Australian bass
Fair
Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Lake Kurwongbah Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Sideling Creek Dam at Petrie: bass, golden perch, Mary River cod and saratoga in Moreton Bay’s suburban lake, a permit water with a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
20.23 m13,715 ML
Air / High
16 °C / 23 °C
Wind
SSE 4 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 142108A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Kurwongbah is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. The gauge reads 20.23 m, holding steady. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSE around 5 km/h, steady pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Water sits around 16 °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 22 °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 australian bass here? Check the size and bag limits with Queensland DPI before you keep anything; the Australian bass page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Lake Kurwongbah today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:35), sunset (17:45), 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 142108A (Sideling Ck at Lake Kurwongbah Dam HW).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 142108A. Latest reading 2026-09-24 09:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low23 °C / 15 °C
WindSSE 4 km/h, gusts 8 km/h
Pressure1030.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain50% cloud, 73%
Sunrise / Sunset05:35 / 17:45
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~16 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Kurwongbah
The best day on Lake Kurwongbah this week looks like Thursday 1 Oct, 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: Thursday, 1 Oct — 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
- 05:35 to 17:45
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 73%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Kurwongbah: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Australian bass
September to April in the rivers; closed June to August in NSW rivers
The native sportfish of the east-coast rivers and the stocked dams. Surface lures in summer, deep in winter, and a river closed season for spawning. Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
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 Lake Kurwongbah 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
Australian bass
Golden perch
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 16 °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 Kurwongbah 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. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 23 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 24 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at fair. High of 27 °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 Kurwongbah is a Stocked Impoundment Permit water: from age 18, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year as read from the Queensland Government; our Queensland licence page has the details.
About this water
Lake Kurwongbah is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Kurwongbah: the full guide
Lake Kurwongbah
Lake Kurwongbah is the storage behind Sideling Creek Dam at Petrie and Kallangur in the Moreton Bay region north of Brisbane, a timbered suburban lake with parkland along its shore and a paddling and rowing culture. It is on the Queensland Government’s stocked impoundment list as Sideling Creek Dam, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page. North Pine Dam, next door, has its own page.
Species and seasons
The Queensland Government lists Australian bass, golden perch, Mary River cod and saratoga as stocked at Sideling Creek Dam. Bass are the fish most anglers target, on lures along the timber and the weed edges; golden perch hold deeper and take shrimp and lures; saratoga come to the surface in summer; Mary River cod are rare. There is no closed season on these fish in the lake, and the species card is scored for bass and golden perch.
Where to fish it
The parkland on the Kurwongbah shore gives bank access to the points and the timber edges, and a kayak or a small craft under the water authority’s rules covers the arms and the drowned trees where the bass hold. The upper arms fish after summer storms bring water down Sideling Creek.
Planning a visit
Lake Kurwongbah is in the northern suburbs of the Moreton Bay region, a short drive from Brisbane, with shops and tackle close by. Buy the permit online. Bass lures and a kayak suit the lake, and North Pine Dam next door is another stocked impoundment on the same permit.
Reading this report here
The lake is sheltered by its timbered shores and the wind row matters mostly on the main basin; the chart shows the storage level. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm for most of the year, and summer fishing is at dawn and dusk; pressure and sky build the score at Lake Kurwongbah, and the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Lake Kurwongbah is a Stocked Impoundment Permit water: from age 18, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year as read from the Queensland Government; our Queensland licence page has the details. The water authority sets the access and the craft allowed on the lake, and the Queensland size and bag limits apply; the rules are in the sources.
Common questions
Is Lake Kurwongbah the same as Sideling Creek Dam?
Yes. The Queensland Government lists the water as Sideling Creek Dam (Lake Kurwongbah).
What fish are in Lake Kurwongbah?
Australian bass, golden perch, Mary River cod and saratoga are listed as stocked.
Do I need a permit at Lake Kurwongbah?
Yes. Anglers aged 18 and over need a Stocked Impoundment Permit.
Is fishing good at Lake Kurwongbah 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 142108A — Sideling Ck at Lake Kurwongbah Dam HW
- 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.