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.
Belmont Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Lake Macquarie’s eastern shore: Belmont Bay, the pier and the jetties, Belmont Baths and the flats and drop-offs a short run from Swansea.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 12:57 am model
Air / High
16 °C / 28 °C
Wind
N 10 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Belmont is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 28 °C. Tides: high 7:08 am and 7:13 pm, low 12:57 am and 1:00 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. Cooler at 19 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 Belmont today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:38), sunset (17:52), 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
LOW12:57 am-0.69 m
HIGH7:08 am0.59 m
LOW1:00 pm-0.55 m
HIGH7:13 pm0.76 m
Sun
LOW1:24 am-0.63 m
HIGH7:41 am0.74 m
LOW1:47 pm-0.56 m
HIGH7:53 pm0.72 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low28 °C / 16 °C
WindN 10 km/h, gusts 18 km/h
Pressure1026.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 16%
Sunrise / Sunset05:38 / 17:52
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 Belmont
The best day on Belmont this week looks like Tuesday 29 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 2 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: Tuesday, 29 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 26 Sept — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:38 to 17:52
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 35 km/h
- Rain chance
- 16%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Belmont: 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 Belmont 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 Belmont today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Thu, Sep 24
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 16 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 NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Belmont is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Belmont: the full guide
Belmont and the bay
Belmont is the suburb on the eastern shore of Lake Macquarie, south of Newcastle, on Belmont Bay with the pier that most people search for, the jetties and the baths along the foreshore, the boat ramps and the marina, and the flats and drop-offs of the lake in front, with Swansea and the channel to the sea a few kilometres south. The lake as a whole has its own page; this one is scored for Belmont’s coordinates and reads the pier, the bay and the foreshore first.
Species and seasons
Flathead are the bay’s fish, on the flats and the drop-offs from spring to autumn; bream fish the pier, the jetties and the rock walls all year with the winter run to the channel; whiting work the flats in summer; and squid work the weed and the pier lights in the cooler months. Tailor push up the lake from the channel in the cooler months, mulloway are taken off the pier and in the deeper holes at night, luderick fish the walls in winter, and the pier gives yellowtail, garfish and the everyday lake fish through the year. The drop-off in front of the baths is the mark the locals name first, and the marina walls hold bream on the evening tide.
Reading this report here
The eastern shore is sheltered from a nor’-easter and exposed to a westerly across the lake, so the wind row tells you whether the pier and the bay are comfortable. 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 lake’s tide is small and delayed away from the channel, so read it for the direction and take the times from the Bureau of Meteorology.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees. The pier, the jetties, the baths and the foreshore are public, with ramps at Belmont and the marina; the DPIRD limits and the lake’s closed areas are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch from Belmont pier?
Bream all year, squid under the lights in the cooler months, flathead and whiting in the warmer months, yellowtail and garfish, and the odd mulloway at night.
Do I need a fishing licence at Belmont?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Belmont right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
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.