Barramundi
Excellent
Dawn, dusk and the run-off drains and creek mouths on the falling tide; hardbodies and soft vibes cast tight to snags and rock bars.
Lake Awoonga Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The barramundi lake behind Gladstone: a storage on the Boyne stocked from its own hatchery, no permit needed, and a level read from the Bureau every day.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~29 °C est.
Air / High
21 °C / 26 °C
Wind
ESE 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 63, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Awoonga is in full summer mode: early starts, shade at midday, and the evening change. The gauge reads 35.31 m. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ESE around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Water sits around 29 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 10:28 AM-12:28 PM and 10:50 PM-12:50 AM: plan around them and beat the heat.
Tie on: Soft plastic, 3 to 5 inch paddle tail · Pilchard on ganged hooks · Metal slug, 20 to 40 g · Surface walker at first light. Prime windows: 10:28 AM-12:28 PM, 10:50 PM-12:50 AM, 4:08 AM-5:08 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 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 Awoonga today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:03), sunset (18:13), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:28 AM-12:28 PM and 10:50 PM-12:50 AM; minor 4:08 AM-5:08 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Awoonga Dam Level today, and the weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 63 (Lake Awoonga).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 63.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low26 °C / 20 °C
WindESE 8 km/h, gusts 18 km/h
Pressure1017.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain28% cloud, 84%
Sunrise / Sunset05:03 / 18:13
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~29 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Awoonga
The best day on Lake Awoonga this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:28 AM-12:28 PM and 10:50 PM-12:50 AM
- Minor period
- 4:08 AM-5:08 AM
- Sun
- 05:03 to 18:13
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 84%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Awoonga: 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 Lake Awoonga 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. Dawn, dusk and the run-off drains and creek mouths on the falling tide; hardbodies and soft vibes cast tight to snags and rock bars.
When to come: the Lake Awoonga 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 29 °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 Awoonga today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 31 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 29 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. 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
Lake Awoonga is not a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water: the Gladstone Area Water Board states that a SIPS permit is not required to fish it, and it is not on the Queensland Government’s list of scheme waters.
Storage levels
Compare it with every other storage in the state on Queensland dam levels today.
About this water
Lake Awoonga is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Awoonga: the full guide
The lake
Lake Awoonga is the storage of the Awoonga Dam on the Boyne River, south-west of Gladstone, run by the Gladstone Area Water Board: a big, timbered lake of bays and arms stocked with fingerlings bred at the board’s own hatchery, Aquaculture Gladstone. The board lists barramundi, mangrove jack and sea mullet as the species it releases, and reports one million barramundi fingerlings released in the 2023 stocking period. Boats launch at two ramps, the main one at Ironbark Gully, with a car park and toilets, and the Trevor Burgess ramp at Boynedale on the southern side. The level on this page comes from the Bureau of Meteorology’s Water Data Online, stamped with the date and time of the reading.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are the fish, from spring through autumn when the water is warm, on the points, the timber and the weed edges early, late and after dark, with the hottest middays and the cold of winter both slowing them down. The board states that there is no closed season for barramundi at Lake Awoonga, and the Queensland Government lists it among the exempt waters, but seasonal size and possession limits apply. Mangrove jack are stocked alongside them, and the board runs a tagged-barramundi prize program, with cash rewards for pink-tagged and blue-and-yellow-tagged fish.
Reading this report for Awoonga
The level is in the report and the 30-day chart, and it matters because a rising lake floods new ground where the barramundi hunt and a falling one pulls them to the points and the timber; the wind decides which arm fishes, because the lake is open enough to chop up in a south-easterly; and the water temperature decides whether the fish eat at all, with the seasonal curve on this page an estimate for a tropical storage. Barometric pressure matters as well, a drop before a storm being the time to be on the water. Use the seven-day planner to pick the calmest warm morning.
Permits and access
Lake Awoonga is not a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water: the Gladstone Area Water Board states that a SIPS permit is not required to fish it, and it is not on the Queensland Government’s list of scheme waters. Queensland has no general fishing licence either, so the rules are the size and possession limits and any conditions the board sets on its recreation areas. For species other than barramundi, the board points anglers to the Department of Primary Industries freshwater regulations.
Common questions
Do I need a permit to fish Lake Awoonga?
No. The Gladstone Area Water Board states that a SIPS permit is not required at Lake Awoonga, and Queensland has no general fishing licence.
Is there a closed season for barramundi at Awoonga?
No. Lake Awoonga is exempt from the barramundi closed season, though seasonal size and possession limits apply, as the water board and the Queensland Government both publish.
Is fishing good at Lake Awoonga 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
- 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.