Yellowtail kingfish
Good
Prime. Cast stickbaits and poppers at surface activity, jig the deeper reefs, and keep a live bait out under a balloon.
Kiama Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The blowhole town: harbour, rock platforms, the Minnamurra River and the beaches of the Illawarra’s southern end.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 2:48 pm model
Air / High
13 °C / 17 °C
Wind
SW 10 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Kiama has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings clear skies, wind SW around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 17 °C. Tides: high 8:14 am and 8:44 pm, low 1:48 am and 2:48 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 11:55 PM-1:55 AM and 11:31 AM-1:31 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: 11:55 PM-1:55 AM, 11:31 AM-1:31 PM, 4:49 AM-5:49 AM. Warmer at 20 °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 Kiama today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:48), sunset (19:33), 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 11:55 PM-1:55 AM and 11:31 AM-1:31 PM; minor 4:49 AM-5:49 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
LOW1:48 am-0.33 m
HIGH8:14 am0.87 m
LOW2:48 pm-0.43 m
HIGH8:44 pm0.45 m
Tue
LOW2:17 am-0.36 m
HIGH8:52 am0.82 m
LOW3:26 pm-0.48 m
HIGH9:20 pm0.35 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low17 °C / 11 °C
WindSW 10 km/h, gusts 27 km/h
Pressure1019.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain11% cloud, 94%
Sunrise / Sunset05:48 / 19:33
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 Kiama
The best day on Kiama this week looks like Friday 13 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Friday, 13 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
- 11:55 PM-1:55 AM and 11:31 AM-1:31 PM
- Minor period
- 4:49 AM-5:49 AM
- Sun
- 05:48 to 19:33
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 94%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Kiama: 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 Kiama 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 Kiama 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 16 °C, wind to 32 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Yellowtail kingfish led the card at good. High of 28 °C, wind to 27 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 21 °C, wind to 19 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
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About this water
Kiama is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Kiama: the full guide
Kiama and its coast
Kiama is the harbour town at the southern end of the Illawarra, south of Wollongong, with the small harbour and its breakwater, the blowhole headland and the rock platforms either side, Surf Beach and Kendalls Beach, the Minnamurra River estuary to the north and the beaches and headlands south to Gerringong and Gerroa. It is a rock-fishing coast with a sheltered harbour and an estuary a few kilometres apart, fished from the breakwater, the rocks, the beaches and the river, and from boats over the reefs off the headland. Conditions in the report are computed for the town itself.
Species by season
Tailor and salmon run the beaches and the rock platforms in the cooler months, at dawn and dusk from the headlands around the blowhole, Bombo and Kendalls; bream and luderick fish the harbour walls and the rocks, luderick in winter; drummer hold in the washes; and kingfish come to the headlands in summer. The Minnamurra gives bream, flathead and whiting in the estuary and the river mouth, squid work the harbour lights, and the reefs outside hold snapper for the boats. Eastern blue groper, common on these rock edges, may not be taken by line: DPIRD has extended its line fishing prohibition for three years from 1 March 2025.
Reading this report here
The wind row and the swell decide the coast: a southerly or an easterly swell closes the rock platforms, which are exposed here, and a westerly flattens the coast and gives the calm mornings the rock anglers wait for. Barometer and cloud give the score and the planner sets out the week; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, useful for the run in the Minnamurra and around the harbour, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the times.
Licence, safety and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the other options. The harbour, the breakwater, the rocks and the beaches are public. Kiama Municipal Council is a declared area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, with its high-risk locations mapped by the Office of Local Government, so a lifejacket is compulsory when fishing from rocks exposed to ocean swell there, for children and helpers too. DPIRD’s size and bag limits for the rock species are linked below.
Common questions
Do I need a lifejacket to fish the rocks at Kiama?
Yes. Kiama is a declared area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so a lifejacket is compulsory on rocks exposed to ocean swell, and not wearing one can bring a A$100 fine.
Do I need a fishing licence in Kiama?
Yes. Kiama is New South Wales water, and the Recreational Fishing Fee starts at A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Kiama 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.