Toms Lake Fishing in Bourke, New South Wales

• Overview

  Look for Toms Lake in Bourke, New South Wales. This is warm green lowland country. The water covers some 38 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The bank runs about 2.2 km all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. It is one of the smaller waters we list in Bourke. The closest town, Bourke, is 58 km away. Then Brewarrina, 113 km, and Cunnamulla, 169 km. Rules here are straightforward: one set of state rules.

• Where to Fish on Toms Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Toms Lake repays a walk before the first cast. Where reeds break, there is usually a route in for fish.

• Seasonal Patterns

  January is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 29°C, while July sits near 12°C. Fish feed through every month here. Summer, December to February, brings heat, so fish the early and late hours. April and May steady things again after the summer heat. At Toms Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. For a change of water, Multagoona Lagoon is 19 km distant. Treat Toms Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.