Bream
Good
Prime bream weather. Cast small vibes, crankbaits and 2 to 3 inch plastics at every piece of structure on the rising tide.
Nambucca Heads Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Nambucca River mouth: the V-Wall, the river flats and the beaches of the mid north coast, with bream, flathead, mulloway and tailor.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 2:34 pm model
Air / High
16 °C / 23 °C
Wind
SSW 9 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Nambucca Heads sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings clear skies, wind SSW around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Tides: high 8:12 am and 8:25 pm, low 1:41 am and 2:34 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 22 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Flathead
Good
The best of it. Drift the sand and weed edges, bounce plastics or a strip of bait along the bottom, and cover ground until you find the school.
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.
Tailor
Fair
Rock ledges and beach gutters on the rising tide; metals cast and retrieved fast, or a whole pilchard drifted through the wash.
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: 11:46 PM-1:46 AM, 11:22 AM-1:22 PM, 4:49 AM-5:49 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 Nambucca Heads today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:46), sunset (19:17), 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 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 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
LOW1:41 am-0.37 m
HIGH8:12 am1.07 m
LOW2:34 pm-0.28 m
HIGH8:25 pm0.63 m
Tue
LOW2:09 am-0.34 m
HIGH8:49 am1.08 m
LOW3:21 pm-0.29 m
HIGH9:00 pm0.54 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low23 °C / 10 °C
WindSSW 9 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure1019.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain13% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset05:46 / 19:17
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~22 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Nambucca Heads
The best day on Nambucca Heads 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
- 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM
- Minor period
- 4:49 AM-5:49 AM
- Sun
- 05:46 to 19:17
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Nambucca Heads: 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. Prime bream weather. Cast small vibes, crankbaits and 2 to 3 inch plastics at every piece of structure on the rising tide.
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. The best of it. Drift the sand and weed edges, bounce plastics or a strip of bait along the bottom, and cover ground until you find the school.
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.
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.
When to come: the Nambucca Heads 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 22 °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 Nambucca Heads 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. Bream led the card at good. High of 22 °C, wind to 32 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Bream led the card at excellent. High of 28 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Bream led the card at excellent. High of 23 °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 Nambucca Heads from A$7 for three days; see the New South Wales licence page.
About this water
Nambucca Heads is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Nambucca Heads: the full guide
Nambucca Heads and the river
Nambucca Heads is the town at the mouth of the Nambucca River on the mid north coast between Coffs Harbour and Kempsey, with the V-Wall breakwater at the entrance, sand flats and channels inside it, and surf beaches outside. Upstream the river runs back through Macksville. The tide panel here is a modelled curve for Nambucca Heads’ coordinates, labelled as a model, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s predictions give the official times.
Species and seasons
Bream are caught all year on the wall, the rocks and the river snags, often with a winter run toward the mouth; flathead settle on the flats and along the channel drop-offs from spring to autumn; mulloway are the night fish of the wall and beach gutters; and tailor run the beaches in the cooler months. Luderick feed on the wall in winter, and whiting come onto the flats and beaches in summer.
Where to fish it
The V-Wall at the river mouth is the town’s landmark land-based spot, fished for bream and luderick on the run-in and for mulloway after dark, and the flats upstream suit flathead and whiting on a light outfit. Surf beaches either side of the headland take tailor early and late in the day. The breakwater is exposed to swell, so judge the sea before walking out.
Reading this report here
Wind and swell decide the wall and the bar: a southerly or big easterly swell washes the wall, and a westerly flattens the coast. The modelled tide curve shows when water is flowing over the flats and past the wall. After heavy rain, a fresh coming down the Nambucca often moves fish toward the mouth, so the rain row is worth a look.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies at Nambucca Heads from A$7 for three days; see the New South Wales licence page. Nambucca Valley is not a declared area under the rock fishing lifejacket law, though the NSW Government says it is safest to wear one whenever you fish the rocks. DPIRD’s bag and size limits apply throughout the estuary and on the coast.
Common questions
Can I fish from the V-Wall?
Yes; it is the river mouth’s main land-based spot for bream, luderick and mulloway, but check the swell first.
Do I need a licence at Nambucca Heads?
Yes. Unless exempt, anglers need the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Nambucca Heads 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.