Imagery: Esri, Vantor, Earthstar Geographics

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Dumaresq River

River

209 km

Main stem

57%

Tree cover on banks

Access places

A native-fish river on the New South Wales and Queensland border that runs down to the Macintyre. Freshwater catfish are the best-recorded fly fish, Murray cod have been recorded, and a closed zone sits below Bonshaw Weir.

The Dumaresq is a native-fish river on the New South Wales and Queensland border, and the reason to fish it is freshwater catfish on a heavy fly worked along the bottom of its deeper holes.

Think of it as a border river with one structure you need to know. It runs along the state line and down into the Macintyre, and partway along it is held up by Bonshaw Weir, a wall across the channel. The weir matters to you because of a closure below it, and because, in our experience, weir pools and the water just under them are where natives tend to gather.

That leaves two trips, and the easier one is catfish from the bank.

Pick one of the ways in on the access card, go between late spring and early autumn, and fish the deepest, slowest water you can reach. In our experience catfish feed close to the bottom, so crawl a dark streamer along it and fish into the evening. If you choose the Bonshaw stretch, the NSW closure shuts all fishing within 100 metres downstream of the weir face, which in practice means you walk past the water immediately below the wall and start beyond it.

The second trip is a cast at a Murray cod, and it is a long shot. Cod have been recorded here, but records are few, so fish for catfish and put a larger fly beside the best timber you pass. Before you target cod at all, check the current NSW guide for any season, bag and size limits on them.

Because the river is the border, the other bank answers to Queensland, and the NSW notice does not say what Queensland’s rules are. Read the current Queensland rules as well as the NSW guide.

Pick an access point from the card, check the live conditions before you drive out, and read both states’ current rules before you leave home.

No live gauge

No gauge readings are available for this water.

Season

Access & parking

Regulations

Driving directions

Water and habitat

What you can plan around is the river’s gauged history. The flow chart shows how often it runs high or low, the gradient profile shows how it falls, and the temperature chart shows how warm it gets through the year. In our experience, on a warm inland river like this the bigger natives sit in the deepest holes, on the outside of bends, under undercut banks and around sunken timber, and they move up onto shallower edges to feed as light fades.

A weir pool is slow, deep water by construction, and the run below a weir often holds fish too. Just remember that below Bonshaw Weir the first stretch is closed.

The survey chart shows how thoroughly the river’s fish have been sampled, which is worth a glance before you read too much into any one species.

BANK COVER ALONG THE RIVER · SATELLITE-CLASSIFIED, 2023–25

Dense trees

Open woodland

Sparse trees

Native grass & tussock

Cultivated

Bare

Fish and forage

Freshwater catfish are the best-recorded fly fish in the river. Murray cod have been recorded, but not often; fish as if one might turn up rather than as if one will. Eastern gambusia are present as well.

The small fish are the forage: Australian smelt, bony bream, western carp gudgeons, unspecked hardyheads, Agassiz’s glassfish and Murray River rainbowfish, with southern purple-spotted gudgeon also recorded. That points your fly box at small, pale baitfish patterns in sizes 6 to 10, plus a dark, weighted streamer in size 2 to 6 for catfish working the bottom.

When to fish it

In our experience the natives here come on as the water warms, from late spring through summer and into early autumn. Evenings and the first hours of dark are when catfish move and feed most openly. As the water cools, slow right down and fish the deepest holes, and expect fewer takes. Check the temperature and flow charts before you pick a date; a steady, clearing river after a rise is usually a better bet than a flood.

THE YEAR ON THIS WATER

Slow, heavy streamer on the bottom

Fly · Oct–Apr

A guide’s read. A dark Woolly Bugger, size 2 to 6, crawled along the bottom of the deeper holes is a good first fly for catfish and a fair one for any cod about.

Small native baitfish

Food · Oct–Apr

Australian smelt, bony bream, carp gudgeons, hardyheads and glassfish have all been recorded in the river. In our experience small fish like these are the everyday food of the bigger natives in the warm months.

How to fish it

A seven or eight weight with a floating line and a sinking-tip line for the deeper holes covers most of it. Keep the leader short and strong, because both catfish and cod live near snags and a fish that reaches one is usually gone.

For catfish, cast upstream of a deep hole, let the fly reach the bottom, and bring it back in short, slow pulls with long pauses so it bumps along. Takes are often a soft weight rather than a hit, so lift into anything that feels heavier. If you want a shot at cod, place a bigger fly tight beside the outside of the timber, let it fall, and pull it away from cover into open water rather than through the branches.

Access and safety

The access card lists the ways in. Treat each as a place to reach the water, not as permission to cross private land; where a spot is on farmland, ask the owner first. Remember that the far bank is in another state.

As on any inland river, banks can be steep and muddy after a rise and the level can change after rain upstream. Check the live conditions before you drive out, keep well clear of the weir face and outflow, as you would at any weir, carry water, and tell someone where you are going.

Public Reserve · A public reserve can be closed at any time, leased or licensed for grazing or other purposes. Anglers should check with land managers before entry

View place

Directions

Regulations

NSW has closed all fishing, by any method, on the part of the Dumaresq and its tributaries within 100 metres downstream of the weir face at Bonshaw Weir. The closure took effect on 25 August 2026 with no end date set, so do not fish that stretch.

That notice is a NSW one. The river is the NSW and Queensland border, and the notice does not state Queensland’s rules. Before you fish, read the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recreational fishing guide and its closed-waters list, and the current Queensland fishing rules, for season, bag and size limits on each species.

Prohibited

NSW

Fishing by any method is closed on the part of the Dumaresq River and its tributaries within 100 metres downstream of the weir face at Bonshaw Weir. This is a NSW notice; the river is the NSW–Queensland border, and Queensland's own rules are not stated by it.

NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Read the rule at source ↗