Bundaleer Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Tue, 29 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
SA Water’s 1903 reservoir near Spalding in the southern Flinders Ranges: stocked golden perch, silver perch and rainbow trout, a paid permit, a shoreline fishing zone and kayaks.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~13 °C est.
Air / High
19 °C / 32 °C
Wind
NE 24 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bundaleer Reservoir rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NE around 24 km/h, steady pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 32 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the waning gibbous, the solunar majors run 1:47 AM-3:47 AM and 1:47 PM-3:47 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Rainbow trout
Slow
Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 1:47 AM-3:47 AM, 1:47 PM-3:47 PM, 8:17 AM-9:17 AM. Cooler at 27 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
South Australia has no general fishing licence, but SA Water’s reservoir fishing permit is required here: A$12 for three consecutive days, A$24 for ten days or A$39.75 for a year (concession A$9.55, A$19.10, A$32.00), bought online from SA Water. Anglers 16 and over need one; under-16s may fish without one when with a permit holder, who may accompany up to five. Carry the permit and identification. Fish only in the shoreline fishing zone or from a kayak or canoe; the reserve closes on Total Fire Ban days and Christmas Day.
South Australia has no general fishing licence, but rules and permits apply. South Australia fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing golden perch here? Check the size and bag limits with PIRSA before you keep anything; the Golden perch page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Bundaleer Reservoir today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:56), sunset (18:16), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 1:47 AM-3:47 AM and 1:47 PM-3:47 PM; minor 8:17 AM-9:17 AM. Waning Gibbous, 91% lit.
Water and weather
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
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 / Low32 °C / 19 °C
WindNE 24 km/h, gusts 44 km/h
Pressure1024.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain59% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:56 / 18:16
MoonWaning Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Bundaleer Reservoir
The best day on Bundaleer Reservoir this week looks like Wednesday 30 Sept, 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: Wednesday, 30 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 29 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 1:47 AM-3:47 AM and 1:47 PM-3:47 PM
- Minor period
- 8:17 AM-9:17 AM
- Sun
- 05:56 to 18:16
- Moon
- Waning Gibbous, 91% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 26 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Bundaleer Reservoir: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
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.
Rainbow trout
Streams from October to June in NSW and from September to June in Victoria; lakes open all year; Tasmania from the first Saturday of August
The stocked lakes of the Snowy Mountains, the Victorian highlands and the Tasmanian central plateau. Closed seasons apply on the rivers: check the state rules. Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
When to come: the Bundaleer Reservoir 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
Golden perch
Rainbow trout
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 Bundaleer Reservoir today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataMon, Sep 28
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 29 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Sun, Sep 27
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 23 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
Sat, Sep 26
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 26 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and closures do. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by PIRSA and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the South Australia licence page before you keep anything.
Access
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About this water
Bundaleer Reservoir is a lake in South Australia, Australia, covered from the South Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Bundaleer Reservoir: the full guide
The reservoir
Bundaleer Reservoir lies near the township of Spalding in the southern Flinders Ranges, about 40 minutes by road from Clare. SA Water built it between 1898 and 1903 to supply Snowtown, Redhill, Brinkworth, Narridy, Blyth and Port Wakefield, and it helped Beetaloo keep water flowing to the Port Pirie smelters. It holds 6.3 gigalitres. It no longer supplies drinking water and is kept offline as an emergency source should the Morgan–Whyalla pipeline fail. SA Water calls it a smaller reserve, with a car park, unsealed loop trails and two picnic shelters above the kayak launch.
Species and stocking
SA Water’s pages differ in the detail. Its species table for the reservoir reserves lists golden perch, silver perch and rainbow trout at Bundaleer; the reserve page adds brown trout, and the reservoir data page adds Murray cod as well. The report on this page scores golden perch and rainbow trout, which every one of those pages names. For golden and silver perch the legal length is 33 cm with two a day, for rainbow trout 28 cm with two a day, and any cod goes straight back. Permit money pays for the stocking.
Where and how to fish
With a permit you can fish from the shoreline inside the fishing zone or from a kayak or canoe, and SA Water’s conditions limit fishing to the areas its signs and markers show. The path from the car park down to the picnic area is hard-packed gravel with a few gentle rises. Kayaks and canoes are the only craft allowed, with no motor or sail, scupper plugs fitted and a lifejacket of level 50 or higher worn. Bring bait with you, because none may be collected on the reserve; lures and flies are preferred and burley is banned.
Seasons for perch and trout
Golden perch are warm-water fish, so late spring through to autumn is the time to work a lure along the edges or sit a bait near cover. Rainbow trout suit the cooler months, when a small spinner or a fly at first light covers them. SA Water’s reservoir rules set bag and size limits but no closed season for either species, and the limits run for a day counted from midnight to midnight. Wading is allowed only below the knee, to launch or to land and release a fish.
Hours and closures
Bundaleer is open every day between sunrise and sunset, and its gates are locked on Total Fire Ban days, on Christmas Day and during operational work. If blue-green algae is building and SA Water is treating or managing it, the site stays shut until 1 pm, with a sign at the entrance and a note on the reserve page. Dogs are not allowed, assistance animals excepted. Walkers and riders share three loops: the 4.5 km Reservoir Loop over the dam wall, the 7 km Boundary Loop and the 6 km Woods Loop.
Reading the report
SA Water states that it does not currently monitor Bundaleer’s volume, and the Bureau of Meteorology holds no storage gauge for it, so this page carries no level chart. The water temperature here is an estimate, not a reading, and the fishing outlook is built from the weather, the season and the two species above. Check the reserve page for a closure notice before the drive north from Adelaide.
Common questions
Is Bundaleer Reservoir open for fishing?
Yes, with SA Water’s permit, from the shoreline fishing zone or a kayak or canoe between sunrise and sunset. It closes on Total Fire Ban days, Christmas Day and for operational work.
What fish are stocked in Bundaleer Reservoir?
SA Water’s species table names golden perch, silver perch and rainbow trout, and its reserve page adds brown trout. Perch must be 33 cm and rainbow trout 28 cm to keep, two of each a day.
Is there a level gauge for Bundaleer?
No. SA Water says it does not currently monitor the reservoir’s volume, so no level is shown on this page.
Is fishing good at Bundaleer Reservoir 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
- 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.