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.
Norah Head Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The lighthouse headland of the Central Coast: the rock platforms, Soldiers and Cabbage Tree beaches, and the reef off the light, with drummer, tailor and kingfish.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 12:55 am model
Air / High
16 °C / 29 °C
Wind
N 5 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Norah Head is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 5 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 28 °C. Tides: high 7:06 am and 7:10 pm, low 12:55 am and 1:02 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: 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: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Cooler at 19 °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 Norah Head today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:38), sunset (17:52), 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% 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.
Sat
LOW12:55 am-0.68 m
HIGH7:06 am0.58 m
LOW1:02 pm-0.54 m
HIGH7:10 pm0.75 m
Sun
LOW1:26 am-0.62 m
HIGH7:43 am0.73 m
LOW1:48 pm-0.56 m
HIGH7:52 pm0.70 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low29 °C / 13 °C
WindN 5 km/h, gusts 13 km/h
Pressure1026.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain14% cloud, 12%
Sunrise / Sunset05:38 / 17:52
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Norah Head
The best day on Norah Head this week looks like Tuesday 29 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: Tuesday, 29 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 26 Sept — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:38 to 17:52
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 31 km/h
- Rain chance
- 12%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Norah Head: 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 Norah Head 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 Norah Head today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 26 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Thu, 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 19 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 10 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, from A$7 for three days, is required at Norah Head; see the New South Wales licence page here.
About this water
Norah Head is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Norah Head: the full guide
Norah Head and the light
Norah Head is the lighthouse headland on the Central Coast between The Entrance and Budgewoi, with the rock platforms under the light, Soldiers Beach and Cabbage Tree Harbour to the south, the beaches north to Budgewoi and the reef off the head that the boats out of Tuggerah Lakes and Cabbage Tree work. It is a rocks-and-beach headland with the Tuggerah Lakes system a few minutes behind it, and the report on this page is scored for the headland’s coordinates. The Entrance has its own page.
Species and seasons
Drummer, luderick and bream hold on the platforms under the light, the drummer and luderick in winter; tailor and salmon run Soldiers Beach and the rocks in the cooler months at dawn and dusk; kingfish, bonito and the pelagics come to the head in summer; whiting fish the beaches in summer; mulloway are the night fish of the beach gutters; and the reef off the head gives snapper in winter and, in summer, the mackerel of the warm current for the boats launched at Cabbage Tree Harbour.
Where to fish it
The platforms under the lighthouse are the drummer and tailor rocks, fished on a westerly with the swell down, and Soldiers Beach to the south is the tailor and whiting beach; Cabbage Tree Harbour is the sheltered spot and the ramp, and the beaches north toward Budgewoi are the jew gutters at night. Tuggerah Lakes a few minutes behind are the flathead and bream fallback.
Reading this report here
The head faces the ocean and the wind row and the swell decide the platforms: a southerly or an easterly swell closes them, a westerly opens them and flattens the beaches. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Norah Head, labelled as a model. Pressure and sky build the score at Norah Head; the planner shows the day. The platforms are exposed and the Central Coast’s life-jacket rule applies.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days, is required at Norah Head; see the New South Wales licence page here. The platforms, the beaches and Cabbage Tree Harbour are public, with a ramp at the harbour; DPIRD’s limits and the council’s rock fishing rules are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Norah Head?
Drummer, luderick and bream on the platforms, tailor and salmon on the beaches in the cooler months, kingfish and bonito off the head in summer, snapper on the reef for the boats.
Do I need a licence at Norah Head?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Norah Head 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.