Rainbow trout
Slow
Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
South Para Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Barossa’s big reservoir opened to shore fishing and kayaks: native fish stocked into SA Water’s South Para lake, with a permit and a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
26.78 m36,470 ML
Air / High
16 °C / 25 °C
Wind
ESE 15 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge SAWSPARRS.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
South Para Reservoir is a cold-water proposition today: bait on the bottom and a long soak. The gauge reads 26.78 m. Today brings cloud cover, wind ESE around 14 km/h, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Water sits around 8 °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.
Brown trout
Slow
The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
Tie on: Bait on the bottom, running sinker · Heavy blade, deep · Slow-rolled swimbait · Live bait, deepest hole. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 19 °C with a rain chance. 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 rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with PIRSA before you keep anything; the Rainbow trout page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for South Para Reservoir today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:00), sunset (18:13), 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 SAWSPARRS.1 (South Para Reservoir (SA Water)).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station SAWSPARRS.1. Latest reading 2026-09-13 00:30.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low25 °C / 14 °C
WindESE 15 km/h, gusts 29 km/h
Pressure1024.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain66% cloud, 6%
Sunrise / Sunset06:00 / 18:13
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish South Para Reservoir
The best day on South Para Reservoir 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
- 06:00 to 18:13
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 6%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on South Para Reservoir: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from 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. Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Brown trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
The wild trout of the highland rivers and Tasmania's lakes. Spawns in autumn, hence the closed rivers through winter in NSW and Victoria. The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
When to come: the South Para 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 8 °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 South Para Reservoir 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. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 25 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 23 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 18 °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
South Australia sells no fishing licence; what South Para asks for is SA Water’s free online reservoir permit and respect for its gate hours and its marked areas, which our South Australia licence page describes with the other opened reservoirs.
About this water
South Para Reservoir is a lake in South Australia, Australia, covered from the South Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing South Para Reservoir: the full guide
The lake
South Para Reservoir holds the South Para River between Williamstown and Gawler in the Barossa hills, the biggest of the SA Water storages that the state has opened to recreation and the one with the longest shoreline: kayaks, bikes and walkers share it with anglers under a free online permit and gate hours. Its two long arms run back into steep, wooded country that the bank cannot reach, which is why the kayak matters here more than at Warren or Myponga. The Bureau of Meteorology reads the level on the reservoir, and that reading with its time and a 30-day chart are on this page.
Species and seasons
The state’s reservoir program has released native fish into South Para, golden perch and Murray cod among them according to the notices SA Water and PIRSA have published, on top of the redfin and carp that were already there; the list of what went in and when is theirs, linked from this page, and this site repeats none of it from memory. Golden perch feed along the drop-offs and the timbered edges from October to April, cod hold on the deeper structure in the warm months under whatever season and limits PIRSA sets, and the redfin take small lures all year. Check PIRSA before keeping a cod.
Where to fish it
The designated shore areas near the entrance and along the trails are the access, and kayaks launch from the point the program sets, opening the long arms that the bank cannot reach; the drop-offs and the timbered edges are where the natives hold. Powered boats are not allowed; the hours and the areas are SA Water’s.
Reading the report
A deep lake in steep hills warms slowly in spring and holds its heat into autumn, so the water temperature estimate, marked as an estimate, lags the shallow reservoirs by a few weeks either side; the chart shows the supply draw-down, which uncovers the timbered edges the natives feed on. The hills keep most wind off the water. The barometer and the sky fill in the score and the planner picks the morning.
Permits, access and rules
South Australia sells no fishing licence; what South Para asks for is SA Water’s free online reservoir permit and respect for its gate hours and its marked areas, which our South Australia licence page describes with the other opened reservoirs. Size, bag and boat limits are PIRSA’s; both agencies’ pages are in the sources block below.
Common questions
Can I fish South Para Reservoir?
Yes: shore fishing in the marked areas and kayak fishing on the arms, with SA Water’s free online permit and inside its hours; powered boats are not allowed.
What fish are in South Para Reservoir?
Golden perch and Murray cod from the state’s stocking program, plus the resident redfin and carp; SA Water’s and PIRSA’s notices, linked in the sources, are the record of what went in.
Is fishing good at South Para 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 SAWSPARRS.1 — South Para Reservoir (SA Water)
- 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.