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.
Newcastle Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Harbour breakwalls, Stockton Beach, the Hunter River and the rocks of the coast: a working port that fishes from the middle of town.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
High 6:34 pm model
Air / High
18 °C / 26 °C
Wind
NNE 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Newcastle has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Tides: high 6:30 am and 6:34 pm, low 12:21 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. Warmer at 29 °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 Newcastle today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:39), sunset (17:51), 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
HIGH6:30 am0.44 m
LOW12:21 pm-0.52 m
HIGH6:34 pm0.69 m
Sat
LOW12:57 am-0.69 m
HIGH7:08 am0.59 m
LOW1:00 pm-0.55 m
HIGH7:15 pm0.76 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp18 °C
High / Low26 °C / 15 °C
WindNNE 11 km/h, gusts 29 km/h
Pressure1026.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain2% cloud, 6%
Sunrise / Sunset05:39 / 17:51
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 Newcastle
The best day on Newcastle this week looks like Wednesday 30 Sept, at 4 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: Wednesday, 30 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
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
- 05:39 to 17:51
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 6%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Newcastle: 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 Newcastle 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 Newcastle 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 23 °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 23 °C, wind to 19 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 18 °C, wind to 23 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
This is New South Wales water, so the Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days to A$85 for three years, with the details on our New South Wales licence page.
About this water
Newcastle is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Newcastle: the full guide
Newcastle’s fishing
Newcastle is a port city at the mouth of the Hunter River, and its fishing is built around that mouth: the northern and southern breakwalls, Nobbys Head and the harbour itself, then the beaches to the south from Newcastle Beach to Merewether and Dudley, the rock platforms at every headland, and Stockton Beach running north for tens of kilometres of surf gutters. The Hunter River and its tributaries give the city an estuary fishery for bream, flathead and mulloway right up into the industrial reaches. Lake Macquarie, to the south, has its own page.
Species by season
Tailor and salmon run the breakwalls, the beaches and the rocks in the cooler months, and the walls are the city’s classic mark for them at dawn and dusk; bream and flathead fish the harbour and the river all year, the flathead on the sand in the warmer months; whiting fish Stockton and the town beaches in summer; and mulloway are the night fish of the walls, the river and the Stockton gutters. Kingfish visit the walls and the headlands in summer, luderick fish the rocks in winter, squid work the harbour lights, and the reefs off Nobbys give snapper in winter for the boats.
Reading this report for Newcastle
The wind row is the first read on this coast: a southerly change puts the fishing inside the harbour and the river and closes the rocks, a nor’-easter roughs up the afternoon, and a westerly gives the flat, cold mornings the wall anglers wait for. Pressure and sky build the score, the planner picks the day, and the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model; the harbour and the river run on the tide, so use the curve for the direction and the Bureau of Meteorology prediction for the minute.
Licence, access and rules
This is New South Wales water, so the Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days to A$85 for three years, with the details on our New South Wales licence page. The breakwalls, the beaches, the headlands and the harbour foreshore are public, with ramps in the harbour and on the river; the DPIRD limits and the port’s restricted areas are on the pages in the sources, and rock fishing in the Newcastle area is subject to the life-jacket rules the council applies.
Common questions
What can I catch from the Newcastle breakwall?
Tailor and salmon in the cooler months, bream and luderick, mulloway at night and kingfish in summer.
Do I need a fishing licence in Newcastle?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies to all fishing, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Newcastle 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.