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.
Lake Cathie Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The lake south of Port Macquarie that opens when it fills: bream, flathead and whiting in the lake and the channel, and the beaches of Lake Cathie and Bonny Hills.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
High 6:30 pm model
Air / High
17 °C / 23 °C
Wind
N 19 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Cathie rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 19 km/h, rising pressure near 1029 hPa and a high of 23 °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 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 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 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 Lake Cathie 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 am0.49 m
LOW12:18 pm-0.53 m
HIGH6:30 pm0.74 m
Sat
LOW12:55 am-0.70 m
HIGH7:03 am0.63 m
LOW1:00 pm-0.58 m
HIGH7:12 pm0.79 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp17 °C
High / Low23 °C / 17 °C
WindN 19 km/h, gusts 35 km/h
Pressure1029.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:34 / 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 Lake Cathie
The best day on Lake Cathie 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, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Cathie: 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 Lake Cathie 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 Lake Cathie 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 24 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 22 °C, wind to 24 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
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies at Lake Cathie from A$7 for three days; the New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Lake Cathie is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Cathie: the full guide
The lake
Lake Cathie is the coastal lake and village south of Port Macquarie, with the lake and its shallow arms behind the dunes, the entrance channel under the highway bridge that opens to the sea when the lake fills and closes when it shoals, Lake Cathie beach outside and Bonny Hills and the Middle Rock platforms to the south. It is a lake-and-channel fishery whose character changes with the entrance, and the report on this page is scored for the lake’s coordinates. Port Macquarie has its own page.
Species and seasons
Bream fish the bridge, the channel rocks and the lake edges all year; flathead lie on the lake flats and the channel sand from spring to autumn; whiting work the flats and the channel in summer; mulloway are taken in the channel at night when the lake is open; tailor come in through the entrance in the cooler months; luderick fish the bridge in winter; and the prawns run on the dark nights of summer. The beaches give tailor and whiting, and the Middle Rock platforms give drummer and bream.
Where to fish it
The highway bridge over the entrance channel is the bream and luderick mark, fished on the run when the lake is open, and the lake’s flats behind the village hold the flathead and whiting; Lake Cathie beach south of the entrance is the tailor and whiting beach, and the Middle Rock platforms at Bonny Hills are the drummer and bream rocks. The ramp is on the lake at the village.
Reading this report here
Whether the entrance is open decides the tide, and the modelled tide curve, labelled as a model, matters only when it is; the lake is sheltered and the wind matters on the beaches and the platforms. Pressure and sky build the score at Lake Cathie; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies at Lake Cathie from A$7 for three days; the New South Wales licence page has the fees. The bridge, the foreshores and the beaches are public, with a ramp on the lake; DPIRD’s limits and the prawning rules are in the sources.
Common questions
Is Lake Cathie open to the sea?
The entrance under the bridge opens when the lake fills and shoals when it does not; this page cannot tell you its state, so check locally before planning around the tide.
What can I catch at Lake Cathie?
Bream at the bridge and the channel, flathead on the flats, whiting in summer, luderick in winter, prawns on the dark summer nights and mulloway in the channel when the lake is open.
Do I need a licence at Lake Cathie?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Lake Cathie 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.