Australian Bass fishing guide.

Where the Australian Bass bite is on right now

Hero spots in our coverage where Australian Bass is in season for May. Click through for the live forecast.

Best bait

• Live estuary shrimp 3–5 cm under a small float (the #1 bass bait — net them yourself the night before)
• Large scrub worms in bunches on a #1 baitholder
• Live cicadas during summer plague years — bass go absolutely mental
• Live crickets and grasshoppers (especially summer evening surface bait)
• Small live fish (mullet, gudgeon) where legal — check state rules

Best lures

• SURFACE — Megabass Pop-X, Strike Pro Killer Pop, Jackall Bowstick, Bassday Sugapen 95 (the dawn / dusk weapons)
• Subsurface hardbodies — Atomic Hardz Crank 38, Jackall Squirrel 67SP, Daiwa Steez Soulshad 58
• Spinnerbaits — Bassman Mini Spinnerbait 1/4 oz, Mumbler 3/8 oz in chartreuse / pearl
• 3" soft plastic paddle-tails (Atomic Prong, Z-Man Slim SwimZ, Jackall Iaki Shad 2.5") on 1/8–1/4 oz jig heads
• Soft vibes (Jackall TN50, Samaki Vibelicious 70) for dam fish suspending on standing timber

Technique

Cast TIGHT to bank cover — overhanging trees, lilypads, undercuts, fallen timber, weed edges. The dawn surface session is the iconic Aussie bass experience: walk-the-dog a Pop-X across glassy first-light water at Glenbawn / Maroon / St Clair. In dams, work vertical structure (standing timber, points, deep drop-offs) with 1/8 oz jigheads, blade baits, or ice jigs through summer. Bass come UP for the lure — work fast over the strike zone, don't hand-feed them.

Tide windows that matter

Spawning migration matters — wild river bass run downstream to brackish estuary water in winter to spawn (June – August), back upstream October – November. Bite peaks pre-spawn (March – May) on autumn fattening feeds and post-spawn return (September – November) as they push back upstream. In dams the spawning cue is absent (no migration possible), so bite is more weather + barometric pressure driven.

Moon & solunar

Dark moon dawn surface sessions are the classic, and bass communities plan trips around new-moon weeks. Pre-storm barometric pressure drops produce the best 4-hour windows of the year. Full moon brings strong nighttime feeders, especially in dams with insect hatches.

Regulations

Closed season 1 May – 31 August in NSW rivers (downstream-spawning protection). Open year-round in dams (no spawning occurs there). VIC and southeast QLD have similar river closure windows. Size limits 30 cm in NSW, 30 cm QLD. Bag limit 2 in NSW rivers, 5 in NSW dams; QLD 2 in tidal/coastal waters, 5 in stocked impoundments. Catch-and-release is the strong ethic across the Australian bass community — most tournament anglers release everything.