River blackfish are a proper freshwater native that a lot of anglers overlook, but they punch well above their weight. They live in cool creeks and rivers, hit hard in tight cover, and are a great target if you like fishing small, snaggy water.
In Australia, river blackfish are found through south-eastern freshwater systems, especially in Victoria and parts of New South Wales and South Australia. They like clear, cool streams, upland rivers, and slower pools with plenty of timber, rocks, undercut banks, and weed beds. Most fish hold close to cover rather than out in open water.
They mainly eat yabbies, insects, worms, small fish, and other little critters living around the bottom. River blackfish are ambush feeders, sitting tight in cover and darting out when food comes past. They usually feed best in low light and when the water is calm enough for them to feel secure near structure.
Tide timing does not matter for river blackfish because they are a freshwater species, so FishCast users should treat tide as a non-factor. Low light is a big one though, with dawn, dusk, overcast days, and even night often producing the better bites. Light winds can help by keeping the surface broken and fish less spooky, but strong wind can make small streams hard to fish and shut things down if it muddies the water. Swell height is also not relevant in freshwater, so the most useful signals are really light and local wind effect on water clarity.
Keep it simple with light spin gear or a short bait outfit, and fish tight to logs, rocks, and undercut banks. Small soft plastics, hardbodies, spinnerbaits, and natural baits like worms or yabbies all work, especially when fished slow and close to the bottom. Strong enough leader helps because these fish love burying back into cover after the hit.
Despite the name, river blackfish are not related to true marine blackfish like luderick at all.