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.
Nowra Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The town on the Shoalhaven: the river’s bridges, walls and bends through the city, bass upstream, jew and bream in the tidal reaches, and Jervis Bay a short drive away.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 12:21 pm model
Air / High
16 °C / 24 °C
Wind
W 8 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Nowra rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings a mixed sky, wind W around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 6:35 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 18 °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.
Bream
Fair
Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
Flathead
Fair
Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
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.
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 32 °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 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 Nowra today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:43), sunset (17:55), 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 am0.44 m
LOW12:21 pm-0.46 m
HIGH6:34 pm0.66 m
Sat
LOW12:58 am-0.64 m
HIGH7:10 am0.58 m
LOW1:07 pm-0.50 m
HIGH7:12 pm0.67 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low24 °C / 13 °C
WindW 8 km/h, gusts 14 km/h
Pressure1025.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain42% cloud, 27%
Sunrise / Sunset05:43 / 17:55
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Nowra
The best day on Nowra 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
- 05:43 to 17:55
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 27%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Nowra: 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. Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
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. Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
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.
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.
When to come: the Nowra 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 18 °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 Nowra 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 21 °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 19 °C, wind to 10 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 16 °C, wind to 11 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
Anyone fishing the river at Nowra pays the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, A$7 for three days at the cheapest; the New South Wales licence page on this site lists the rest.
About this water
Nowra is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Nowra: the full guide
Nowra and the river
Nowra is the city of the Shoalhaven on the New South Wales south coast, on the river where it leaves the gorge and becomes tidal, with the bridges, the rock walls and the river parks in the town, the fresh reaches and the gorge upstream, and the lower river running east to Shoalhaven Heads and the Crookhaven. The river has its own page; this one is scored for the town’s coordinates and reads the city reaches first: the bridges, Nowra Wharf, the Paringa and Bens Walk banks, and the ramps that launch for both the tidal and the fresh water.
Species and seasons
Bream fish the walls, the pylons and the snags of the city reaches all year with the winter run downstream; mulloway are the night fish of the bridges and the deep bends around the town; flathead lie on the sand of the reaches below the town in the warmer months; and Australian bass fish the fresh reaches and the gorge above the town from spring to autumn, with the NSW closed season for bass in rivers from June to August. Estuary perch hold in the tidal reaches, luderick fish the walls in winter, and the fresh water gives the river’s natives under the DPIRD rules.
Reading this report for Nowra
The tide reaches the town and the tide panel, a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model, is for the direction of the run in the city reaches, slight and delayed this far up; the river’s level after rain matters more, because a fresh from the gorge colours the water and moves the fish. The wind matters little in the river. The barometer and the cloud cover fill in the score, and the planner picks the night for the jew.
Licence, access and rules
Anyone fishing the river at Nowra pays the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, A$7 for three days at the cheapest; the New South Wales licence page on this site lists the rest. The river parks, the walls and the bridge approaches are public, with ramps in the town and upstream at the fresh reaches; the DPIRD limits and the bass closed season are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Nowra?
Bream on the walls and pylons, mulloway at night around the bridges, flathead below the town in the warmer months, and bass in the fresh reaches from spring to autumn.
Do I need a fishing licence in Nowra?
Yes: the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, which starts at A$7 for three days, covers the tidal and the fresh reaches alike.
Is fishing good at Nowra 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.