Yellowtail kingfish
Good
Prime. Cast stickbaits and poppers at surface activity, jig the deeper reefs, and keep a live bait out under a balloon.
Merimbula Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
A lake, a bar, a wharf and two beaches on the Sapphire Coast: Merimbula fishes for bream and flathead inside and salmon, tailor and kingfish outside.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 2:55 pm model
Air / High
12 °C / 17 °C
Wind
S 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Merimbula is fishing in its best temperature window, with the bite spread across the day. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 11 km/h, steady pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 17 °C. Tides: high 8:17 am and 8:52 pm, low 1:53 am and 2:55 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 11:07 PM-1:07 AM and 11:35 AM-1:35 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: 11:07 PM-1:07 AM, 11:35 AM-1:35 PM, 4:48 AM-5:48 AM. Similar at 18 °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 Merimbula today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:47), sunset (19:41), 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 11:07 PM-1:07 AM and 11:35 AM-1:35 PM; minor 4:48 AM-5:48 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
LOW1:53 am-0.47 m
HIGH8:17 am0.65 m
LOW2:55 pm-0.59 m
HIGH8:52 pm0.28 m
Tue
LOW2:20 am-0.41 m
HIGH8:54 am0.68 m
LOW3:35 pm-0.57 m
HIGH9:36 pm0.23 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp12 °C
High / Low17 °C / 9 °C
WindS 11 km/h, gusts 29 km/h
Pressure1020.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain12% cloud, 37%
Sunrise / Sunset05:47 / 19:41
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 Merimbula
The best day on Merimbula this week looks like Thursday 12 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Thursday, 12 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:07 PM-1:07 AM and 11:35 AM-1:35 PM
- Minor period
- 4:48 AM-5:48 AM
- Sun
- 05:47 to 19:41
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 37%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Merimbula: 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 Merimbula 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 Merimbula 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 29 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 17 °C, wind to 34 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 19 °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
Merimbula pays the same Recreational Fishing Fee as the rest of the state: A$7 covers three days and A$35 a year, and the full table is on our New South Wales licence page.
About this water
Merimbula is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Merimbula: the full guide
The town and its water
Merimbula is a small town on the far south coast of New South Wales with an unusual amount of water for its size: Merimbula Lake, a clear, tidal estuary behind the town; the bar and the channel where it meets the sea; the wharf on the point, a popular land-based spot; and Main Beach and Short Point either side, with the rock platforms of the Sapphire Coast running north and south. Pambula Lake and the Pambula River are minutes away, the northern section of Beowa National Park lies between Merimbula and Eden, and Eden’s Twofold Bay is the next town south.
Species by season
Bream, flathead and whiting are the lake’s fish, the flathead on the sand flats and channel edges in the warmer months, the bream around the oyster leases and the channel all year, and whiting on the flats in summer. Tailor and salmon run the beaches and the bar in the cooler months, the wharf gives salmon, tailor, trevally and, in summer, kingfish and the occasional tuna to the patient, and luderick fish the rocks in winter. Snapper come onto the reefs outside in winter and the offshore grounds give kingfish and pelagics in summer for the boats that cross the bar.
Reading this report for Merimbula
The wind row decides between the lake and the sea: a southerly or a big swell puts the beaches and the wharf out and the lake in, a westerly cleans the coast up. The score combines pressure, sky and wind; the planner picks the day. The tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the lake and the bar are tidal to the minute, so use it for the run and the Bureau of Meteorology page for the exact times.
Licence, access and rules
Merimbula pays the same Recreational Fishing Fee as the rest of the state: A$7 covers three days and A$35 a year, and the full table is on our New South Wales licence page. The wharf, the beaches, the lake shore and the rocks are public, and the Transport for NSW list has two ramps on the lake, Top Lake and Merimbula South. DPIRD bans hoop and lift nets throughout Merimbula Lake and the taking of shellfish below the causeway bridge on Arthur Kaine Drive; those closures and the limits are on the pages linked in the sources. Rock fishing on this coast has its own safety rules.
Common questions
What can I catch from Merimbula wharf?
Salmon, tailor and trevally through the year, kingfish and the odd tuna in summer, and squid under the lights.
Do I need a fishing licence in Merimbula?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee covers every kind of fishing in Merimbula Lake and off the coast, starting at A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Merimbula 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
- 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.