Yellowtail kingfish
Good
Prime. Cast stickbaits and poppers at surface activity, jig the deeper reefs, and keep a live bait out under a balloon.
Crescent Head Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The point-break village with Killick Creek and the Goolawah coast: bream in the creek, tailor and mulloway on the beaches, salmon off the point.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 2:34 pm model
Air / High
14 °C / 23 °C
Wind
WSW 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Crescent Head sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings clear skies, wind WSW around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Tides: high 8:12 am and 8:25 pm, low 1:41 am and 2:34 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 20 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Tailor
Fair
Rock ledges and beach gutters on the rising tide; metals cast and retrieved fast, or a whole pilchard drifted through the wash.
Mulloway
Fair
Fish the deep holes and the rock walls through a tide change after dark; live mullet, yellowtail or a large soft plastic worked slowly.
Australian salmon
Slow
Look for birds and surface splashes along the beaches and in the bays; cast metals, plastics or ganged pilchards into the school.
Tie on: Soft plastic on a 1/4 oz jighead · Small hardbody, shallow diver · Squid jig, size 3.0 · Fresh pipi or worm on a small hook. Prime windows: 11:46 PM-1:46 AM, 11:22 AM-1:22 PM, 4:48 AM-5:48 AM. Similar at 23 °C. 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 Crescent Head today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:46), sunset (19:18), 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 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM; minor 4:48 AM-5:48 AM. New Moon, 0% 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.
Mon
LOW1:41 am-0.38 m
HIGH8:12 am1.05 m
LOW2:34 pm-0.31 m
HIGH8:25 pm0.61 m
Tue
LOW2:10 am-0.34 m
HIGH8:46 am1.05 m
LOW3:19 pm-0.35 m
HIGH9:02 pm0.49 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low23 °C / 12 °C
WindWSW 11 km/h, gusts 20 km/h
Pressure1019.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain3% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset05:46 / 19:18
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~20 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Crescent Head
The best day on Crescent Head this week looks like Thursday 12 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Thursday, 12 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM
- Minor period
- 4:48 AM-5:48 AM
- Sun
- 05:46 to 19:18
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Crescent Head: 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; the run reaches K'gari (Fraser Island) in late winter, where the east beach from Waddy Point to Indian Head is closed to all fin fish from 1 August to 29 September
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. Rock ledges and beach gutters on the rising tide; metals cast and retrieved fast, or a whole pilchard drifted through the wash.
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. Fish the deep holes and the rock walls through a tide change after dark; live mullet, yellowtail or a large soft plastic worked slowly.
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. Prime. Cast stickbaits and poppers at surface activity, jig the deeper reefs, and keep a live bait out under a balloon.
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. Look for birds and surface splashes along the beaches and in the bays; cast metals, plastics or ganged pilchards into the school.
When to come: the Crescent Head 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 20 °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 Crescent Head today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Yellowtail kingfish led the card at good. High of 22 °C, wind to 32 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Yellowtail kingfish led the card at excellent. High of 28 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Yellowtail kingfish led the card at excellent. High of 23 °C, wind to 14 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
Fishing at Crescent Head requires the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, with A$7 for three days the cheapest; the licence page on this site has the full list.
About this water
Crescent Head is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Crescent Head: the full guide
Crescent Head and the creek
Crescent Head is the surfing village on the mid north coast south of the Macleay, with Killick Creek running out under the headland, rock platforms at the point, and beaches either side. Goolawah National Park runs south from the edge of the village to Racecourse Headland, with Racecourse campground inside it and Delicate campground in the adjoining Goolawah Regional Park. The report is scored for the village’s coordinates, with a modelled tide curve for the same point.
Species and seasons
Tailor and Australian salmon move along the beaches and the point in the cooler months; mulloway hunt the beach gutters at night, especially after a fresh; and kingfish can turn up around the headlands in the warmer months. Killick Creek holds bream all year and flathead from spring to autumn, and whiting work the creek and beach sand in summer. Luderick and drummer feed around the point’s rocks in winter.
Where to fish it
The creek mouth under the headland is good for bream and whiting on a light rod, and the point’s rocks are for tailor and drummer when the swell allows. The long beaches south through Goolawah have gutters that change with every swell, so walk them at low tide to find the deeper water before fishing the rising tide into dusk. NSW National Parks lists fishing among the things to do at Racecourse campground.
Reading this report here
A southerly builds the surf and makes the point dangerous, while a westerly flattens the coast and opens the gutters; the wind row tells you which is coming. The modelled tide curve gives the direction of flow in Killick Creek, and the Bureau of Meteorology has official times. Pressure and cloud cover feed the score for the village.
Licence, access and rules
Fishing at Crescent Head requires the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, with A$7 for three days the cheapest; the licence page on this site has the full list. Kempsey Shire has no declared lifejacket areas for rock fishing, but a lifejacket is still the safe choice on the point. DPIRD’s bag and size limits apply, and national park rules apply in Goolawah.
Common questions
Where can I camp near Crescent Head?
At Racecourse campground in Goolawah National Park, south of the village, or at Delicate campground in the neighbouring Goolawah Regional Park.
Do I need a licence at Crescent Head?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, and a three-day receipt costs A$7.
Is fishing good at Crescent Head 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
- Pages checked
- 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.