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.
Coffs Harbour Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Solitary Islands, the harbour breakwalls and a run of beaches and headlands: Coffs Harbour fishes where the warm current meets the coast.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
High 7:02 am model
Air / High
21 °C / 24 °C
Wind
NNE 23 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Coffs Harbour has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 23 km/h, rising pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 7:02 am and 7:10 pm, low 12:53 am and 12:58 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 17 °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.
Australian salmon
Good
The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
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.
Yellowtail kingfish
Slow
The fish thin out as the current cools; jig the deeper offshore marks and work the harbours on the warmer afternoons.
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 24 °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 tailor here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD NSW before you keep anything; the Tailor page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Coffs Harbour today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:32), sunset (17:45), 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
LOW12:53 am-0.66 m
HIGH7:02 am0.66 m
LOW12:58 pm-0.57 m
HIGH7:10 pm0.82 m
Sun
LOW1:21 am-0.65 m
HIGH7:40 am0.81 m
LOW1:37 pm-0.50 m
HIGH7:48 pm0.88 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low24 °C / 15 °C
WindNNE 23 km/h, gusts 53 km/h
Pressure1025.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:32 / 17:45
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Coffs Harbour
The best day on Coffs Harbour this week looks like Sunday 27 Sept, at 3 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: Sunday, 27 Sept — fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
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
- 05:32 to 17:45
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Clear, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Coffs Harbour: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
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.
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.
Yellowtail kingfish
Best: December to April
The hardest-pulling fish within reach of the shore. Headlands, harbour markers, offshore reefs and the warm current in summer. The fish thin out as the current cools; jig the deeper offshore marks and work the harbours on the warmer afternoons.
Australian salmon
Winter and spring on the southern beaches
Not a salmon at all: a hard-fighting schooling fish of the surf and the bays, from WA around to NSW. Great on light gear, poor on the plate. The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
When to come: the Coffs Harbour 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
Tailor
Mulloway
Yellowtail kingfish
Australian salmon
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 17 °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 Coffs Harbour 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 23 °C, wind to 19 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 22 °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
New South Wales charges its Recreational Fishing Fee here as everywhere in the state, A$7 for three days and A$35 for a year, with the full table on our New South Wales licence page.
About this water
Coffs Harbour is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Coffs Harbour: the full guide
Coffs Harbour and its coast
Coffs Harbour is the city of the New South Wales mid-north coast where the Great Dividing Range comes closest to the sea, and its fishing is the harbour with its breakwalls and Muttonbird Island, the beaches and headlands from Sawtell to Woolgoolga, the creeks that cut the coast, and the Solitary Islands offshore, where the warm East Australian Current meets the temperate coast and the marine park is built around the mix. The harbour is one of the best-known land-based marks on the coast; the islands are for the boats.
Species by season
Tailor and salmon run the beaches and the walls in the cooler months, bream and luderick fish the walls all year and in winter respectively, and mulloway are the night fish of the walls and the beach gutters. Kingfish and cobia visit the walls and the islands in summer, Spanish and spotted mackerel run the islands and the headlands through the warm months when the current pushes in, and snapper come onto the reefs and the islands in winter. The creeks and the Bellinger to the south give bream, flathead and whiting, and squid work the harbour lights.
Reading this report here
The wind row is the coast’s clock: a southerly closes the rocks and the beaches and puts the fishing inside the harbour and the creeks, a nor’-easter roughs up the afternoon, a westerly flattens everything. 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, useful for the run in the creeks and around the walls, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the times.
Licence, access and rules
New South Wales charges its Recreational Fishing Fee here as everywhere in the state, A$7 for three days and A$35 for a year, with the full table on our New South Wales licence page. The breakwalls, the jetty, the beaches and the headlands are public, with ramps in the harbour and the creeks; the DPIRD limits and the Solitary Islands Marine Park zoning, with sanctuary zones around the islands and along the coast, are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch from the Coffs Harbour breakwall?
Bream and luderick, tailor and salmon in the cooler months, mulloway at night, and kingfish and cobia in summer.
Do I need a fishing licence in Coffs Harbour?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Coffs Harbour 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.