Lake Copeton

Stillwater
46.3 km²
Water area
2
Species recorded
4
Access places
11
Stocking records
A very large, very deep irrigation storage on the western slopes of the New England Ranges, between Inverell, Bundarra and Bingara, with a shoreline of white granite boulders and wattle scrub. The NSW fishing guide rates it among the state's premier waters for large Murray cod; golden perch are the second fish. Camping and cabins on both shores, boat ramps and facilities, and year-round access.
Copeton Dam is where you go in New South Wales to catch a big Murray cod on a fly. The state’s own fishing guide names it among the premier waters for large cod, and the shoreline is the kind a cod fly needs: white granite boulders and thick wattle scrub, dropping into water deeper than you will ever fish.
It is an irrigation storage on the western slopes of the New England Ranges, started in 1968 and opened in 1973, sitting between three towns: Inverell, Bundarra and Bingara. Full, it holds more than three times the volume of Sydney Harbour and runs past a hundred metres deep, and that size matters only as a warning. The water that counts for you is the fringe, the rock and scrub along the shore and the gorges a boat can push into when the level allows; the open middle is deep and empty and you cross it. Two shores, north and south, each with camping and cabins, and the access card names the ramps, so the lake divides simply. Pick a shore and fish its rocks.
The easiest trip is golden perch in spring, when an angling magazine counts Copeton among the eastern lakes that see more anglers each spring. In our experience they hold on the rocky points and along the drowned wattle, and a smaller dark streamer counted down the edge and hopped back slowly takes them. No water-specific rule was found for the dam, so take the licence, bag and size limits from the current NSW guide before you launch. Launch at the ramp nearest your camp and work the nearest granite.
The second trip is the cod, the fish you drove for. Summer and autumn, at first and last light, a big streamer on a fast-sinking line put tight against the boulders and the scrub and worked back slowly. Read the current NSW guide for the bag, size and any seasonal rule on cod before you set a date.
Winter is the quiet option. The guide warns that dawns and evenings run cold from late autumn through early spring, and in our experience the fish sit deeper on the ledges. A slow fly counted down the rock faces still finds a golden perch; the cod are harder.
Pick one shore, launch before light, and fish every boulder you can reach.

Species records

Historical records and regulatory mentions. They do not establish current abundance, a suitable angling target or permission to fish.
Murray Cod
Stocking history 2019–2026
Golden Perch
Stocking history 2020–2025
No live gauge
No gauge readings are available for this water.
Season
Access & parking
4
Driving directions

Water and habitat

A dam on the western fall of the New England Ranges, built between 1968 and 1973 to supply irrigation. Full, it holds 1,364,000 megalitres, spreads across more than 11,000 acres and drops to 104 metres at its deepest, behind a wall 113 metres tall. Nothing about those figures helps you catch a fish except the last: this is very deep water, and the fish are on the edges of it.
The edges are the point. The NSW fishing guide describes the shore as white granite boulders and thick wattle brush, and singles them out as the structure the fish use and the prime places to fish for Murray cod and golden perch. Granite gives you boulder fields that run into the water and keep going down; the wattle gives you drowned scrub in the shallows when the level is up. A cod wants a big rock with shade and deep water beside it. A golden perch wants the same rock, a little shallower, and a slower fly. When the level permits, the guide says the nearby gorges can be reached by boat.
The storage is drawn on for a great deal, which is why the shoreline moves. The guide lists town water for Tamworth, irrigation for cotton, lucerne, wheat, orchards and vegetables, stock pasture, hydro-electric generation, flood mitigation and environmental flows, and a pecan plantation in the nearby Gwydir valley. At an extremely low level, below three per cent, the remains of old Dasey Town and its church show on the lakebed, which tells you how far this water can fall. Check the current storage level before a long drive, because a lake at half its size fishes as a different lake.

Fish and forage

The NSW fishing guide names Murray cod and golden perch as the fish to come for, with eel-tailed catfish, silver perch and spangled perch alongside. Cod are the reputation: the guide calls the dam one of the state’s premier destinations for large ones, and a NSW Recreational Fishing Trusts report lists tagging studies of how Murray cod use the habitat and move in Copeton. In our experience golden perch are the numbers fish. Redfin turn up as well; treat one as a bycatch, not a plan.
The stocking chart shows cod going in every season it covers and golden perch in most. Read it as a sign that both fisheries are being maintained on purpose, not as a count of what is there.
Nothing in the guide says what they eat here, so this is a guide’s read of a deep granite lake. Cod in a storage like this feed on whatever is big enough to be worth the effort: other fish, yabbies where the bottom allows, and anything that lands on the surface at night. Golden perch eat smaller things closer to the rock. For the fly box that means two sizes of the same idea: a large, dark, water-pushing streamer for cod, and a smaller weighted streamer in black or olive for the perch, plus one surface fly for the summer nights.
Reported past stocking. These records do not establish survival, present abundance or a current stocking programme.
Stocking recorded for Lake Copeton
11 source records · latest 10 reported periods
Labels such as 2023/24 cover July to June. Each financial-year record is a site total, not an individual release. Missing periods are not reported as zero.
Murray Cod
Golden Perch
Latest source records
2025/26
Murray Cod · 59,999 · Site financial-year total
2024/25
Golden Perch · 72,499 · Site financial-year total
2024/25
Murray Cod · 81,998 · Site financial-year total
2023/24
Golden Perch · 91,998 · Site financial-year total
2023/24
Murray Cod · 40,000 · Site financial-year total
NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Fisheries) ↗
Murray Cod
Maccullochella peelii
2019–2026 · 7 records · Lake Copeton
NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Fisheries) ↗
Golden Perch
Macquaria ambigua
2020–2025 · 4 records · Lake Copeton
NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Fisheries) ↗

