Tailor
Excellent
The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
Ballina Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Richmond River, its breakwalls and the beaches of the far north coast: bream, flathead, jew and the winter tailor at the top of New South Wales.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 7:08 pm model
Air / High
16 °C / 23 °C
Wind
N 13 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Ballina is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 13 km/h, steady pressure near 1028 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Tides: high 6:57 am and 7:08 pm, low 12:55 am and 12:55 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 18 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Bream
Fair
Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
Flathead
Fair
Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
Mulloway
Fair
The estuary fish move to the deeper reaches. Long, quiet sessions on the bottom with fresh bait across the top of the tide.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Similar at 23 °C with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
New South Wales requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$7.00. New South Wales fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing bream here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD NSW before you keep anything; the Bream page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Ballina today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:31), sunset (17:43), the moon and today's score, with the modelled tide changes in the panel below. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% lit.
Water and weather
A modelled tide curve for these coordinates and the forecast for the day.
Tides (modelled)
Modelled sea level curve from Open-Meteo Marine for these coordinates, datum mean sea level. Fish the moving water either side of each change.
A model, not the official prediction: times can drift by tens of minutes inside bays and estuaries. Check the Bureau of Meteorology tide predictions for the exact times before you rely on them.
Sat
LOW12:55 am-0.61 m
HIGH6:57 am0.72 m
LOW12:55 pm-0.56 m
HIGH7:08 pm0.89 m
Sun
LOW1:21 am-0.64 m
HIGH7:33 am0.82 m
LOW1:37 pm-0.54 m
HIGH7:44 pm0.87 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low23 °C / 15 °C
WindN 13 km/h, gusts 27 km/h
Pressure1027.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 73%
Sunrise / Sunset05:31 / 17:43
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Ballina
The best day on Ballina this week looks like Sunday 27 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Sunday, 27 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:31 to 17:43
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 73%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Ballina: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Bream
Year-round; summer and autumn in the estuaries, winter at the mouths
Yellowfin bream on the east coast, black bream in the southern estuaries. Structure fish: rock walls, jetty piles, oyster racks, snags and pontoons. Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
Flathead
Best: November to April
Dusky flathead in the eastern estuaries, sand flathead in the southern bays. An ambush predator lying on sand and mud edges waiting for whatever the tide brings. Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
Mulloway
Best: summer and autumn, especially after rain
Jewfish. The big silver prize of the estuaries, breakwalls and surf beaches: nocturnal, tide-driven and unforgiving of noise. The estuary fish move to the deeper reaches. Long, quiet sessions on the bottom with fresh bait across the top of the tide.
Tailor
Autumn and winter on the east coast; August to September on Fraser Island
The surf and rock fish of the east coast, running north in autumn and winter. Fast, toothy and best at dawn, dusk and into the dark. The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
When to come: the Ballina calendar
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Bream
Flathead
Mulloway
Tailor
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 18 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Ballina today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Thu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7.00, the same for residents and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by DPIRD NSW and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the New South Wales licence page before you keep anything.
Access
The state fee applies: A$7 buys three days, A$14 a month and A$35 a year of the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, and the receipt has to be carried, as our New South Wales licence page explains.
About this water
Ballina is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Ballina: the full guide
Ballina and the Richmond
Ballina is the town at the mouth of the Richmond River on the far north coast of New South Wales, and the river is a big one: tidal for tens of kilometres, with rock walls, sand flats, deep holes and the long northern and southern breakwalls where it meets the sea. Around the mouth are Lighthouse and Shelly beaches, the headland at Ballina Head, Lennox Head to the north and the beaches south toward Evans Head; Byron Bay, which has its own tide searches, is up the coast.
Species by season
Bream and flathead are the river’s fish, the bream on the walls, the leases and the snags all year with a winter run to the mouth, the flathead on the flats and drop-offs from spring to autumn; whiting fish the flats and the beaches in summer; mangrove jack push into the snags of the upper river through the warm months; and mulloway are the night fish of the walls and the river holes, best after rain. Tailor run the beaches and the walls in the cooler months, luderick the walls in winter, and the headlands and the reefs give snapper in winter and mackerel, kingfish and the pelagics in summer.
Reading this report here
The wind row decides between the river and the coast: a south-easterly or a big swell closes the beaches and the walls and puts the fishing in the river, a westerly flattens the coast. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the Richmond runs hard on the tide, so use the curve for the direction and the Bureau of Meteorology prediction for exact times.
Licence, access and rules
The state fee applies: A$7 buys three days, A$14 a month and A$35 a year of the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, and the receipt has to be carried, as our New South Wales licence page explains. The breakwalls, the river foreshores, the beaches and the headlands are public, with ramps in the river at Ballina and upstream; the DPIRD limits and the Cape Byron Marine Park zoning to the north are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch from the Ballina breakwalls?
Bream and luderick, tailor in the cooler months, mulloway at night and trevally and kingfish in summer.
Do I need a fishing licence in Ballina?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Ballina right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Tide curve (modelled)
- Open-Meteo Marine, sea level height including tides
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.