Murray River at Murray Bridge Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Murray at Murray Bridge: cod and callop on the last town reach before the lakes, under the road and rail bridges, with the Bureau’s gauge at Long Island.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
0.75 m
Air / High
15 °C / 27 °C
Wind
SW 12 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge A4261162, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Murray River at Murray Bridge rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. The gauge reads 0.75 m, holding steady. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SW around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 27 °C. Water sits around 13 °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.
Murray cod
Slow
Slow it down: heavier spinnerbaits, slow-rolled swimbaits and bait on the bottom next to the deep 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. Cooler at 17 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
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 Murray River at Murray Bridge today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:58), sunset (18:11), 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 A4261162 (River Murray at Murray Bridge (Long Island)).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station A4261162. Latest reading 2026-09-24 09:30.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low27 °C / 13 °C
WindSW 12 km/h, gusts 23 km/h
Pressure1025.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain41% cloud, 11%
Sunrise / Sunset05:58 / 18:11
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Murray River at Murray Bridge
The best day on Murray River at Murray Bridge this week looks like Saturday 26 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: Saturday, 26 Sept — good at 4/5, 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
- 05:58 to 18:11
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 11%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Murray River at Murray Bridge: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Murray cod
December to August; closed September to November
Closed now Catch and release reopens 1 Jan 2027. No Murray cod may be taken at any time from the River Murray or lakes Albert and Alexandrina. Catch and release is allowed from 1 January to 31 July, except on the Chowilla floodplain; from 1 August to 31 December cod may not be targeted at all, trolling included. Rule as read from PIRSA on 2026-09-25.
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.
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.
When to come: the Murray River at Murray Bridge 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
Murray cod
Golden perch
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 Murray River at Murray Bridge 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. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 26 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
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 24 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 19 °C, wind to 10 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
No fishing licence in South Australia; PIRSA’s limits apply, and Murray cod are release only, January to July, no targeting August to December; the pages are linked below.
About this water
Murray River at Murray Bridge is a river in South Australia, Australia, covered from the South Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Murray River at Murray Bridge: the full guide
The reach
The Murray at Murray Bridge is the last town reach of the river before it opens into Lake Alexandrina, running wide and slow under the road and rail bridges past Sturt Reserve, the wharf, Long Island and the riverfront parks, with the Swanport reaches downstream and the Mypolonga reaches up. It is cod and callop water an hour from Adelaide, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Long Island supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Murray cod fish the snags, the bridge pylons and the deep bends through summer and autumn on bait and lures, but they are catch and release only in South Australia, from 1 January to 31 July, and not to be targeted at all from 1 August to 31 December, as PIRSA sets it; callop are the everyday fish from spring to autumn; silver perch are protected; carp are the numbers fish; and bream and mulloway reach the lower river from the lakes when the barrages are open. Yabby nets go in the backwaters behind the levees.
Where to fish it
Sturt Reserve, the wharf and the riverfront parks give bank access at the town, the bridge pylons hold cod at night, and the ramps put a boat onto the reaches downstream toward Wellington and upstream toward Mypolonga; the snags and the deep bends are the cod water. Lake Alexandrina below has its own page.
Reading the report
The barrages hold the lower river nearly steady and the chart moves little except in a flood; the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the callop and cod band from November to April. The wind runs unchecked across the lower river flats; pressure counts before a summer storm.
Rules and access
No fishing licence in South Australia; PIRSA’s limits apply, and Murray cod are release only, January to July, no targeting August to December; the pages are linked below. The reserve, the wharf and the ramps are public.
Wellington and the lakes
Below Murray Bridge the river runs through Tailem Bend and Wellington, where the Wellington ferry crosses it and the river opens into Lake Alexandrina, and the Wellington reach is the last river water before the lake, with bream and mulloway pushing up from the barrages in a good year; Lake Alexandrina has its own page and the two fish as a pair.
Common questions
What can I catch at Murray Bridge?
Murray cod for release only, January to July, callop in the warm months, yabbies, carp; bream and mulloway reach up from the lakes when the barrages are open.
Do I need a licence at Murray Bridge?
No. South Australia has no recreational licence; PIRSA’s limits are the rules.
Is fishing good at Murray River at Murray Bridge 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 A4261162 — River Murray at Murray Bridge (Long Island)
- 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.