Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Lake Kununurra Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Ord River lake at Kununurra: barramundi and sooty grunter in the diversion dam’s pool below Argyle, fished from the town and the river, with a Bureau gauge.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~26 °C est.
Air / High
27 °C / 37 °C
Wind
NNW 9 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge PI_358347.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Kununurra sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 37 °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 37 °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 Kununurra 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 PI_358347.1 (Kununurra Diversion Dam Daily Water Level, North W).
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 temp27 °C
High / Low37 °C / 23 °C
WindNNW 9 km/h, gusts 21 km/h
Pressure1015.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset05:12 / 17:21
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Kununurra
The best day on Lake Kununurra 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, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Kununurra: 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 Kununurra 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 Kununurra 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 38 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 38 °C, wind to 18 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
A rod from the shore needs no licence in Western Australia; 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 Kununurra is a lake in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Kununurra: the full guide
The lake
Lake Kununurra is the pool of the Kununurra Diversion Dam on the Ord River, the lake the town of Kununurra sits beside, a long river lake of lily lagoons, drowned timber and rock between the Argyle dam upstream and the diversion dam that feeds the Ord irrigation channels, with ramps, jetties and the town foreshore on its banks. It is barramundi water in the middle of a town, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the diversion dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are wild and stocked and fish the timber, the rock and the lily edges at dawn, dusk and at night through the warm months, with no closed season in Western Australia and DPIRD’s size and bag limits the rule; sooty grunter are on the rock and the timber; catfish and archer fish are everywhere; and both freshwater and saltwater crocodiles are in the lake and the river. The Ord below the diversion dam is tidal barramundi river water.
Where to fish it
The town foreshore, the jetties and the ramps are the access, and the fishing is a boat fishery up the lake toward the Argyle spillway through the timber and the lagoons, and down to the diversion dam; the bank at the town fishes at dusk and the spillway below Argyle is the classic spot when the dam is running. The irrigation channels are off limits.
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 a level the diversion dam holds steady, so the Argyle spillway and the wet-season flows are the changes that matter. The wind row counts on the open reaches; pressure counts before a storm.
Licences, access and rules
A rod from the shore needs no licence in Western Australia; a boat needs the Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence, A$40; our Western Australia licence page has the fees read from DPIRD. The foreshore, jetties and ramps are public; DPIRD’s Kimberley rules and the barramundi limits are in the sources.
Common questions
Is barramundi open all year at Lake Kununurra?
Yes; Western Australia has no barramundi closed season, and DPIRD’s size and bag limits apply.
Can I fish from the bank at Kununurra?
Yes, from the town foreshore and the jetties; crocodiles are in the lake and the signs apply.
Is fishing good at Lake Kununurra 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
- 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.