Australian bass
Excellent
Prime. Cast spinnerbaits, small hardbodies and surface lures tight to structure in the rivers; sound up the schools in the dams.
Mary River at Gympie Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Mary at Gympie: bass in the fresh river through the old gold town, with the endangered Mary River cod and the lungfish both no-take, and the Bureau’s gauge at the weir.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
1.20 m
Air / High
18 °C / 24 °C
Wind
ENE 5 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 138020A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Mary River at Gympie has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. The gauge reads 1.20 m, easing 0.26 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 5 km/h, rising pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Water sits around 21 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 10:23 AM-12:23 PM and 10:44 PM-12:44 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: 10:23 AM-12:23 PM, 10:44 PM-12:44 AM, 3:59 AM-4:59 AM. Warmer at 28 °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 Mary River at Gympie today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (04:55), sunset (18:11), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:23 AM-12:23 PM and 10:44 PM-12:44 AM; minor 3:59 AM-4:59 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 138020A (Mary R at Gympie Weir HW).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 138020A. Latest reading 2026-11-08 09:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp18 °C
High / Low24 °C / 16 °C
WindENE 5 km/h, gusts 16 km/h
Pressure1018.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain24% cloud, 72%
Sunrise / Sunset04:55 / 18:11
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~21 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Mary River at Gympie
The best day on Mary River at Gympie this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:23 AM-12:23 PM and 10:44 PM-12:44 AM
- Minor period
- 3:59 AM-4:59 AM
- Sun
- 04:55 to 18:11
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 72%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Mary River at Gympie: 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 Mary River at Gympie 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 Mary River at Gympie 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 32 °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 29 °C, wind to 19 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 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
Queensland has no recreational fishing licence for rivers; a Stocked Impoundment Permit is needed only in the listed stocked dams and weirs, such as Borumba.
About this water
Mary River at Gympie is a river in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Mary River at Gympie: the full guide
The reach
The Mary at Gympie is the fresh river through the old gold town, running past the town weir with the Mary Valley reaches upstream toward Kandanga and Imbil. Further downstream the river becomes tidal on its way to Maryborough. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the Gympie weir, station 138020A, supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Australian bass are the main fish, in the snags and deep bends from spring to autumn. Golden perch are the page’s second species; Queensland’s permit scheme lists them as stocked in Borumba Dam, on Yabba Creek in the Mary Valley. The Mary River cod and the Queensland lungfish are both no-take species and must be returned. Queensland closes bass fishing in tidal waters from 1 June to 31 August; the fresh river at Gympie is outside that closure.
Where to fish it
Public parkland along the river gives bank access through Gympie, and a kayak is a good way to fish the pools. The Mary Valley reaches upstream are reached from road crossings. For bass, fish close to timber at dawn and dusk with surface lures and small spinnerbaits; in the heat of the day, go deeper with soft plastics.
Reading the report
The chart follows the Mary’s rain and the weir pool. The Mary is a flood-prone river: a fresh colours it for days and a big flood reshapes it for weeks. The modelled water temperature, an estimate as the page says, gives the bass band from October to April.
Rules and access
Queensland has no recreational fishing licence for rivers; a Stocked Impoundment Permit is needed only in the listed stocked dams and weirs, such as Borumba. The size and possession limits, the tidal bass closure and the protection of the Mary River cod and lungfish are on the pages linked below.
Upstream into the Mary Valley
Above Gympie the Mary winds through the Mary Valley toward its headwaters, a smaller river of pools and rock bars. Borumba Dam, on Yabba Creek, is a stocked impoundment listed for Australian bass, golden perch, Mary River cod and silver perch, and has its own page. Remember that the Mary River cod is no-take in the rivers.
Common questions
Can I keep a Mary River cod?
No. Queensland lists the Mary River cod as no-take, and the lungfish too; both must be returned to the water.
Is there a closed season for bass at Gympie?
Not in the fresh river. Queensland’s bass closure, 1 June to 31 August, applies to tidal waters.
Is fishing good at Mary River at Gympie right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 138020A — Mary R at Gympie Weir HW
- 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.