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.
Pittwater Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Sydney’s northern estuary: a drowned valley of moorings, weed beds and sandstone shores where kingfish, squid, bream and flathead fish within sight of the city.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
High 6:34 pm model
Air / High
17 °C / 24 °C
Wind
N 9 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Pittwater has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 6:34 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. Similar at 26 °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 Pittwater today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:40), 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 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
HIGH6:34 am0.44 m
LOW12:21 pm-0.50 m
HIGH6:34 pm0.68 m
Sat
LOW12:57 am-0.67 m
HIGH7:06 am0.58 m
LOW1:02 pm-0.53 m
HIGH7:11 pm0.73 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp17 °C
High / Low24 °C / 15 °C
WindN 9 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1026.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 29%
Sunrise / Sunset05:40 / 17:52
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 Pittwater
The best day on Pittwater 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
- 05:40 to 17:52
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 29%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Pittwater: 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 Pittwater 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 Pittwater 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 22 °C, wind to 21 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 20 °C, wind to 11 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 17 °C, wind to 19 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, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Pittwater is a bay or coastal water in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Pittwater: the full guide
The estuary
Pittwater is the long, deep arm of Broken Bay that runs south from Barrenjoey and Palm Beach past Careel Bay, Clareville and Church Point to Newport and Bayview, with Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park on its western shore and the northern beaches suburbs on its eastern. It is Sydney’s northern estuary, a drowned valley of moorings, marinas, weed beds and sandstone points, sheltered enough to fish from a kayak in most weather and open enough at the mouth to hold kingfish in summer. The Hawkesbury, which it joins at Broken Bay, has its own page; this one is scored for the estuary’s coordinates.
Species and seasons
Kingfish are Pittwater’s summer prize, around the moorings, the markers and the mouth on live baits, squid and stickbaits; squid work the weed beds of Careel Bay and the western shore in spring and autumn and under the marina lights; bream fish the sandstone points, the wharves and the moorings all year with the winter run to Broken Bay; and flathead lie on the sand of the bays and the drop-offs from spring to autumn. Whiting fish the flats in summer, tailor and salmon push in through the mouth in the cooler months, and mulloway are the night fish of the deeper holes and the mouth.
Reading this report here
Pittwater is sheltered from a southerly and open to a nor’-easter down its length, so the wind row tells you whether the afternoon is comfortable; the mornings are the estuary’s time. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the estuary runs on the tide with the mouth the strongest, so use the curve for the direction and the Bureau of Meteorology page for the exact times.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees. The public wharves at Palm Beach, Clareville, Church Point and Newport, the foreshore reserves and the national park shore are public, with ramps at Palm Beach, Bayview and Rowland Reserve; the DPIRD limits and the closed waters of the estuary are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
Where can I catch kingfish in Pittwater?
Around the moorings, the markers and the mouth at Barrenjoey in summer, on live baits, squid or stickbaits; the species card rates the month and today’s conditions.
Do I need a fishing licence on Pittwater?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Pittwater 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.