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.
Merimbula Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 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
High 6:38 pm model
Air / High
16 °C / 23 °C
Wind
W 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Merimbula is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind W around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Tides: high 6:35 am and 6:38 pm, low 12:25 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 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: 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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 21 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 (05:46), sunset (17:58), 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
HIGH6:35 am0.35 m
LOW12:25 pm-0.49 m
HIGH6:38 pm0.57 m
Sat
LOW12:58 am-0.65 m
HIGH7:09 am0.48 m
LOW1:09 pm-0.54 m
HIGH7:14 pm0.55 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low23 °C / 13 °C
WindW 11 km/h, gusts 19 km/h
Pressure1022.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain87% cloud, 63%
Sunrise / Sunset05:46 / 17:58
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °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 Monday 28 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: Monday, 28 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:46 to 17:58
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 11 km/h
- Rain chance
- 63%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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; 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 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 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 Merimbula 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 20 °C, wind to 23 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 17 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 15 °C, wind to 13 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
New South Wales charges its Recreational Fishing Fee here as everywhere in the state, A$7 for three days and A$35 for a year, with the full table 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, one of the best-known land-based marks on the coast; 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 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
New South Wales charges its Recreational Fishing Fee here as everywhere in the state, A$7 for three days and A$35 for a year, with the full table on our New South Wales licence page. The wharf, the beaches, the lake shore and the rocks are public, with ramps on the lake and at Spencer Park; the DPIRD rules on limits and the closed waters of the lake are on the page 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 applies to all fishing, from 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
- 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.