Australian bass
Fair
Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Lake Somerset Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The storage on the Stanley above Wivenhoe: bass and golden perch water an hour from Brisbane, with a level read from the Bureau every day.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
96.93 m300,463 ML
Air / High
15 °C / 24 °C
Wind
ENE 6 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 143305A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Somerset rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. The gauge reads 96.93 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 6 km/h, steady pressure near 1028 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Water sits around 16 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: 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: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Warmer at 27 °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 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 Somerset today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:35), sunset (17:47), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 143305A (Somerset).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 143305A. Latest reading 2026-09-25 09:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low24 °C / 13 °C
WindENE 6 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1028.1 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 61%
Sunrise / Sunset05:35 / 17:47
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~16 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Somerset
The best day on Lake Somerset 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, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:35 to 17:47
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 61%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Somerset: 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 Somerset 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 Somerset today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
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.
Thu, 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 24 °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 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 Somerset is a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water: anyone 18 or over line fishing needs the permit, 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 Somerset is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Somerset: the full guide
The lake
Lake Somerset is the storage of the Somerset Dam on the Stanley River, north-west of Brisbane above Lake Wivenhoe, a long lake between the D’Aguilar and Conondale ranges with the dam wall and the Somerset Park and Kirkleagh camping grounds at its ends, the ramps at the Spit, Kirkleagh and the wall, and a level that Seqwater manages for the city’s supply and for flood mitigation. It is a stocked bass and golden perch lake, one of the best in south-east Queensland, with a stocked impoundment permit to fish it, and it is a boat fishery first with bank fishing at the camping grounds. This page reads the storage level from the Bureau of Meteorology’s Water Data Online, with the date and time of the reading.
Species and seasons
Australian bass are the lake’s fish, schooled in the deep water off the points and the drop-offs in the cooler months and spread along the edges and the timber in the warm ones, taken on lures, flies and bait; golden perch fish the timber and the points from spring to autumn; and saratoga are stocked in the upper reaches and fish the still edges at dawn and dusk. Silver perch and Mary River cod are stocked too, with the cod protected and returned; redclaw crayfish are a pot fishery; and the stocking group publishes what goes into the lake each year.
Reading this report for Somerset
The level is in the report and the 30-day chart, and it matters because a rising lake floods new ground where the bass and the perch feed and a falling one pulls the fish to the points and the deep water; the wind row decides which end of the lake is comfortable, because it funnels between the ranges. Pressure and sky build the score, the water temperature is an estimate for a subtropical storage and the page says so, and the planner shows which day to take. Seqwater sets the boating rules and the speed zones.
Permits and access
Lake Somerset is a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water: anyone 18 or over line fishing needs the permit, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year, as read from the Queensland Government; our Queensland licence page has the details. Somerset Park, Kirkleagh and the Spit are public recreation areas with ramps and camping under Seqwater’s rules, which are on the page in the sources.
Common questions
Do I need a permit to fish Lake Somerset?
Yes, from age 18: it is a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water. A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year, read from the Queensland Government page linked on our Queensland licence page.
What can I catch in Lake Somerset?
Australian bass, schooled deep in the cooler months and on the edges in the warm ones, golden perch on the timber, saratoga in the upper reaches and redclaw in the pots.
Is fishing good at Lake Somerset 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 143305A — Somerset
- 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.