Burrinjuck is a big irrigation dam in New South Wales, and the state fisheries guide describes it as a popular and productive fishery, above all for native Murray cod. It sits just under two hours’ drive from Canberra and about four from Sydney.

Think of it as one wall holding back three rivers. Behind the wall lies an open main basin, and reaching back from it are three arms, one for each river that fills the dam. That gives you four pieces of water to choose between. The rivers are the Murrumbidgee, the Goodradigbee and the Yass, and in our experience the arms and the basin are best treated as separate trips.

The easiest trip is golden perch in the warmer months. They are stocked here season after season, as the stocking chart shows, and the NSW fisheries department names Burrinjuck among its impoundment golden perch fisheries. Launch at one of the ramps on the access card and crawl a small weighted streamer along the edges of an arm. No water-specific rule was found, so the bag and size limits you need are in the current NSW guide; check them before you keep a fish.

The trip most anglers come for is Murray cod. They head the state guide’s description of the dam and appear in every season of the stocking chart. Take a boat if you can and fish a big fly on a sinking line at first and last light. Read the current NSW Murray cod rules before you pick dates, because no Burrinjuck-specific rule was found and the cod rules are the ones worth reading twice.

Rainbow trout are the cool-weather option. They have been stocked in most recent seasons. Our read is that trout in a big storage like this are a winter and early spring proposition, cruising the shallower margins while the water is cold. Do not drive up for them in midsummer, and check the current NSW guide for any trout rules before you fish.

Check the storage level and the NSW guide the week you go, then pick one arm and fish it properly rather than chasing the whole dam.