When to fish it

The guide’s own note is that access is year-round, and its one timing hint is about the cold: late autumn, winter and early spring bring cold evenings and early mornings despite the northern location. Everything else here is a guide’s judgement.
Spring is the golden perch season. One of the angling magazines lists Copeton among the eastern lakes that see anglers arrive each spring, and our read is that the draw is the perch moving onto the rocky points as the water warms. Summer and autumn are the cod months: warm water, long evenings, and fish on the shoreline structure in the low light at either end of the day. Summer nights bring the chance of a surface take.
Winter, in our experience, fishes slower and deeper. The perch drop onto the ledges and want a fly held near the bottom; the cod are harder to move. It is also cold enough at dawn that you want a cabin, not a tent. Whatever the month, check the current NSW rules for Murray cod before you plan around them.
THE YEAR ON THIS WATER
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Murray cod on the boulders
Fly · Dec–Apr
Summer and autumn, at first and last light. A big dark streamer on a fast-sinking line, cast tight to the granite and the drowned wattle and worked back slowly. Check the current NSW rules for Murray cod before you plan a trip.
Golden perch wake up
Fly · Sep–Dec
An angling magazine lists Copeton among the eastern lakes that see more anglers each spring. A smaller streamer counted down the rocky points and hopped along the bottom, slower than feels right.
Surface cod after dark
Fly · Dec–Feb
Warm, still summer nights. A large popper or a mouse-sized foam fly walked along the shoreline scrub, with long pauses. A guide’s read rather than a documented pattern; fish it where you have already found cod by day.

How to fish it

You are fishing structure, not water. Every cast goes to a boulder, a shaded rock face, a drowned wattle or a point where the granite runs into the deep, and the retrieve is slow. A boat is the tool: work along a rock shore at casting range, put the fly on the rock and let it fall down the face.
For cod, a nine or ten weight with a fast-sinking line and a short, heavy leader. The fly is big: a Woolly Bugger tied on a large hook with a lot of marabou, or any articulated streamer that pushes water. Cast it against the rock, count it down, and bring it back in long, slow strips with pauses; cod take on the drop and on the pause. Fish the shade side of a boulder and the deep side of a point. In summer, once it is properly dark and the water is still, swap to a floating line and a large popper or a foam surface fly and walk it along the scrub edge with long waits between pops.
For golden perch, a six or seven weight and an intermediate or sinking line. A smaller black or olive streamer, weighted, counted down the rock and hopped back slowly along the bottom. When the perch are in the drowned wattle, fish the fly right in the scrub and expect to lose some.
From the bank, fish the boulder shore in front of the camping areas at first light before the boats move, and cover the rock within reach with the same slow retrieve. Cast along the shore rather than out into the lake; the fish are beside you, not in front of you.

Access and safety

The dam sits between Inverell (40 km), Bundarra (26 km) and Bingara (55 km), and the NSW guide says you can get in from any of the three. There are camping grounds and cabins on both the northern and southern shores with boat ramps and other facilities, and the access card names the ramps and the angler access site. The guide describes access as year-round.
As on any big open storage, wind can raise a hard chop across a long stretch of water, so keep your crossings short and stay on the lee shore when the weather turns. The guide says the gorges can be reached by boat when the level permits.
From late autumn to early spring the evenings and dawns are cold enough that the guide tells you to pack warm clothing, and dawn is when you will be out. The guide also mentions goats, deer, pigs, emus and plenty of birdlife to watch for in the gorges.
State Land · No restrictions · Assisted access
View place
Directions

Regulations

No water-specific rule was found for Copeton Dam. Take the licence requirements, and the current bag and size limits and any seasonal rule for the species you target, from the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recreational fishing guide before you fish, and check the current bag, size and any seasonal rule for Murray cod in particular; do not fish on a memory of them.

Questions

Related

New South Wales
Jurisdiction guide and current authority links, including the recreational fishing licence and the current bag, size and seasonal rules for Murray cod and golden perch.
Woolly Bugger
Tied big, on a heavy hook, it is a plain, dependable cod fly; tied smaller in black or olive it takes golden perch off the same rocks.
Page reviewed 2026-09-24
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