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.
Crescent Head Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The point break village with Killick Creek and the Goolawah beaches: bream in the creek, tailor and jew on the beach, tailor off the point.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
High 6:30 pm model
Air / High
17 °C / 24 °C
Wind
N 15 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Crescent Head has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 14 km/h, rising pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 6:26 am and 6:30 pm, low 12:18 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 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: 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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 24 °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 (05:34), sunset (17:46), 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 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% 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.
Fri
HIGH6:26 am0.56 m
LOW12:18 pm-0.49 m
HIGH6:30 pm0.79 m
Sat
LOW12:53 am-0.66 m
HIGH7:02 am0.65 m
LOW12:58 pm-0.56 m
HIGH7:09 pm0.81 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp17 °C
High / Low24 °C / 16 °C
WindN 15 km/h, gusts 28 km/h
Pressure1030.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset05:34 / 17:46
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °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 Saturday 26 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: Saturday, 26 Sept — fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 25 Sept — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:34 to 17:46
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 1%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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; 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 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 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 Crescent Head today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, 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 21 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 23 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
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
Fishing Crescent Head takes the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, A$7 for three days at the cheapest; the New South Wales licence page on this site has the rest.
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 and its lagoon running out under the headland, the point and its rock platforms, the front beach and the long Goolawah and Racecourse beaches south toward Point Plomer that the four-wheel-drives work. It is a creek-and-beach village, and the report on this page is scored for the village’s coordinates. The tide panel shows a modelled curve for the coordinates of Crescent Head, labelled as a model, with the Bureau of Meteorology’s prediction linked.
Species and seasons
Bream fish Killick Creek and the point rocks all year; whiting work the creek and the beach sand in summer; flathead lie in the creek and the beach gutters from spring to autumn; tailor and salmon run the beaches and the point in the cooler months at dawn and dusk; mulloway are the night fish of the beach gutters, especially the Goolawah beaches after a fresh; and luderick and drummer hold on the point platforms in winter. The reef off the point gives snapper for the boats out of the Macleay.
Where to fish it
The Killick Creek mouth under the headland is the whiting and bream water and the point’s platforms are the drummer and tailor rocks, with the long beach south to Point Plomer and Big Hill the jew and tailor gutters, reached by four-wheel drive through the Limeburners Creek reserve. Racecourse and Delicate Nobby beaches to the north are quieter, and the ramp is at the creek.
Reading this report here
The wind row and the swell decide the point and the beaches: a southerly builds the surf and closes the platforms, a westerly flattens the coast and opens the gutters. The modelled tide curve gives the direction in the creek and the beach fishes on the rising tide into dusk. Pressure and sky build the score at Crescent Head; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Fishing Crescent Head takes the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, A$7 for three days at the cheapest; the New South Wales licence page on this site has the rest. The creek, the point and the beaches are public, with the Goolawah beaches inside the national park under its four-wheel-drive rules; DPIRD’s limits are in the sources.
Common questions
Can I drive on the beach at Crescent Head?
On the Goolawah and Racecourse beaches south of the village inside the national park, under its four-wheel-drive rules, linked in the sources.
Do I need a licence at Crescent Head?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
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
- 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.