share the holes. The Gulf closed season for barramundi, from 7 October to 31 January, covers the build-up and the early wet; the species card computes it. The dry-season months, when the roads are open and the river is low and clear, are the months to visit. The Gilbert is remote water, and a trip here is planned around fuel, water and road conditions.
Reading this report here
The chart shows the Gilbert’s wet-season flood and dry-season decline. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm all year; pressure and sky build the score on the Gilbert.
Licence, access and rules
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the Gulf barramundi closed season, the limits and the crocodile advice are on the pages linked below.
Common questions
Which barramundi closure applies on the Gilbert?
The Gulf season, 7 October to 31 January.
Are there crocodiles in the Gilbert?
Estuarine crocodiles live in the Gulf rivers; keep back from the water.
Do I need a licence here?
No. Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence.
Is fishing good at Gilbert River at the Burke Developmental Road 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 917014A — Gilbert Rv Burke Rd
- 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.