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.
St Georges Basin Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The big lake behind Jervis Bay: flathead flats, bream on the edges, jew in the channel and the Sussex Inlet run to the sea.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 7:17 pm model
Air / High
15 °C / 31 °C
Wind
S 28 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
St Georges Basin is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind S around 27 km/h, falling pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 31 °C. Tides: high 7:10 am and 7:17 pm, low 1:00 am and 1:07 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: 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: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Cooler at 16 °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 St Georges Basin today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:41), sunset (17:56), 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
LOW1:00 am-0.63 m
HIGH7:10 am0.57 m
LOW1:07 pm-0.49 m
HIGH7:17 pm0.65 m
Sun
LOW1:30 am-0.63 m
HIGH7:45 am0.64 m
LOW1:50 pm-0.59 m
HIGH7:58 pm0.61 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low31 °C / 16 °C
WindS 28 km/h, gusts 56 km/h
Pressure1030.2 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain87% cloud, 92%
Sunrise / Sunset05:41 / 17:56
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish St Georges Basin
The best day on St Georges Basin this week looks like Thursday 1 Oct, 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: Thursday, 1 Oct — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:41 to 17:56
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 34 km/h
- Rain chance
- 92%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on St Georges Basin: 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 St Georges Basin 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 St Georges Basin today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
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 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 21 °C, wind to 26 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 18 °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
St Georges Basin 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 St Georges Basin: the full guide
The basin
St Georges Basin is a large coastal lake on the New South Wales south coast, west of Jervis Bay, joined to the sea by Sussex Inlet, a long tidal channel with the town of the same name on its banks. The basin itself is broad, shallow and weedy, with sand flats, drop-offs and a few deeper holes, surrounded by the villages of Sanctuary Point, Basin View and St Georges Basin and the forest of the western shore. It is a flathead and bream lake first and a mulloway water in the inlet, fished from the foreshores, the jetties and small boats and kayaks. The report on this page is scored for the basin’s coordinates.
Species and seasons
Flathead are the basin’s fish, on the flats and the weed edges from spring to autumn; bream fish the edges, the jetties and the inlet walls all year with the winter run to the sea; whiting work the flats and the inlet sand in summer; and mulloway are the night fish of the inlet channel and the deeper holes. Tailor push into the basin through the inlet in the cooler months, luderick fish the inlet walls in winter, squid work the weed near the inlet, and the prawns run on the dark nights of summer under the DPIRD rules.
Reading this report for the basin
The basin is open and shallow and the wind row decides which shore fishes: a nor’-easter roughs up the western flats in the afternoon and a southerly the northern shore. 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 inlet runs on the tide while the basin barely does, so read it for the direction in the inlet and take the times from the Bureau of Meteorology.
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 foreshore reserves, the jetties and the inlet walls are public, with ramps at Sanctuary Point, Basin View, Sussex Inlet and St Georges Basin; the DPIRD limits and the prawning rules are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch in St Georges Basin?
Flathead on the flats, bream on the edges and jetties, whiting in summer, tailor and mulloway in Sussex Inlet, and prawns on the dark summer nights.
Do I need a fishing licence on St Georges Basin?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at St Georges Basin 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.