Imagery: Esri, Vantor, Earthstar Geographics

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Namoi River

River

695 km

Main stem

63%

Tree cover on banks

Species recorded

Access places

Stocking records

A native-fish river in northern New South Wales that runs down to the Barwon. Murray cod and golden perch are both stocked, and FlyLife's writers describe sight-casting surface flies to cruising cod in clear, shallow water through the Warrabah National Park gorge.

The Namoi is a native-fish river in northern New South Wales, and the reason to drive to it is a Murray cod you can see before you cast. FlyLife’s writers describe sight-casting surface flies to cruising cod in shin-deep, clear water through a gorge in Warrabah National Park.

The river comes in two parts. One is the gorge, a walking water of boulders and rock pools. Away from the gorge it has weirs, including one at Manilla and another at Lake Keepit, and it runs on to join the Barwon.

That gives you two trips, and the easier one is the weir water.

Start on the open river away from the gorge for golden perch and cod, in our experience best through the warmer months, driving in to one of the ways in the access card names, which include a boat ramp. Both fish are stocked here, so there should be young fish in the system as well as older ones. Fish the snags and deep bends with a slow streamer. Stay clear of the two weir closures, which in practice means no fishing within 50 metres either side of the upper weir face beside Chaffey Park at Manilla, and none for 150 metres below the weir face at Lake Keepit. Check the current NSW guide for the Murray cod season before you plan.

The gorge is the trip worth the drive, and it is a walk. FlyLife’s writers say the fishing improves the further upstream of the usual starting point you are willing to walk, and describe the river there fishing in every season, with summer best. They put the reach at around 20 kilometres, which they say takes an experienced walker the better part of two days end to end, so choose your stretch rather than trying to see it all. Go in summer with a surface fly, walk a long way before your first serious cast, and plan on sight fishing.

Pick your trip, then check the current NSW guide for the cod season before you leave home.

Species records

Historical records and regulatory mentions. They do not establish current abundance, a suitable angling target or permission to fish.

Golden Perch

Stocking history 2020–2026

Murray Cod

Stocking history 2019–2026

No live gauge

No gauge readings are available for this water.

Season

Access & parking

Driving directions

Water and habitat

The gorge is the headline water. FlyLife’s writers describe it widening below the Muluerindie hut, with large boulders splitting the river into a chain of rock pools of different sizes and depths. In our experience, cod in water like this sit where a pool deepens beside a boulder, or cruise the shallow margins when it is warm, and in clear water you often see them before they see you.

The same writers say that in drought the gaps between fishable pools above Muluerindie grow much longer, though the open water that remains still holds cod. In a dry year you walk further between casts; you do not have to go home.

Away from the gorge the river runs through weirs on its way to the Barwon. The gradient profile shows how its character changes, and the bank cover chart shows what lines it. On slower water, in our experience, timber, undercut banks and the outside of bends hold the fish.

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

Dense trees

Open woodland

Sparse trees

Native grass & tussock

Cultivated

Bare

Fish and forage

Murray cod and golden perch are the fish, and the stocking chart shows the releases of both season by season. For you that likely means a mix of recently stocked fish that come readily, and older settled fish that have seen a few flies. Freshwater catfish and spangled perch have been recorded too, and European carp and goldfish are present.

The small fish recorded here are the forage: Australian smelt, bony bream, carp gudgeons, hardyheads and Murray River rainbowfish. That points your fly box at small, pale baitfish patterns on the open river, and at big surface flies where cod are cruising the shallows. A dark Woolly Bugger covers the rest, and it is a good bet when nothing is showing.

Stocking history

Reported past stocking. These records do not establish survival, present abundance or a current stocking programme.

Stocking recorded for Namoi River

81 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 · 2,500 · Site financial-year total

2025/26

Golden Perch · 6,818 · Site financial-year total

2025/26

Golden Perch · 2,250 · Site financial-year total

2025/26

Murray Cod · 1,980 · Site financial-year total

2025/26

Golden Perch · 2,727 · Site financial-year total

NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Fisheries) ↗

Golden Perch

Macquaria ambigua

2020–2026 · 40 records · Namoi River

NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Fisheries) ↗

Murray Cod

Maccullochella peelii

2019–2026 · 41 records · Namoi River

NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Fisheries) ↗

When to fish it

FlyLife’s writers describe the gorge fishing in every season, with summer especially good, so plan the surface-fly trip for the warm months. In our experience cod and golden perch on slower water are also most active when the water warms, from late spring through summer and into early autumn. As the water cools, slow down and fish deeper with a streamer. The Murray cod season comes from the current NSW guide, so check it before you plan any cod trip.

THE YEAR ON THIS WATER

Surface flies for cod in the gorge

Fly · Nov–Mar

A guide’s read. FlyLife’s writers single out summer in the Warrabah gorge, and a surface fly for cruising cod is the approach they describe. Check the current NSW guide for the Murray cod season before you plan the trip.

Slow streamer through the deeper pools

Fly · Mar–May

A guide’s read. When fish stop looking up, a dark Woolly Bugger, size 2 to 6, crawled slowly through the deepest pool you can find is a good bet for cod and golden perch.

Small native baitfish

Food · Oct–Apr

Australian smelt, bony bream, carp gudgeons, hardyheads and rainbowfish have all been recorded in the river. In our experience, when the water is warm they are the everyday food for cod and golden perch, so a small, pale streamer is rarely wrong.

How to fish it

For the gorge, carry an eight weight with a floating line and a short, heavy leader. Walk the edge of each pool slowly and look before you cast. FlyLife’s writers describe a surface fly for cruising cod, and in drought a slowly retrieved fly still takes fish in the pools that remain. Put the fly well ahead of a moving fish and let it sit before you give it any life. A cod that follows and turns away is often telling you to go slower.

Away from the gorge, fish a sinking-tip line and a weighted streamer tight to timber and along the outside bends, with long pauses on the retrieve. Golden perch will take a smaller fly than cod, so drop down to a size 4 or 6 if you are only getting follows.

Access and safety

The access card names the ways in, including a boat ramp. Treat them as places to reach the water, not as permission to cross private ground.

For the gorge, FlyLife’s writers describe a starting point in Warrabah National Park and the Muluerindie hut, which they say can be booked through NSW National Parks, with steps down to the water. Check current access and bookings with NSW National Parks before you go. As on any walk into a bush gorge, carry more water than you think you need, wear boots that grip wet rock, and tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.

Foot access · National Park · Difficult access

View place

Directions

Regulations

All fishing methods are prohibited on the Namoi River and its tributaries from within 50 metres upstream to 50 metres downstream of the weir face at the upper weir adjacent to Chaffey Park, Manilla. All methods are also prohibited within 150 metres downstream of the weir face at Lake Keepit. Both closures are listed in the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development closed-waters notices.

Beyond those two closures, no water-specific rule was found. Check the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recreational fishing guide before you fish, for the Murray cod season, the licence, and the bag and size limits.