Australian bass
Excellent
Prime. Cast spinnerbaits, small hardbodies and surface lures tight to structure in the rivers; sound up the schools in the dams.
Lake MacDonald Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Lake Macdonald (Six Mile Creek Dam) near Cooroy: stocked bass, golden perch, silver perch and Mary River cod, electric and paddle craft only, with the lake lowered for dam upgrade works.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Level
92.84 m3,190 ML
Air / High
19 °C / 23 °C
Wind
NE 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 138122A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake MacDonald is fishing in its best temperature window, with the bite spread across the day. The gauge reads 92.84 m, easing 0.22 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NE around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Water sits around 21 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 10:22 AM-12:22 PM and 10:43 PM-12:43 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
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: 10:22 AM-12:22 PM, 10:43 PM-12:43 AM, 3:58 AM-4:58 AM. Similar at 25 °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 (04:53), sunset (18:10), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:22 AM-12:22 PM and 10:43 PM-12:43 AM; minor 3:58 AM-4:58 AM. New Moon, 0% 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 2026-11-08 09:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low23 °C / 16 °C
WindNE 8 km/h, gusts 17 km/h
Pressure1018.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain57% cloud, 98%
Sunrise / Sunset04:53 / 18:10
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~21 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake MacDonald
Today is the pick of the week on Lake MacDonald, at 4 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, 9 Nov — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 10:22 AM-12:22 PM and 10:43 PM-12:43 AM
- Minor period
- 3:58 AM-4:58 AM
- Sun
- 04:53 to 18:10
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 98%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
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 1 May to 31 August in NSW rivers, and dams stay open
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. Prime. Cast spinnerbaits, small hardbodies and surface lures tight to structure in the rivers; sound up the schools in the dams.
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. Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
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 21 °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 dataSun, Nov 8
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 30 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 27 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Australian bass led the card at excellent. 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
Anglers aged 18 and over need a Stocked Impoundment Permit at Lake Macdonald, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year, with a concession yearly rate.
Permit
Lake MacDonald is in Queensland’s Stocked Impoundment Permit scheme: anyone 18 or over fishing it with a line needs the permit, and one permit covers every scheme water. What the permit costs and where to buy it. Compare it with every other storage in the state on Queensland dam levels today.
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
The official name is Six Mile Creek Dam, but it is better known as Lake Macdonald. Seqwater says it was built in 1965 and raised in 1980, sits about four kilometres north-east of Cooroy in the Noosa hinterland and is part of the South East Queensland drinking water supply. On 21 July 2025 Seqwater lowered the full supply level to 42 per cent for construction on the Lake Macdonald Dam Improvement Project, and a further lowering to 39.1 per cent has been approved, so expect a much smaller lake than usual. The Bureau of Meteorology’s station at the dam, 138122A, supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
The Queensland Government lists Australian bass, golden perch, Mary River cod and silver perch as stocked at Lake Macdonald. Bass and golden perch are rated on the species card for this lake. With the lake well below full, fish concentrate on the remaining deeper water and any timber still covered. Queensland sets specific rules for the threatened Mary River cod; look them up before keeping one.
Where to fish it
Seqwater lists fishing at Mary River Cod Park and Jabiru Park, electric boating from Lake Macdonald Park and Mary River Cod Park, and canoeing and kayaking at Mary River Cod Park and Jabiru Park. Seqwater has posted notices about recreation closures during the works and about the Lake Macdonald Park ramp, which has reopened for trailer boats launched by four-wheel drive vehicles, so check before towing a boat.
Reading the report
The chart shows a lake held low for construction, and any rise after heavy rain is managed by Seqwater. The estimated water temperature row stays warm for much of the year in this subtropical hinterland. The rain row matters too: heavy summer rain can change conditions quickly.
Permits, access and rules
Anglers aged 18 and over need a Stocked Impoundment Permit at Lake Macdonald, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year, with a concession yearly rate. Seqwater lists only electric and paddle craft for boating here, and sets the opening and closure of recreation areas during the dam works.
Common questions
Can I use a boat on Lake Macdonald?
Electric-powered boats and paddle craft only, from Seqwater’s sites at Lake Macdonald Park and Mary River Cod Park; check closure notices during the works.
Why is Lake Macdonald so low?
Seqwater reduced the full supply level to 42 per cent in July 2025, with a further lowering to 39.1 per cent approved, for the Lake Macdonald Dam Improvement Project.
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: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
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
- 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.