Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Ross River Dam Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Townsville’s big supply lake: barramundi, sooty grunter and the closed season that still applies here, with shore fishing under the council’s rules and a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~26 °C est.
Air / High
19 °C / 27 °C
Wind
SSW 6 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 532020A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Ross River Dam has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings clear skies, wind SSW around 6 km/h, steady pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 27 °C. Water sits around 26 °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.
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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 27 °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 barramundi here? Check the size and bag limits with Queensland DPI before you keep anything; the Barramundi page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Ross River Dam today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:00), sunset (18:09), 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 532020A (Ross River Dam).
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 / Low27 °C / 17 °C
WindSSW 6 km/h, gusts 11 km/h
Pressure1023.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain14% cloud, 65%
Sunrise / Sunset06:00 / 18:09
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Ross River Dam
The best day on Ross River Dam this week looks like Saturday 26 Sept, at 5 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: Saturday, 26 Sept — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
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
- 06:00 to 18:09
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 65%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Ross River Dam: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Barramundi
Run-off (March to May) and build-up (October to November) in the north; check the closed season on the Queensland east coast
Open now Closes 1 Nov 2026. Closed 1 November to 31 January on the east coast, tidal and fresh, except in the stocked dams the Queensland Government lists. No catch and release in the closure. Rule as read from Queensland Department of Primary Industries on 2026-09-23.
The north's fish. Tidal rivers, run-off creeks, rock bars and the stocked impoundments. Warm water, moving water and a barometer on the way down. Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
When to come: the Ross River 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
Barramundi
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 26 °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 Ross River Dam today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 26 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 24 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 27 °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
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the barramundi closure applies at Ross River Dam because it is not on the exempt list, and this site has not confirmed whether the Stocked Impoundment Permit applies, so the Queensland Government page in the sources is the one to check.
About this water
Ross River Dam is a lake in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Ross River Dam: the full guide
The lake
Ross River Dam holds the Ross River on the southern edge of Townsville, the city’s water supply and one of the largest lakes in the north, shallow and vast behind a long earth wall with a recreation area, a ramp for the craft the council allows and shores of drowned timber and open water under Mount Stuart. It is barramundi and sooty grunter water on the edge of the city, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are stocked and fish the timber, the weed and the points at dawn, dusk and at night in the warm months, but Ross River Dam is not on the Queensland Government’s list of dams exempt from the east coast closure, so the 1 November to 31 January closure applies here and the chip on the species card computes it; sooty grunter and sleepy cod are present, and red claw are a pot fishery. Whether the dam is on the Stocked Impoundment Permit list is not something this site has confirmed; check the Queensland Government page before fishing. Crocodiles are recorded in the lake.
Where to fish it
The recreation area at the wall has the ramp and the bank access, and the timbered arms and the weed beds across the shallow lake are the barramundi water, fished from a boat under the council’s rules; the deep water near the wall holds the fish in the dry. Bank fishing from the recreation area works at dusk.
Reading the report
The dry tropics give the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, a long barramundi band from September to May; the chart shows the supply draw-down and the wet-season fill, when the spillway runs. The open lake catches the south-easterly through the dry and the wind row decides the launch; pressure counts before a storm.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the barramundi closure applies at Ross River Dam because it is not on the exempt list, and this site has not confirmed whether the Stocked Impoundment Permit applies, so the Queensland Government page in the sources is the one to check. The council sets the recreation area and boating rules; the Queensland size and bag rules apply.
Common questions
Is barramundi closed at Ross River Dam?
Yes, from 1 November to 31 January: the dam is not on the Queensland Government’s exempt list, and the species card computes the closure for this year with the rule linked.
Do I need a permit at Ross River Dam?
This site has not confirmed whether the dam is on the Stocked Impoundment Permit list; check the Queensland Government page linked in the sources before fishing.
Is fishing good at Ross River Dam 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.