Go Fishing - Lake St Clair

Fisherman with fishLake St Clair was built in the 1980s to supplement water supply from Glenbawn Dam further up in the Hunter Valley to meet increasing water demands for agriculture, industry and towns. Located around 2.5 hours’ drive north of Sydney and 25kms from Singleton, the lake was formed by the damming of Glennies Creek, a tributary of the Hunter River. Nestled at the foothills of the Barrington Tops National Park, Lake St Clair offers a variety of fishing options for both boat-based and land-based anglers.

Target species include native Australian bass, golden perch, silver perch, catfish and eels. The lake features a campground with camping sites available right around the water’s edge near well maintained amenities, a boat ramp, electric barbecues, and fish cleaning facilities. Being reasonably close to large centres such as Newcastle, the campground can become very busy during peak holiday times and is very popular with water skiers who frequent the lake in warmer months. Bookings are essential, for more information: http://www.singleton.nsw.gov.au Depending on weather conditions, Lake St Clair is ideal for most modest sized fishing boats and kayaks, which can be easily launched at the concrete ramp or from harder sections of the shoreline.

A boating exclusion zone exists near the dam wall and an 8-knot speed restriction applies at the northern end of the lake which is clearly marked with buoys. When at full capacity the lake is around 15kms long and up to 3kms wide. The main basin is open and unobstructed but there are many submerged trees that are found close to shore and at the ends of bays, more notably in the more northern and southern ends. These trees provide shelter for a lot of the waterway’s sportfish, such as golden and silver perch – but anglers don’t tend to encounter as many silver perch at the lake these days. The lake fringes feature thick weed beds which provide good habitat for Australian bass. These feisty fish are the main drawcard for visitors to Lake St Clair as they grow to trophy sizes and always put up a spirited performance on the end of a line.

While bait fishing with natural baits such as locally sourced shrimp, yabbies and earthworms is a proven technique at St Clair, the waterway regularly provides consistent results for lure anglers. Depending on the time of year bass and golden perch will fall for a well worked lure. The tree lined bays are good areas to try lure fishing. Casting popular lures such as spinnerbaits, small hard-body minnow styles, lipless crankbaits and a variety of soft plastics near to trees, weed beds and shoreline points can all produce fish at various times of year. Still, warm nights in summer are also worth fishing with surface lures as bass often provide exciting fishing after dark.

A NSW Recreational Fishing Licence is required to fish Lake St Clair where size, possession and bag limits apply year-round. See Key Target Species for more details. This Lake St Clair Go Fishing guide is part of a series of guides to popular locations in NSW. Keep an eye out for our range of location guides to salt and freshwater fishing locations as we’re constantly adding new spots and updating existing guides.

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