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.
Kingscliff Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Cudgen Creek and the beaches south of the Tweed: bream and whiting in the creek, tailor and jew on the beach, and a tide people search for.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 7:07 pm model
Air / High
16 °C / 22 °C
Wind
NW 10 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Kingscliff has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 10 km/h, steady pressure near 1028 hPa and a high of 22 °C. Tides: high 6:55 am and 7:07 pm, low 12:54 am and 12:55 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 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 Kingscliff today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:31), sunset (17:43), 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
LOW12:54 am-0.57 m
HIGH6:55 am0.76 m
LOW12:55 pm-0.52 m
HIGH7:07 pm0.92 m
Sun
LOW1:18 am-0.61 m
HIGH7:30 am0.85 m
LOW1:36 pm-0.51 m
HIGH7:43 pm0.88 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low22 °C / 16 °C
WindNW 10 km/h, gusts 20 km/h
Pressure1027.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 95%
Sunrise / Sunset05:31 / 17:43
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 Kingscliff
The best day on Kingscliff this week looks like Sunday 27 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 3 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 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:31 to 17:43
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 95%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Kingscliff: 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 Kingscliff 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 Kingscliff 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 22 °C, wind to 16 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 23 °C, wind to 16 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 Kingscliff; the New South Wales licence page here has the fees.
About this water
Kingscliff is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Kingscliff: the full guide
Kingscliff and the creek
Kingscliff is the beach town on the Tweed coast south of the Tweed River, with Cudgen Creek and its breakwalls in the middle of town, the long beach north to Fingal Head and south to Cabarita, and the Tweed’s river and bar a few minutes north. It is a beach-and-creek town, and most searches for it are for the tide; the panel on this page shows a modelled curve for the coordinates of Kingscliff, labelled as a model, with the Bureau of Meteorology’s prediction linked. Tweed Heads and the Tweed River have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Bream fish the creek walls and the rocks all year; whiting work the creek flats and the beach in summer; flathead lie on the creek sand from spring to autumn; tailor and dart run the beach in the cooler months at dawn and dusk; mulloway are the night fish of the creek walls and the beach gutters; and the Fingal Head rocks give tailor, trevally and, in summer, the pelagics of the warm current. The reef off Kingscliff gives snapper in winter for the boats out of the Tweed.
Where to fish it
The Cudgen Creek breakwalls and the creek’s flats behind the town are the everyday marks for bream, whiting and flathead, and the beach north to Fingal is the tailor and jew water; the Fingal Head platforms and the causeway to Cook Island are the rocks for drummer and, in summer, the mackerel. The ramp at the creek and the marina at Chinderah on the Tweed put a boat into either water.
Reading this report here
A south-easterly builds the surf and closes the creek walls, a westerly flattens the coast; the wind row tells you which. The modelled tide curve gives the direction in the creek and the beach fishes on the rising tide at dawn and dusk, with the Bureau for the minute. Pressure and sky build the score at Kingscliff; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days, is required at Kingscliff; the New South Wales licence page here has the fees. The creek walls, the beach and the Fingal Head rocks are public, with a ramp on the creek; DPIRD’s limits are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch in Cudgen Creek?
Bream on the walls, whiting on the flats in summer, flathead on the sand in the warm months and mulloway at the walls at night.
Do I need a licence at Kingscliff?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Kingscliff right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
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.