Silver perch
Fish · Last reviewed 2026-10-23
A small-mouthed native perch of the Murray-Darling that has declined across its range, now caught mostly as a by-catch in impoundments such as Burrendong.
Catching Silver perch
Everything here on fishing for it. Each entry opens the page behind it.
- Lives in
- Fresh water
- Rules
- Set where you fish, not recorded here for the species. Who to ask
- Ground
- Where
- 1 place FishingHQ documents — strongest claim anywhere: regular local target
- How
- From the shore at 1 — the number of places that record it that way.
Silver perch are a native fish of the Murray-Darling river system, and FishBase records them from nowhere else. The NSW fisheries department's Burrendong Dam guide says they were once widespread and abundant across the basin, have declined across most of their natural range over recent decades, and are classed as a vulnerable species; at Burrendong they are now less common and usually caught while fishing for something else.
The department describes a moderate to large native fish usually of 30 to 40 cm and half a kilo to a kilo and a half, hard-fighting, with a small mouth — which is why it suggests small lures or flies, and baits from earthworms and shrimp to small yabbies, bread and corn.
WHAT IS NOT SETTLED HERE. The department's guide says silver perch have been recorded up to 8 kg; FishBase gives a maximum published weight of 1.5 kg. Both are named sources and they do not agree, so no maximum weight is given. Whether silver perch may be kept, and where, is a question for the state's own rules, which differ by water.
Where and when
Where Silver perch is documented
Places where public sources describe this species as fished, with how it is fished and how strongly the evidence supports it. This is not a range map and it is not a recommendation — it is what has been written down about a fishery rather than a record of any individual catch, and being listed is never permission to fish.
See these by shore, boat, kayak, fly or fresh water in the species finder.
What these strengths mean
- Regular local target
- Fishing sources describe this as a normal local target here, not merely as caught.
- Where and how to catch it: these places by shore, boat, kayak, fly or fresh water, with the gear linked to it.
- Trip planner: a destination, a method and a season, put together.
- Location explorer: documented places by distance from where you are.
- Browse fishing places by part of the world
The fishBack to the questions
Identification
No photograph of Silver perch is published yet, so none is shown. A photograph is published only once the animal in it has been checked against the diagnostic features described on this page, and its rights to be used here have been checked at its source.
- Scientific name
- Bidyanus bidyanus
- Family
- Terapontidae
- Water
- Freshwater
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened
- Regions
- Australia
- A moderate-sized native freshwater perch, usually 30 to 40 cm, silvery, with a small mouth for its size, which is what the department's advice on small lures and flies is built around.
- The sources read do not give a fin-by-fin description; a confident identification needs a guide with photographs.
Size
- Typical
- The department gives 30–40 cm and 0.5–1.5 kg as usual
- Large
- FishBase gives a maximum length of 40 cm
Exceptional: The department says fish have been recorded up to 8 kg; FishBase's maximum published weight is 1.5 kg; the two do not agree
Lifecycle and reproduction
Potamodromous: FishBase classes it as a fish that migrates within fresh water. The sources read give no age at maturity.
The sources read do not describe its breeding: neither the NSW department's Burrendong guide nor the FishBase summary gives a spawning season, a spawning site or an age at maturity, so none is stated here.
Feeding and senses
Not a fussy eater, the department says: earthworms, aquatic insects, shrimp, small yabbies, and even bread and corn as bait. FishBase lists small fish, crustaceans and worms.
The sources read do not describe how silver perch find food. What the department does describe is a small mouth, and the practical consequence it draws: small lures, flies and small baits.
Through the year
At Burrendong the department says the dam edges and the Oakey Creek, Macquarie and Cudgegong arms fish best; it gives no season.
Distribution
Known only from the Murray-Darling river system in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia (FishBase).
This is a biological range — where the species occurs, not a prediction that you will catch one. To browse the fishing geography FishingHQ holds, start at fishing places.
Why anglers care
Once a common Murray-Darling fish, now an occasional by-catch at Burrendong Dam; a good fighter on light tackle. The department describes it as classed as vulnerable.
Handling and returning
Handle gently and release if in doubt about the rules: the department describes the species as vulnerable, and whether one may be kept depends on the water and the state's current rules.
Safety and rulesBack to the questions
Sources and evidence
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Family, maximum size, environment and distribution for Bidyanus bidyanus. Maximum length 40 cm, maximum published weight 1.5 kg.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The Near Threatened assessment for Bidyanus bidyanus, assessed 13 February 2019, as FishBase reports it.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Go Freshwater Fishing — Burrendong Dam — NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 2024 (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Decline across the Murray-Darling and the department's description of the species as vulnerable; usual size; recorded 8 kg; small mouth; baits, lures and flies; where it is caught at Burrendong.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Why the 2 connections on this page are here, and the sources
Where it lives
Backed by research — 1 connection
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
Lowland rivers
FishBase through the checked extraction.
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: That Bidyanus bidyanus is known only from the Murray-Darling system and is potamodromous.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Official guidance — 1 connection
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Reservoirs
The state department's guide to the water.
- Go Freshwater Fishing — Burrendong Dam — NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 2024 (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Silver perch at Burrendong Dam and where in it they are caught.States this directlyPassage read and verified
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.