Australian bass
Fair
Dam fish school deep; vertical jig plastics and blades over them. Rivers slow, and closed in NSW from June.
Nerang River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Nerang below Hinze at Nerang: bass in the fresh reaches and the weir pools of the Gold Coast hinterland, with the Bureau’s gauge at the town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~16 °C est.
Air / High
19 °C / 22 °C
Wind
E 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 146002A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Nerang River rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1031 hPa and a high of 22 °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.
Bream
Fair
Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the 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 22 °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 Nerang River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:33), sunset (17:43), 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 146002A (Nerang_R Nerang).
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low22 °C / 16 °C
WindE 8 km/h, gusts 21 km/h
Pressure1030.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain18% cloud, 80%
Sunrise / Sunset05:33 / 17:43
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~16 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Nerang River
The best day on Nerang River 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
- 05:33 to 17:43
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 80%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Nerang River: 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.
Bream
Year-round; summer and autumn in the estuaries, winter at the mouths
Yellowfin bream on the east coast, black bream in the southern estuaries. Structure fish: rock walls, jetty piles, oyster racks, snags and pontoons. Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
When to come: the Nerang River 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
Bream
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 Nerang River 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 22 °C, wind to 19 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 16 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 24 °C, wind to 26 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 general fishing licence; the size and bag limits, the bass rules and the protection of Mary River cod apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Nerang River is a river in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Nerang River: the full guide
The reach
The Nerang at Nerang is the river below Hinze Dam as it leaves the hinterland and runs through the town toward the Gold Coast’s canals and the Broadwater, fresh above the weirs and tidal below, with the river parks, the Nerang weir and the reaches upstream toward Advancetown. It is bass water on the edge of the city, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Nerang supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. The Gold Coast’s tidal water has its own page.
Species and seasons
Australian bass fish the snags, the rock and the weir pools from spring to autumn under the state’s bass rules, with the Queensland tidal bass closure from 1 June to 31 August applying below the weirs; golden perch and Mary River cod, the cod protected, are stocked in the weir pools; eel-tailed catfish are present; and bream and mullet fish the tidal reaches below. Hinze Dam upstream has its own page.
Where to fish it
The river parks and the weir give bank access at the town, the reaches upstream toward Advancetown are reached from the road crossings, and a kayak covers the weir pools; the snags and the rock are the bass water. Dusk is the bass hour and the city is ten minutes away.
Reading the report
The chart follows the Hinze releases and the hinterland’s summer rain, and a fresh colours the river and moves the bass; the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the bass band from October to April. The hinterland shelters the water; pressure counts before a summer storm.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the size and bag limits, the bass rules and the protection of Mary River cod apply, on the pages linked below. The parks, the weir surrounds and the crossings are public.
Advancetown and the dam
The Nerang above the town runs up through Advancetown to the Hinze Dam wall, and the reach below the wall carries the dam’s cold releases and the fish that spill over it in a wet season; the dam itself, with its permit-only shore fishing and electric boating, has its own page, and the two make a morning: the dam at dawn, the river through Nerang at dusk.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Nerang River?
Australian bass from spring to autumn, stocked golden perch in the weir pools, catfish; bream and mullet in the tidal reaches below. Mary River cod are protected.
Do I need a licence at Nerang?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; the limits and the bass rules apply.
Is fishing good at Nerang River 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
- 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.