Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
Campaspe River at Barnadown Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Campaspe at Barnadown below Lake Eppalock: golden perch, redfin and Murray cod in a regulated red gum river, with a Bureau gauge and the cod closure.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
1.59 m
Air / High
14 °C / 21 °C
Wind
ESE 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 406201, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Campaspe River at Barnadown sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 1.59 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:29 PM-1:29 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Murray cod
Closed today
Reopens 1 Dec 2026. Closed 1 September to 30 November inclusive, except in Lake Eildon, Eildon Pondage, Lake Eppalock, Cairn Curran, Lake Nillahcootie and the other waters the VFA lists.
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: 11:29 PM-1:29 AM, 11:57 AM-1:57 PM, 5:10 AM-6:10 AM. Warmer at 27 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Victoria requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$10.00. Victoria fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing murray cod here? Check the size and bag limits with VFA before you keep anything; the Murray cod page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Campaspe River at Barnadown today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:09), sunset (20:02), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:29 PM-1:29 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 PM; minor 5:10 AM-6:10 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 406201 (CAMPASPE @ BARNADOWN).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 406201. Latest reading 2026-11-07 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low21 °C / 6 °C
WindESE 8 km/h, gusts 12 km/h
Pressure1016.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain23% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:09 / 20:02
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Campaspe River at Barnadown
The best day on Campaspe River at Barnadown this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:29 PM-1:29 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 PM
- Minor period
- 5:10 AM-6:10 AM
- Sun
- 06:09 to 20:02
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Campaspe River at Barnadown: 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
Closed now Reopens 1 Dec 2026. Closed 1 September to 30 November inclusive, except in Lake Eildon, Eildon Pondage, Lake Eppalock, Cairn Curran, Lake Nillahcootie and the other waters the VFA lists. Rule as read from Victorian Fisheries Authority on 2026-09-23.
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.
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 Campaspe River at Barnadown 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 Campaspe River at Barnadown today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
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 18 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 16 °C, wind to 27 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 22 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence (RFL), from A$10.00, the same for residents and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by VFA and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Victoria licence page before you keep anything.
Access
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies at Barnadown unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees.
About this water
Campaspe River at Barnadown is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Campaspe River at Barnadown: the full guide
The Campaspe at Barnadown
Barnadown is on the Campaspe River below Lake Eppalock, north-east of Bendigo, where the VFA describes the river leaving the hills and running on through flat farmland to Elmore. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Barnadown, station 406201, supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. Lake Eppalock and the Campaspe at Rochester and Redesdale have their own pages.
Species and seasons
The VFA guide lists golden perch, redfin and carp in the river between Lake Eppalock and Elmore, with Murray cod from past stocking in the deeper pools between Axedale and English Bridge and brown trout just below the Eppalock wall. The river, unlike Lake Eppalock, is not exempt from the Murray cod closed season, 1 September to 30 November; the species card computes it, and the river bag is one cod between 55 and 75 cm.
Where to fish it
The VFA names public access points at Axedale and English Bridge upstream, where small boats can be launched from the bank, and the crossings between Barnadown and Elmore reach the river. Pools run from about 70 to 180 cm deep between shallow riffles, and the snags and overhanging banks are where to put a lure or a bait.
Planning a visit
Bendigo, to the south-west, has supplies and tackle, and Lake Eppalock is a short drive upstream. Bring cod lures and bait, and a light rod for redfin.
The river through the year
Below Lake Eppalock the VFA describes the Campaspe as totally controlled by weirs, reservoirs and irrigation releases: very low flows in the non-irrigation period from mid-May to mid-August, and much higher ones through the irrigation season. Campaspe Weir at Elmore, 45 km below the dam, can divert what comes down. The chart therefore shows steps rather than natural rises. Cod feed through summer and autumn, and golden perch bite best in the warm months on rising water.
Reading this report here
The chart shows releases from Eppalock shaping the river; a change in release is the moment to watch. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm in summer; pressure and sky build the score at Barnadown.
Licence, access and rules
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies at Barnadown unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees. The VFA cod rules and the Campaspe angling guide are in the sources.
Common questions
Is cod closed in the Campaspe in spring?
Yes, from 1 September to 30 November; the exemption covers Lake Eppalock, not the river.
What can I catch at Barnadown?
Golden perch, redfin and Murray cod, with brown trout close below the Eppalock wall.
Do I need a licence at Barnadown?
Yes: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, unless an exemption covers you.
Is fishing good at Campaspe River at Barnadown 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 406201 — CAMPASPE @ BARNADOWN
- 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.