The last run of the Cotter below the dam wall to the Murrumbidgee, open water under the ACT rules.
Below the wall of Cotter Dam the river has a short run left before it meets the Murrumbidgee, and the territory treats that last run as open water rather than trout water. It is the one part of the river where the open-water rules apply.
The shape is a tailwater from the dam to a junction.
The fish record here is thin: brown trout turn up in a survey on this stretch, but nothing since 1992, which is a gap in the record rather than proof they have gone. The trout water proper is upstream. Treat it as a place to look at the water, or to fish on the open-water rules if you see a reason to.
The rules are the open-water set: up to two rods or handlines at once with a landing net, no more than two hooks, two flies or one lure on each rod, and you must stay within ten metres of your gear and keep it in sight.
If you came for trout, drive up to the stretch below Bendora Dam.
Fish in this water
Each fish is rated by its strongest evidence. A rating says how sure we are a fish is here, not how many there are, whether it is worth fishing for or whether you may keep it.
Likely
Older records here, recent stocking, a local guide or fly shop, a guide listing, or recent records on connected water nearby.
The stretch runs from the Cotter Dam outflow to the junction with the Murrumbidgee, a tailwater below the dam.
BANK COVER ALONG THIS REACH · SATELLITE-CLASSIFIED, 2023–25
Open woodland
Sparse trees
Native grass & tussock
Cultivated
Fish and forage
Brown trout are on the survey record for this stretch, though nothing since 1992; treat that as a gap in the record, not evidence the fish have gone. Murray cod may reach it from nearby water, but there is no survey record of them here, and as a species listed Vulnerable nationally they are not one to target. The trout water is above the reservoir. Check the current ACT fishing brochure for which native species must be released.
Observation history
Regulatory mentions
Occurrence records do not establish present abundance or angling suitability. Counts are records, not fish. Environmental DNA indicates a detection in water, not a captured fish.
These records fall inside the mapped waterbody or within 250 m of a mapped waterway. Records with stated positional uncertainty above 1 km were excluded; some included locations have unstated uncertainty.
2003–2024 · 19 records · Cotter River as a whole; not specific to this reach
Backpack electrofishing (7) · Other electrofishing (2) · Unstated or other method (10)
Data: NatureMapr (CC-BY 3.0 (Au)); Sustainable Rivers Audit (CC-BY-Int); Australian Museum provider for OZCAM (CC-BY 3.0 (Au)); South Australian Museum Adelaide provider for OZCAM (CC-BY); Encyclopedia of Life Images - Flickr Group (CC-BY 4.0 (Int))
Use the formed tracks and obey signs. As on any river below a dam, the level can change when the release does, so keep an eye on the water and do not wade where you could not get back out.
Ways in
Where roads, tracks and paths reach the water, from mapped roads. Not a right of entry: check gates, land tenure and closures.
The Cotter River below Cotter Dam is Open Water under the ACT’s recreational fishing rules. In open water you may use no more than two rods or handlines combined at any one time and a landing net; each rod may carry no more than two hooks, two artificial flies or one artificial lure; you must be within ten metres of your gear and able to see it at all times; and it is prohibited to possess more than four rods or handlines combined, or more than two rigged for bait, in or beside the water. For seasons, licensing, and size and bag limits, check the current ACT recreational fishing brochure before you fish.
Permitted with conditions
ACT
Open Waters are every public water in the ACT that is not a Prohibited Water or a Trout Water. The brochure also names four Open Water reaches: the Murrumbidgee River downstream from its junction with the Gudgenby River, and separately the Murrumbidgee River upstream from the concrete crossing at Angle Crossing to the ACT/NSW border (the reach between those two points, from Angle Crossing downstream to the Gudgenby junction, is a Prohibited Water, not Open Water); the Molonglo River downstream of its junction with the ACT/NSW border; the Cotter River below Cotter Dam; and urban lakes and ponds.
ACT Government (Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate / City and Environment Directorate), citing the Fisheries Act 2000
In or beside Open Waters, an angler may not possess more than 4 rods or handlines in total, and no more than 2 of those may be rigged for bait fishing.
ACT Government (Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate / City and Environment Directorate), citing the Fisheries Act 2000
In ACT Open Waters, an angler may possess up to 4 rods or handlines combined plus one landing net in or beside the water, but no more than 2 of those combined rods/handlines may be rigged for bait fishing, or up to 4 if rigged for lure or fly fishing, at any one time.
ACT Government (Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate / City and Environment Directorate)