Murray cod
Slow
Slow it down: heavier spinnerbaits, slow-rolled swimbaits and bait on the bottom next to the deep snags. Catch and release only.
Happy Valley Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Tue, 29 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
SA Water’s 1897 reservoir in Adelaide’s southern suburbs: catch-and-release Murray cod, a paid permit, shore and kayak fishing, an all-access launch and a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
9.44 m10,844 ML
Air / High
21 °C / 31 °C
Wind
NE 21 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge SAWHAPVRS.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Happy Valley Reservoir rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. The gauge reads 9.44 m. Today brings cloud cover, wind NE around 21 km/h, rising pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 31 °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.
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 22 °C with a rain chance. 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. The reserve closes on Total Fire Ban days; kayaks and canoes only, with no motor or sail and a lifejacket worn.
South Australia has no general fishing licence, but rules and permits apply. South Australia fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing murray cod here? Check the size and bag limits with PIRSA before you keep anything; the Murray cod page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Happy Valley Reservoir today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:55), sunset (18:17), 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
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station SAWHAPVRS.1 (Happy Valley Reservoir (SA Water)).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station SAWHAPVRS.1. Latest reading 2026-09-26 00:30.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low31 °C / 20 °C
WindNE 21 km/h, gusts 42 km/h
Pressure1023.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain62% cloud, 10%
Sunrise / Sunset05:55 / 18:17
MoonWaning Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Happy Valley Reservoir
The best day on Happy Valley 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
- 05:55 to 18:17
- Moon
- Waning Gibbous, 91% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 10%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Happy Valley Reservoir: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Murray cod
Closed 1 September to 30 November in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, and 1 August to 31 October in Queensland; check the exempt lakes
Release only Catch and release only, all year. Murray cod may be caught and released all year when reservoir fishing, and never kept. Rule as read from PIRSA on 2026-09-28.
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.
When to come: the Happy Valley 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
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Murray cod
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 Happy Valley 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. Murray cod led the card at slow. High of 25 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Sun, Sep 27
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Murray cod led the card at slow. High of 19 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Sat, Sep 26
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Murray cod led the card at slow. High of 17 °C, wind to 24 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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Storage levels
Compare it with every other storage in the state on South Australia dam levels today.
About this water
Happy Valley Reservoir is a lake in South Australia, Australia, covered from the South Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Happy Valley Reservoir: the full guide
The reservoir
Happy Valley Reservoir sits in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, about 35 minutes from the city by SA Water’s reckoning, looking across the water to the Adelaide Hills. Completed in 1897, it holds 12.6 gigalitres and is fed by its own catchment and by Mount Bold Reservoir through the Clarendon Weir. The Happy Valley treatment plant, which treats much of Adelaide’s drinking water, stands inside the reserve and is plain to see from a kayak. SA Water’s 2023 visitor update dates the reserve’s opening to the public to December 2021.
Fish and stocking
SA Water’s species table for its reservoir reserves lists Murray cod for Happy Valley, and its rules make cod catch and immediate release all year; PIRSA confirms cod may be caught and released year-round when reservoir fishing. SA Water reported in 2023 that Happy Valley was first stocked in 2021 and was one of three reservoirs in a SARDI study of stocked natives and pest fish. Carp and redfin turn up as well, and the reserve page says they must be taken home rather than returned. Permit revenue is put back into stocking.
Where and how to fish
A permit lets you fish from the shoreline or from a kayak or canoe. SA Water provides a launch pontoon and a beach launch area that it says work whatever the water level, and an all-access kayak launch at the Tower Entrance with accessible parking close by. Two car parks take cars and trailers, one on the western side near Berkeley Road and one on the southern side off the roundabout joining Kenihans Road and Chandlers Hill Road. Burley and attractants are banned, any bait must come from home, and collection containers take used line, hooks and sinkers.
Handling cod and pest fish
SA Water’s general conditions allow a cod to be lifted out to be unhooked, supported flat in a knotless net and kept wet, while the Happy Valley page asks for cod to be unhooked in the water and let go at once; unhooking beside the kayak or at the edge satisfies both. Fish may not be cleaned on the reserve. In July 2026 SA Water reported four pelicans tangled in discarded line here and a pelican snatching a hooked carp before it was landed, so bin your line and carry pest fish off site.
Hours, closures and algae
Gates open at 7.30 am and close at 5 pm in standard time, or 8 pm during daylight saving. The reserve shuts on Total Fire Ban days and for operational work. When algae is being treated with a copper-sulphate algaecide it stays closed until 1 pm, with signs at the entrance and a notice online. SA Water says fish from its reservoirs are safe to eat but advises against eating the gills and entrails. Only kayaks and canoes may go on the water, with no motor or sail and a lifejacket worn, and dogs are not allowed apart from assistance animals.
Reading this page
This page draws its level and 30-day chart from Happy Valley Reservoir’s station on the Bureau of Meteorology’s Water Data Online, supplied by SA Water, and the time of the latest reading is printed beside it. Because the reservoir also receives water from Mount Bold, its level can move with those transfers as well as with rain. The water temperature on this page is an estimate rather than a measurement, and the outlook weighs the weather and the season for cod.
Common questions
Do I need a permit to fish Happy Valley Reservoir?
Yes. Anglers 16 and over need SA Water’s reservoir fishing permit: A$12 for three consecutive days, A$24 for ten or A$39.75 for a year, with concession prices. Children under 16 may fish without one alongside a permit-holding adult.
Can I keep a Murray cod from Happy Valley?
No. Murray cod are catch and immediate release at SA Water’s reservoirs every day of the year.
Can I fish Happy Valley Reservoir from a kayak?
Yes, from a kayak or canoe with no motor or sail, launched at the pontoon, the beach launch or the all-access launch at the Tower Entrance, with a lifejacket on.
Is fishing good at Happy Valley 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
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station SAWHAPVRS.1 — Happy Valley Reservoir (SA Water)
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- sawater.com.au/reservoir-reserves/reservoir-reserves/happy-valley
- sawater.com.au/reservoir-reserves/activities/fishing
- sawater.com.au/reservoir-reserves/access-and-permits/conditions-of-acc
- sawater.com.au/forms/buy-a-fishing-permit
- sawater.com.au/water-and-the-environment/south-australias-water-source
- sawater.com.au/news/take-your-tackle-anglers-urged-to-keep-it-clean-at
- sawater.com.au/news/reservoir-fish-study-hooked-on-the-numbers
- sawater.com.au/news/one-million-and-counting-for-sas-reservoir-reserve
- pir.sa.gov.au/fishing-and-aquaculture/recreational-fishing/rules/speci
- bom.gov.au/waterdata
- 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.