Australian bass
Fair
Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Lake MacDonald Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Noosa hinterland’s lake at Cooroy: bass and saratoga in a shallow supply lake with a botanic garden on its shore, a permit and a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
92.82 m3,154 ML
Air / High
16 °C / 23 °C
Wind
SSE 9 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 138122A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake MacDonald is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. The gauge reads 92.82 m, holding steady. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSE around 10 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 23 °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 MacDonald today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:34), 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 138122A (Lake MacDonald).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 138122A. Latest reading 2026-09-24 08:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low23 °C / 16 °C
WindSSE 9 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1029.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain29% cloud, 87%
Sunrise / Sunset05:34 / 17:45
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~16 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake MacDonald
The best day on Lake MacDonald 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
- 05:34 to 17:45
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 87%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake MacDonald: 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 MacDonald 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 MacDonald 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 18 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 23 °C, wind to 18 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 25 °C, wind to 18 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 MacDonald 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 MacDonald is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake MacDonald: the full guide
The lake
Lake MacDonald holds Six Mile Creek near Cooroy in the Noosa hinterland, a Seqwater supply lake for the Noosa area with the Noosa Botanic Gardens on its shore, a ramp for electric and non-powered craft, and a shallow, weedy lake of bays and timber that the local fishing club stocks and fishes. It is bass and saratoga water fifteen minutes from Noosa, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Australian bass are stocked in numbers and school in the deeper water in winter and spread along the weed and the timber in summer; saratoga fish the surface along the edges at dawn and dusk; golden perch are stocked; Mary River cod are stocked and protected; silver perch and eel-tailed catfish are present; and red claw are a pot fishery where allowed. The stocking club publishes its releases and its fishing days. Boating is electric and non-powered only.
Where to fish it
The ramp and the botanic gardens foreshore are the access, and the shallow bays and the weed edges are the summer bass and saratoga water, a kayak fishery; the deeper water near the wall holds the winter schools. Bank fishing from the gardens and the ramp works at dusk, and the lake is small enough to cover in an evening.
Reading the report
The shallow subtropical lake warms early and the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives a long bass season; the chart shows the supply draw-down. The hills shelter the water and the wind matters little; the rain row matters in a hinterland that gets heavy summer rain; pressure counts before a storm.
Permits, access and rules
Lake MacDonald 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. Seqwater sets the boating rules; the Queensland rules and the protection of Mary River cod are in the sources.
Common questions
Can I use a boat on Lake MacDonald?
Electric and non-powered craft only, under Seqwater’s rules; a kayak suits the shallow bays.
Do I need a permit at Lake MacDonald?
Yes, from age 18: the Stocked Impoundment Permit, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year.
Is fishing good at Lake MacDonald 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 138122A — Lake MacDonald
- 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.