Haystack Lake, New South Wales: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Set in Central Darling, Haystack Lake is a New South Wales water. The ground round it is dry rangeland. At some 1.16 sq km it is far too large to cover on foot in a day. Broken Hill is the closest town at 182 km. Bendigo sits 512 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Nearby, in order: Swan Lake just 5.2 km, Long Lake at 6.7 km, Teryaweynya Lake just 11 km, Dry Lake at 16 km and Moseys Lake just 21 km. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Haystack Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. At Haystack Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes. Marks on the bank tell you where others have fished.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 27°C, the coldest about 11°C. Warmth runs the whole year, so timing is about the hour, not the month. Levels swing with the wet season, which moves the fishing about. Early spring brings the water on quickly here. It sets the rhythm of the year at Haystack Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Mapping flags this water as intermittent: it can be dry for part of the year, so check before travelling. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. For a change of water, Swan Lake is 5.2 km distant. None of that is settled for Haystack Lake in what we hold.