Out here the rivers are broad and slow, usually carrying colour, and you fish them one snag at a time. There is no trout water. What there is, for a fly angler willing to throw a heavy rod, is Murray cod and golden perch living in the fallen timber of the Barwon, the Darling and the rivers that feed them.

NSW DPIRD’s Far West district is the far western corner of the state, bordered by Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. Its guide describes slow lowland rivers and their tributaries, with lake systems that may be ephemeral. It singles out the Murray and the Darling for golden perch and cod, and the Menindee Lakes for yabbies, noting that the regulators moving water in and out of the Menindee system produce good golden perch fishing.

Be clear about one thing before you plan. This page reaches further east than DPIRD’s district does. The Bogan, and Gunningbar Creek which runs into it, sit in DPIRD’s Macquarie district, whose guide also lists the Darling. The Barwon’s reach along the Queensland border is New England water in DPIRD’s guides. We have grouped them because, on the water, they are one fishery: the rivers that gather into the Barwon and the Darling, warm and slow, with the fish on the timber.

The country

Follow the water downstream. The Bogan River is a long river with more than seventy listed access sites, most of them travelling stock reserves; at Nyngan there is a boat ramp, a weir and a riverside park close together. Gunningbar Creek runs into the Bogan, and its one listed way in is a stock reserve at the Gunningbar Regulator.

The Bogan runs to the Barwon River, which you reach at boat ramps near Collarenebri and Brewarrina, at the weir in Brewarrina, and at a pair of stock reserves at Geera. The Barwon flows on into the Darling River, and the Darling’s listed sites read like a road trip south: the weir, wharf park and boat ramp at Bourke, Pooncarie Park, a site on Lake Pamamaroo, and boat ramps at Pomona and Wentworth before it meets the Murray.

The Rufus River is at the far end of the district, at Lake Victoria; DPIRD’s guide shows it at the lake’s outlet regulator. Murray cod, golden perch and silver perch have been recorded there, but treat the cod record as a sighting rather than a promise.

The fishing

The cod is the fish people drive out for, and the golden perch is the one that usually bends the rod. Both live on structure. A long, featureless bank holds fewer fish than a short one with a tangle of logs on a scoured outside bend. Cast tight to the wood and work the fly slowly past each snag before you move.

On the fly, that means an 8 to 10 weight, a sinking line or fast-sinking tip, and a short, heavy leader that can turn a cod away from the timber. A large dark Woolly Bugger or a bulky baitfish pattern is the usual answer on these rivers, with something smaller for the golden perch. The Murray cod and timber page covers the retrieve. On the Barwon at dusk a surface fly pulled in slow chugs across the face of a snag is worth a try.

The forage on the records is small native fish: bony bream, Australian smelt, carp gudgeons, hardyheads, glassfish and Murray River rainbowfish. European carp are in the Darling, the Barwon and the Bogan, and on a warm, still afternoon a carp tailing in the shallows takes a small weighted nymph. It can save a day when the cod have shut down.

Cod and golden perch have both been stocked into the Darling, and Gunningbar Creek’s stocking records list both. Whether those creek fish have survived the records cannot say, so go to Gunningbar expecting to work for a fish.

Where to start

For a first trip, go to Bourke between late spring and early autumn and fish the Darling from the bank around the weir and the wharf, then put a boat in at the ramp to reach the snags you cannot walk to. If you would rather stay in one town and walk, Nyngan on the Bogan gives you a boat ramp, a weir and several bank sites close together, and golden perch are the target there.

Do not plan a trip around the Rufus or Gunningbar on its own. Fish them as a detour from bigger water.

Through the year

These are warm-water fish, and the season to plan around runs from late spring into early autumn. Golden perch feed hardest once the water has warmed, and cod come up onto the timber. Fish first and last light. The middle of a summer day is slow fishing and hard on you.

Winter is slower, and the fish are harder to find. A steady, clearing river after a rise usually fishes better than a fresh flood. The Barwon and the Bogan both have flow and temperature records on their pages; check them before a long drive.

Rules and access

Seasons, closures, limits and licence requirements change, and the Barwon falls under Queensland’s rules as well; check NSW DPIRD’s current freshwater fishing rules and closures, and Queensland’s current freshwater rules, before you fish.

Much of the bank is grazing land, and the sites on each water’s access card are locations, not permission. A line on the map is not access permission either; respect fences and signs, and ask the landholder where a spot is on a farm. Banks are steep and soft after a rise, so never wade water you cannot see the bottom of. In summer carry more water than you think you need, and wear a lifejacket in a boat. The Namoi and the Gwydir, which both join the Barwon, are on the Peel and Namoi and New England pages.