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.
Sydney Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
A harbour, three big estuaries, the northern and southern beaches and the rocks in between: the most varied fishing of any Australian city.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 12:21 pm model
Air / High
19 °C / 24 °C
Wind
NNE 10 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Sydney is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 6:30 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 17 °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.
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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Warmer at 27 °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 Sydney today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:41), sunset (17:53), 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
HIGH6:30 am0.43 m
LOW12:21 pm-0.50 m
HIGH6:34 pm0.68 m
Sat
LOW12:58 am-0.66 m
HIGH7:08 am0.58 m
LOW1:04 pm-0.53 m
HIGH7:15 pm0.71 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low24 °C / 16 °C
WindNNE 10 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure1026.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 4%
Sunrise / Sunset05:41 / 17:53
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Sydney
The best day on Sydney this week looks like Monday 28 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: Monday, 28 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
- 05:41 to 17:53
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 4%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Sydney: 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 Sydney 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 Sydney 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 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 19 °C, wind to 13 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 17 °C, wind to 16 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
New South Wales requires the Recreational Fishing Fee for all fishing, fresh and salt, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees as read from DPIRD.
About this water
Sydney is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Sydney: the full guide
Where Sydney fishes
Sydney has more fishable water than any other capital. The harbour itself, from the heads to Parramatta, is a kingfish, bream, flathead and squid fishery worked from the wharves, the rocks and the boats; Botany Bay and the Georges River to the south and Pittwater, the Hawkesbury and Broken Bay to the north are estuaries of the same quality; and the beaches from Palm Beach to Cronulla are broken by rock platforms at every headland, which is where the city’s land-based game fishing happens. Offshore, the shelf is close and the reefs off the heads fish for snapper in winter. A Sydney fishing report is really six reports, and this page scores the city’s coordinates with the harbour as the reference.
Species by season
Kingfish are the summer prize of the harbour and the headlands, from the markers and the wash at dawn on live baits and stickbaits. Bream and flathead are year-round in every estuary, the flathead best on the sand in the warmer months and the bream in the winter run to the mouths. Tailor and salmon run the beaches and rocks in the cooler months, whiting fish the beaches in summer, squid work the harbour weed and the wharf lights, mulloway are the night fish of the Hawkesbury and the Georges, and snapper come onto the reefs off the heads in winter. The NSW rules on size, bag and the closed waters inside the harbour are published by DPIRD and linked from this page.
Reading this report for Sydney
The wind row is the first thing to read: a southerly buster ends the beach and rock fishing for a day or two and puts the fishing inside the harbour and the estuaries, a nor’-easter is the summer afternoon pattern, and a westerly is the calm, cold morning the rock anglers wait for. Pressure and sky build the score, the seven-day planner shows the day to take, and the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model; the harbour and the estuaries are tidal to the last kilometre, so use the curve for the run and the Bureau of Meteorology prediction for the minute.
Licence and access
New South Wales requires the Recreational Fishing Fee for all fishing, fresh and salt, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees as read from DPIRD. Access is public across the harbour wharves, the beaches and the rock platforms, with ramps in every bay; the harbour has closed and restricted waters for fishing that DPIRD publishes, and rock fishing has its own safety rules and, in some councils, a life-jacket requirement.
Common questions
Do I need a fishing licence in Sydney?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies to all fishing, including from the shore and in the harbour; it is A$7 for three days and A$35 for a year, per DPIRD.
Where can I catch kingfish in Sydney?
In the harbour around the markers and the wash at the heads, and off the rock platforms of the headlands, mostly in summer at first light on live baits or stickbaits.
Are there places in Sydney Harbour where you cannot fish?
Yes. DPIRD publishes the closed and restricted waters inside the harbour; the rules page is linked in the sources below.
Is fishing good at Sydney 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.