Size and possession limits in fresh waters

In Queensland, there are minimum size limits and also some maximum size limits. Find out how to measure your catch.

possession limit is the total number of fish that one person can legally take and keep at any one time – it is not a daily limit. This includes any fish that you have at home in the freezer.

Return undersized, oversized, no-take or closed season species to the water immediately to ensure they have the best chance of survival. Watch our top tips for catch and release.

Bait rules

  • If you catch a fish to be used as bait, it must comply with all recreational fishing rules (e.g. size and possession limits, closed seasons etc.).
  • You can’t use no-take species as bait.
  • Fish that are not native to an area (non-indigenous and noxious fish) must not be put back in the water even as bait.
  • You can’t use bait from the marine (saltwater) environment in fresh waters unless it has been frozen, cooked or preserved. This is to prevent the spread of disease and parasites in Queensland’s freshwater systems, and to protect native fish populations and the future viability of freshwater fish stocking programs.
  • You can’t use fish and crustaceans as bait (dead or alive) outside their natural environment or range. This is to prevent species becoming established in foreign habitats and causing environmental damage.
  • Freshwater prawns or shrimp (Macrobrachium australiensis) are found throughout Queensland and can be used as bait in all areas of the state.
  • Prevent movement of fish by catching bait where you fish. Don’t put invasive (pest) fish back in the water or use them as bait, even if caught at that location.

Freshwater species

Australian bass

Species

Size and possession limits

All
(in all dams and weirs under the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme)

30cm min

Limit of 5

All 
(elsewhere in Queensland)

30cm min

Limit of 2

Australian lungfish

Species

Size and possession limits

All

No take

Barramundi

Species

Size and possession limits

All

58cm min 120cm max (1 fish can be greater than 120cm at all times in waterways exempt from the closed season)

Limit of 5 per person / 10 per boat (with 2 or more people on board

Limit of 1 per person / 2 per boat (with 2 or more people on board) during the closed season in exempt waterways

Closed season applies.

Cherabins

Species

Size and possession limits

All

No size limit

Combined limit of 10 in total of Macrobrachium lar and M. rosenbergii species

Cling goby

Refer to the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 for protected goby (search Stiphodon species).

Species

Size and possession limits

Cling goby (of the subfamily Sicydiinae)

No take

Cod

Species

Size and possession limits

Bloomfield River cod

No take

Mary River cod

Can be taken upstream of the walls within Cressbrook, Ewan Maddock, Hinze, Maroon, Moogerah, North Pine, Somerset, Wivenhoe and Wyaralong dams; lakes Dyer (Bill Gunn Dam), Clarendon, Manchester and Kurwongbah (Sideling Creek Dam); Caboolture River Weir; Enoggera Reservoir and Robina Lakes

60cm min

Limit of 1

Mary River cod

No take in Queensland fresh waters except the waterways listed above

No take

Murray cod

(Queensland part of Murray-Darling Drainage Division)

60cm min

Limit of 2

Closed season applies.

Eels

Species

Size and possession limits

Longfin, Pacific shortfin (south Pacific eel) and Southern shortfin

30cm min

Combined limit of 10 in total of all species

Freshwater catfish (eel-tailed catfish, Tandanus tandanus)

Species

Size and possession limits

All (exception follows)

35cm min

Combined limit of 5 in total of all species

Other freshwater catfish (genera AnodontiglanisNeosilurus and Neosiluroides)

Examples: black catfish, Cooper Creek catfish, falsespine catfish, short-finned catfish and Hyrtl’s tandan

No size limit

Combined limit of 5 in total of all species

Garfish

Species

Size and possession limits

All

No size limit

Combined limit of 50 in total of all species

Hardyhead

Species

Size and possession limits

Edgbaston hardyhead and
Myross hardyhead

No take (Thomson River)

Mangrove jack

Species

Size and possession limits

All

35cm min

Limit of 5

Mullet

Species

Size and possession limits

Freshwater, Diamondscale and Sea

30 cm min

Limit of 20

All other mullet (except diamondscale, sea or freshwater)

No size limit

Limit of 50

Perch and grunter

Species

Size and possession limits

Golden perch (yellowbelly)

30cm min

Limit of 10

Jungle perch and Spotted flagtail (northern jungle perch)

35cm max

Combined limit of 1 jungle perch or spotted flagtail

Silver perch, Barcoo grunter and Welch’s grunter

30cm min

Combined limit of 5 in total of these species (including maximum of 2 silver perch)

Silver perch is no take in Paroo and Warrego river basins

Gulf grunter and Sooty grunter

28cm min

Combined limit of 10 in total for Gulf, sooty, khaki and lake grunter species

Khaki grunter (khaki bream) and Lake grunter

No size limit

Combined limit of 10 in total for Gulf, sooty, khaki and lake grunter species

Rainbowfish

Refer to the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 for protected rainbowfish (search Melanotaenia species).

Species

Size and possession limits

All

No size limit

Limit of 20 of each species

Redclaw

In its natural range including Gulf of Carpentaria Drainage Division and from the Jacky Jacky River basin south to the Normanby River basin on the east coast of Queensland.

Species

Size and possession limits

All

No size limit

Limit of 40 in natural range

Natural range: Gulf of Carpentaria Drainage Division and the following river basins in the east coast drainage division – Hann (river basin reference number 1050), Jacky Jacky, Lockhart, Normanby, Olive, Pascoe and Stewart.

Redclaw can only be used as bait in its natural range (PDF 10.5MB). It must not be used as bait or returned to the water outside its natural range.

No take: Females carrying eggs or young must be returned to the water within their natural range

River blackfish

Species

Size and possession limits

All

No take

Saratoga

Species

Size and possession limits

Northern and Southern

50cm min

Combined limit of 1 northern or southern saratoga

Spiny crayfish

Refer to the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 for protected spiny crayfish (search Euastacus species).

Species

Size and possession limits

All

No take

Yabby (blueclaw crayfish, Cherax destructor)

Species

Size and possession limits

All

No size limit

Limit of 100

Yabbies can only be used as live bait in their natural range: Murray–Darling, Lake Eyre and Bulloo–Bancannia drainage divisions, and some river basins in the East Coast Drainage Division (Balonne, Barcoo, Belyando, Border Rivers, Bulloo, Condamine, Cooper Creek, Dawson, Diamantina, Georgina, Isaac, Macintyre, Maranoa, Moonie, Mulligan, Nebine, Paroo, Severn, Thomson and Warrego).

No take: Females carrying eggs or young must be returned to the water within their natural range: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre and Murray–Darling drainage divisions, and the east coast drainage divisions of Belyando, Dawson and Isaac.

Recreational fishing rules

Download the Qld Fishing 2.0 app and use the 'My fishing' feature to record your fishing trips and share your stats and photos.

For a printed copy of the Queensland recreational fishing guide:

For a box of fishing guides, order online.