Loddon River at Bridgewater Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Loddon at Bridgewater on the Calder: cod and golden perch in the weir pool and the red gums north of Bendigo, with the Bureau’s gauge at the town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~13 °C est.
Air / High
15 °C / 26 °C
Wind
SSW 6 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 407200, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Loddon River at Bridgewater is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSW around 6 km/h, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 26 °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 19 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 Loddon River at Bridgewater today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:09), sunset (18:22), 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 407200 (LODDON @ BRIDGEWATER).
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low26 °C / 14 °C
WindSSW 6 km/h, gusts 12 km/h
Pressure1024.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain38% cloud, 27%
Sunrise / Sunset06:09 / 18:22
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Loddon River at Bridgewater
The best day on Loddon River at Bridgewater 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
- 06:09 to 18:22
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 10 km/h
- Rain chance
- 27%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Loddon River at Bridgewater: 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 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. 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 Loddon River at Bridgewater 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 Loddon River at Bridgewater 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 25 °C, wind to 11 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 21 °C, wind to 8 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
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 17 °C, wind to 13 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 unless exempt; our Victoria page has the fees.
About this water
Loddon River at Bridgewater is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Loddon River at Bridgewater: the full guide
The reach
The Loddon at Bridgewater is the river north of Bendigo where the Calder Highway crosses it, held into a pool by the Bridgewater weir with a river park, a caravan park, water skiing on the pool in summer and long, timbered reaches downstream toward Serpentine and the plains. It is cod and perch water on a weir pool, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Bridgewater supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Murray cod fish the snags, the weir and the deep bends through summer and autumn on lures and bait, with the VFA bag of one in the river and the closure from 1 September to 30 November computed on the species card; golden perch are the everyday fish from spring to autumn; redfin are present; and carp are numerous under the VFA rules. Laanecoorie and Cairn Curran, the storages upstream, have their own pages.
Where to fish it
The river park and the caravan park give bank access to the weir pool, the water below the weir is the cod hole, and a kayak covers the timbered reaches downstream; the pool takes the skiers in summer and the fishing moves to dawn and dusk. The deep outside bends and the timber are the cod water.
Reading the report
The chart follows the releases from Laanecoorie and the weir’s management of the pool, nearly steady except in a flood; the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the cod band from November to April. The open country lets the wind cross the river; pressure counts before a summer storm.
Licence, access and rules
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless exempt; our Victoria page has the fees. The park and the caravan park are public or commercial and open, the weir has its exclusion zone; the VFA limits, the river bag and the closure are in the sources.
Skiers and anglers
The weir pool is a water-skiing lake through summer and the skiers have the middle of it from mid-morning, so the fishing at Bridgewater is a dawn and dusk affair on the pool and an all-day one on the river below the weir and the timbered reaches downstream; the water authority marks the zones and the caravan park runs the camping.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Loddon at Bridgewater?
Murray cod in season, golden perch in the warm months, redfin and carp.
Do I need a licence at Bridgewater?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence.
Is fishing good at Loddon River at Bridgewater 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
- 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.