Leslie Dam Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Sandy Creek dam at Warwick on the Darling Downs: cod and golden perch in Murray-Darling water with a camp, a permit and a Bureau gauge.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Level
468.10 m59,970 ML
Air / High
13 °C / 24 °C
Wind
ESE 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 422315B, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Leslie Dam is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. The gauge reads 468.10 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 8 km/h, falling pressure near 1031 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Water sits around 13 °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.
Murray cod
Slow
Slow it down: heavier spinnerbaits, slow-rolled swimbaits and bait on the bottom next to the deep snags.
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 24 °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 murray cod here? Check the size and bag limits with Queensland DPI before you keep anything; the Murray cod page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Leslie Dam today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:39), sunset (17:50), 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 422315B (Leslie Dam).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 422315B. Latest reading 2026-09-24 11:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low24 °C / 12 °C
WindESE 8 km/h, gusts 16 km/h
Pressure1030.7 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain14% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset05:39 / 17:50
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Leslie Dam
Today is the pick of the week on Leslie Dam, at 4 out of 5. 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: today, 25 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:39 to 17:50
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Leslie Dam: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Murray cod
December to August; closed September to November
Open all year Leslie Dam is exempt from the closed season Rule as read from Queensland Department of Primary Industries on 2026-09-23.
The giant of the inland rivers and the big lakes (Hume, Mulwala, Eildon). A snag fish that eats big lures, and a species with a closed season across the Murray-Darling. Slow it down: heavier spinnerbaits, slow-rolled swimbaits and bait on the bottom next to the deep snags.
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 Leslie Dam 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
Murray cod
Golden perch
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 13 °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 Leslie Dam 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. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 24 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 25 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at good. High of 27 °C, wind to 27 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
Leslie Dam 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
Leslie Dam is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Leslie Dam: the full guide
The lake
Leslie Dam holds Sandy Creek west of Warwick on the southern Darling Downs, a Murray-Darling storage on the inland side of the range with a camping ground, a ramp and open, grazing shores that the dry years have shrunk to a pool. It is cod and golden perch water of the inland kind, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Murray cod are stocked and fish the timber, the rock and the wall in the warm months, and Leslie Dam is on the Queensland Government’s list of dams exempt from the state’s Murray-Darling cod closure, which runs 1 August to 31 October elsewhere in the basin; golden perch are stocked and are the everyday fish on the points from spring to autumn; silver perch, eel-tailed catfish and spangled perch are present; and red claw are a pot fishery. The stocking group publishes its releases.
Where to fish it
The camping ground and the ramp at the wall are the access, and the deep water off the wall and the timber in the arms are the cod and perch water; a low lake concentrates the fish in the old creek channel, which a sounder finds. Bank fishing from the camp works at dusk in the warm months.
Reading the report
The Downs are hot in summer and cold on a winter night, and the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the cod and perch band from October to April; the chart shows the draw-down that can leave the lake very low. The open shores catch the wind and the wind row decides the launch; pressure counts before a summer storm.
Permits, access and rules
Leslie Dam 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. The camping ground and the ramp are open; the Queensland rules, including the Murray-Darling cod closure and its exemptions, are in the sources.
Common questions
Is cod open all year at Leslie Dam?
The Queensland Government lists Leslie Dam among the dams exempt from the Murray-Darling cod closure of 1 August to 31 October; its page is linked in the sources.
Do I need a permit at Leslie Dam?
Yes, from age 18: the Stocked Impoundment Permit, A$13.60 a week or A$64.58 a year.
Is fishing good at Leslie Dam 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 422315B — Leslie Dam
- 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.