Yellowtail kingfish
Good
Prime. Cast stickbaits and poppers at surface activity, jig the deeper reefs, and keep a live bait out under a balloon.
South West Rocks Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The mouth of the Macleay and Trial Bay: breakwalls, bay beaches and the Smoky Cape rocks, with the Fish Rock and Green Island critical habitat offshore.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 2:34 pm model
Air / High
15 °C / 24 °C
Wind
SW 9 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
South West Rocks has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings clear skies, wind SW around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 8:10 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 20 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:45 PM-1:45 AM and 11:21 AM-1:21 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Tailor
Fair
Rock ledges and beach gutters on the rising tide; metals cast and retrieved fast, or a whole pilchard drifted through the wash.
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.
Australian salmon
Slow
Look for birds and surface splashes along the beaches and in the bays; cast metals, plastics or ganged pilchards into the school.
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: 11:45 PM-1:45 AM, 11:21 AM-1:21 PM, 4:48 AM-5:48 AM. Similar at 23 °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 South West Rocks 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 11:45 PM-1:45 AM and 11:21 AM-1:21 PM; minor 4:48 AM-5:48 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-0.38 m
HIGH8:10 am1.06 m
LOW2:34 pm-0.30 m
HIGH8:25 pm0.62 m
Tue
LOW2:07 am-0.35 m
HIGH8:48 am1.08 m
LOW3:18 pm-0.31 m
HIGH9:02 pm0.53 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low24 °C / 12 °C
WindSW 9 km/h, gusts 18 km/h
Pressure1019.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain17% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:46 / 19:17
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~20 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish South West Rocks
The best day on South West Rocks 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
- 11:45 PM-1:45 AM and 11:21 AM-1:21 PM
- Minor period
- 4:48 AM-5:48 AM
- Sun
- 05:46 to 19:17
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on South West Rocks: 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; 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.
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.
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. Prime. Cast stickbaits and poppers at surface activity, jig the deeper reefs, and keep a live bait out under a balloon.
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. Look for birds and surface splashes along the beaches and in the bays; cast metals, plastics or ganged pilchards into the school.
When to come: the South West Rocks 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 20 °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 South West Rocks 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. Yellowtail kingfish led the card at good. High of 22 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Yellowtail kingfish led the card at excellent. High of 27 °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. Yellowtail kingfish 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 South West Rocks, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
South West Rocks is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing South West Rocks: the full guide
South West Rocks and Trial Bay
South West Rocks is the town on Trial Bay at the mouth of the Macleay River on the mid north coast, with breakwalls at the river entrance, the beaches of the bay below the historic Trial Bay Gaol, and the headland and lighthouse at Smoky Cape to the south. Offshore, Fish Rock and Green Island are grey nurse shark critical habitat. The tide panel on this page is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model. The Macleay at Kempsey has its own page.
Species and seasons
Tailor and Australian salmon run the bay beaches and the rocks in the cooler months; mulloway prowl the river walls at night, often around the tide changes; and yellowtail kingfish come to the headlands and offshore grounds in the warmer months. Bream are an all-year catch on the walls and in the lower river, whiting feed on the bay’s sand in summer, and luderick and drummer come to the rocks in winter.
Where to fish it
The Macleay breakwalls are the main land-based marks for mulloway, bream and luderick, and the bay beaches below the gaol are the gentler option. Smoky Cape’s ledges are exposed and suit experienced rock anglers in calm weather. Offshore, DPIRD prohibits line fishing with bait at the Fish Rock and Green Island critical habitat sites, and restricts spearfishing within 200 metres of Fish Rock, to protect grey nurse sharks.
Reading this report here
Trial Bay is tucked in behind the headland and often gives shelter when a southerly closes the ocean-facing rocks; a westerly flattens everything. The modelled tide curve gives the direction of flow at the walls, and the official times are in the Bureau of Meteorology predictions. A calm morning after a southerly change is often worth being on the water.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies at South West Rocks, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees. Kempsey Shire is not one of the declared areas under the rock fishing lifejacket law, but the NSW Government advises wearing one on the rocks anyway. The town lies well south of the Solitary Islands Marine Park, which ends at Muttonbird Island at Coffs Harbour, so the local rules are DPIRD’s general limits and the grey nurse shark restrictions.
Common questions
Can I fish at Fish Rock?
Yes, but line fishing with bait is banned at the Fish Rock critical habitat site, and spearfishing within 200 metres is limited to pelagic species such as tailor, kingfish and mackerel.
What is South West Rocks known for?
Mulloway on the Macleay walls, the sheltered beaches of Trial Bay and the rocks at Smoky Cape, with tailor and salmon in the cooler months.
Do I need a licence at South West Rocks?
Yes; the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee covers it, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at South West Rocks 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.