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.
Harrington Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The northern mouth of the Manning: the Harrington breakwall, the flats and Crowdy Bay, bream, whiting and jew, with a tide people search for.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 12:21 pm model
Air / High
18 °C / 24 °C
Wind
NNE 21 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Harrington rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 21 km/h, rising pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 6:26 am and 6:34 pm, low 12:21 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 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: 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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 26 °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 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 Harrington today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:35), 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 am0.47 m
LOW12:21 pm-0.53 m
HIGH6:34 pm0.72 m
Sat
LOW12:55 am-0.71 m
HIGH7:05 am0.61 m
LOW1:00 pm-0.59 m
HIGH7:12 pm0.78 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp18 °C
High / Low24 °C / 17 °C
WindNNE 21 km/h, gusts 41 km/h
Pressure1029.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:35 / 17:46
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Harrington
The best day on Harrington 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
- 05:35 to 17:46
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Clear, 26 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Harrington: 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 Harrington 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 Harrington 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 27 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 27 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 21 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, from A$7 for three days, is required at Harrington; see the New South Wales licence page here.
About this water
Harrington is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Harrington: the full guide
Harrington and the wall
Harrington is the village at the northern mouth of the Manning River on the mid north coast, with the long breakwall running out to the bar, the sand flats and channels inside the wall, the village foreshore and the beach of Crowdy Bay running north to Crowdy Head. It is a walls-and-flats village at one of the Manning’s two mouths, and most searches for it are for the tide; the panel on this page shows a modelled curve for the coordinates of Harrington, labelled as a model, with the Bureau of Meteorology’s prediction linked. The Manning River has its own page.
Species and seasons
Bream fish the wall and the flats all year with the winter run to the mouth; whiting work the Harrington flats in summer and are the village’s signature; flathead lie on the flats and the channels from spring to autumn; mulloway are the night fish of the wall and the bar; luderick fish the wall in winter; tailor and salmon run Crowdy Bay in the cooler months; and the prawns run on the dark nights of summer. The reef outside gives snapper for the boats through the bar.
Where to fish it
The Harrington breakwall at the Manning’s northern entrance is the mark for bream, luderick and the jew after dark, and the sand flats behind the wall and the Manning’s channels toward Manning Point hold the whiting and flathead; Crowdy Bay beach north of the wall takes the tailor. The ramp at the town puts a boat into the river, and the Pilot Hill lookout shows the bar and the channels.
Reading this report here
The wind row and the swell decide the wall and the bar: a southerly or an easterly swell washes the wall, a westerly opens it and flattens the bay. The modelled tide curve gives the direction over the flats and at the wall, with the Bureau for the minute. Pressure and sky build the score at Harrington; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days, is required at Harrington; see the New South Wales licence page here. The wall, the flats and the beach are public, with a ramp at the village; DPIRD’s limits and the prawning rules are in the sources.
Common questions
What is Harrington known for?
Whiting on the flats in summer, bream and luderick on the wall, mulloway at the wall at night and the long breakwall itself.
Do I need a licence at Harrington?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Harrington 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.