Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
South Para Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
SA Water’s second largest reservoir, near Williamstown: stocked golden perch, silver perch and catch-and-release Murray cod, kayak routes, a paid permit and a Bureau gauge.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Level
26.60 m35,862 ML
Air / High
20 °C / 26 °C
Wind
ENE 20 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge SAWSPARRS.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
South Para Reservoir has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. The gauge reads 26.60 m. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ENE around 19 km/h, steady pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:23 PM-1:23 AM and 11:50 AM-1:50 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Murray cod
Slow
Prime. Cast big spinnerbaits, hardbodies and swimbaits tight to timber and rock, and work the same snag several times. Catch and release only.
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: 11:23 PM-1:23 AM, 11:50 AM-1:50 PM, 5:08 AM-6:08 AM. Similar at 23 °C. 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 South Para Reservoir today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:06), sunset (19:51), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:23 PM-1:23 AM and 11:50 AM-1:50 PM; minor 5:08 AM-6:08 AM. New Moon, 0% 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 2026-11-01 00:30.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp20 °C
High / Low26 °C / 14 °C
WindENE 20 km/h, gusts 39 km/h
Pressure1011.3 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain45% cloud, 75%
Sunrise / Sunset06:06 / 19:51
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish South Para Reservoir
Today is the pick of the week on South Para Reservoir, at 4 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, 9 Nov — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 9 Nov — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 11:23 PM-1:23 AM and 11:50 AM-1:50 PM
- Minor period
- 5:08 AM-6:08 AM
- Sun
- 06:06 to 19:51
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 75%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
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.
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. Prime. Cast big spinnerbaits, hardbodies and swimbaits tight to timber and rock, and work the same snag several times.
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. Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
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
Murray cod
Golden perch
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 19 °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 dataSun, Nov 8
2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 18 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 has no fishing licence, but SA Water’s fishing permit is required at South Para: A$12 for three days, A$24 for ten days or A$39.75 a year, with concessions, as read on 27 September 2026.
Storage levels
Compare it with every other storage in the state on South Australia dam levels today.
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 is, by SA Water’s description, the second largest reservoir in South Australia, holding 44.8 gigalitres. It sits a few minutes by car, or a 30-minute walk, from Williamstown in the southern Barossa. Construction began in 1949 and finished in 1958, and its water flows to the Barossa Reservoir, where it is treated for about 85,000 customers. The reserve has 8.7 km of shared trails to peninsulas on the western and southern shores and a trail link to Warren Reservoir. This page reads its level and 30-day chart from the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge on South Para.
Species and seasons
SA Water lists South Para as stocked with Murray cod, golden perch and silver perch. Cod are catch and release all year under its reservoir rules; golden and silver perch have a 33 cm minimum and a bag of two each. Golden perch feed along drop-offs and timber in the warm months, and the reservoir’s long, winding arms give a kayak angler a great deal of edge to work.
Where to fish it
With a permit you can fish the shoreline in the public access area or from a kayak or canoe. SA Water suggests paddling routes to the north-west peninsula (3.6 km return), the south-west peninsula (6.2 km) and the south peninsula (10.4 km), and on to the old bridge (14 km return), which gives a sense of how far the water reaches. Pack insect repellent and your own bait, and remember that berley is prohibited.
Reading the report
The level chart shows how far the reservoir has drawn down; in the warmer months, SA Water notes, a low level means a trolley helps get a kayak to the water. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the perch their band from about October to April. When blue-green algae is increasing the site closes until 1 pm that day, so check before an early start.
Permits, access and rules
South Australia has no fishing licence, but SA Water’s fishing permit is required at South Para: A$12 for three days, A$24 for ten days or A$39.75 a year, with concessions, as read on 27 September 2026. The reserve opens from 7.30 am to 5 pm in standard time and to 8 pm in daylight saving time, closes on total fire ban days and does not allow dogs other than assistance animals. Both SA Water pages used here are linked in the sources.
Common questions
Can I fish South Para Reservoir?
Yes, with SA Water’s fishing permit, from the shore in the public access area or from a kayak or canoe, within the reserve’s opening hours.
What fish are in South Para Reservoir?
Murray cod (catch and release only), golden perch and silver perch, all listed by SA Water as stocked; perch have a 33 cm minimum and a bag of two.
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: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
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
- 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.