Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Lake Argyle Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Ord’s inland sea in the Kimberley: barramundi, sooty grunter, catfish and freshwater crocodiles by the thousand, with a Bureau gauge at the dam.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
91.76 m9,986,830 ML
Air / High
30 °C / 35 °C
Wind
NNE 10 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge ODSS_22241_GLEVN.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Argyle is fishing in its best temperature window, with the bite spread across the day. The gauge reads 91.76 m. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 36 °C. Water sits around 26 °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.
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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 34 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Western Australia requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$40.00. Western Australia fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing barramundi here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD WA before you keep anything; the Barramundi page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Lake Argyle today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:12), sunset (17:21), 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 ODSS_22241_GLEVN.1 (Lake Argyle Dam).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station ODSS_22241_GLEVN.1. Latest reading 2026-09-16 11:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp30 °C
High / Low35 °C / 25 °C
WindNNE 10 km/h, gusts 18 km/h
Pressure1014.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain19% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:12 / 17:21
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Argyle
The best day on Lake Argyle this week looks like Saturday 26 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 2 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, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 25 Sept — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:12 to 17:21
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Argyle: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Barramundi
Run-off (March to May) and build-up (October to November) in the north; check the closed season on the Queensland east coast
The north's fish. Tidal rivers, run-off creeks, rock bars and the stocked impoundments. Warm water, moving water and a barometer on the way down. Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
When to come: the Lake Argyle 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
Barramundi
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 26 °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 Lake Argyle today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 36 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 36 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Barramundi led the card at fair. High of 35 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Western Australian recreational fishing licences, from A$40.00, 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 DPIRD WA and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Western Australia licence page before you keep anything.
Access
Western Australia licenses the activity and a rod on the shore needs nothing, while a boat needs the Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence, A$40; our Western Australia licence page has the fees read from DPIRD.
About this water
Lake Argyle is a lake in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Argyle: the full guide
The lake
Lake Argyle is the Ord River Dam’s storage in the east Kimberley south of Kununurra, the largest lake by volume in mainland Australia, a vast expanse of drowned savanna, islands and red ranges with a caravan park, a ramp and cruise boats at the dam and a shoreline that runs for hundreds of kilometres with no other access. It is barramundi and sooty grunter water on a scale that needs a plan, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are stocked and fish the rocky points, the creek mouths and the drowned timber in the warm months at dawn, dusk and at night, and Western Australia has no closed season for barramundi in the Kimberley, with DPIRD’s size and bag limits the rule; sooty grunter are on every rocky point; fork-tailed catfish and archer fish are everywhere; and freshwater crocodiles, harmless if left alone, number in the tens of thousands. Saltwater crocodiles are recorded and the signs say so.
Where to fish it
The caravan park and the ramp at the dam launch onto the southern end, and the fishing is a boat fishery into the islands, the rocky points and the creek mouths, with fuel, water and a plan for the wind; the rock walls near the dam hold barramundi in the dry. Bank fishing from the park foreshore works at dusk. The Ord below the dam, Lake Kununurra, has its own page.
Reading the report
The Kimberley is hot for most of the year and the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives a long barramundi band; the chart shows the wet-season fill and the long dry draw-down. The lake is open and the wind crosses it unhindered, so the wind row decides the run; the rain row shows the wet arriving and the roads closing; pressure counts before a storm.
Licences, access and rules
Western Australia licenses the activity and a rod on the shore needs nothing, while a boat needs the Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence, A$40; our Western Australia licence page has the fees read from DPIRD. The caravan park and the ramp are open; DPIRD’s Kimberley rules and the barramundi limits are in the sources.
Common questions
Is there a closed season for barramundi at Lake Argyle?
No. Western Australia has no barramundi closed season; DPIRD’s size and bag limits apply and are linked in the sources.
Do I need a licence at Lake Argyle?
Not for a rod from the shore; a boat needs the Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence, A$40. See our Western Australia licence page.
Is fishing good at Lake Argyle right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station ODSS_22241_GLEVN.1 — Lake Argyle Dam
- 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.