Yellowtail kingfish
Good
Prime. Cast stickbaits and poppers at surface activity, jig the deeper reefs, and keep a live bait out under a balloon.
Wollongong Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Illawarra coast: rock platforms under the escarpment, the harbour and Belmore Basin in the city, and Lake Illawarra to the south.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 2:48 pm model
Air / High
14 °C / 17 °C
Wind
SSW 12 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Wollongong is fishing in its best temperature window, with the bite spread across the day. Today brings clear skies, wind SSW around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 17 °C. Tides: high 8:11 am and 8:40 pm, low 1:47 am and 2:48 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 11:55 PM-1:55 AM and 11:31 AM-1:31 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: 11:55 PM-1:55 AM, 11:31 AM-1:31 PM, 4:50 AM-5:50 AM. Warmer at 19 °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 Wollongong today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:48), sunset (19:32), 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 11:55 PM-1:55 AM and 11:31 AM-1:31 PM; minor 4:50 AM-5:50 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
LOW1:47 am-0.33 m
HIGH8:11 am0.90 m
LOW2:48 pm-0.42 m
HIGH8:40 pm0.47 m
Tue
LOW2:20 am-0.34 m
HIGH8:52 am0.84 m
LOW3:30 pm-0.46 m
HIGH9:25 pm0.36 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low17 °C / 11 °C
WindSSW 12 km/h, gusts 32 km/h
Pressure1019.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain15% cloud, 44%
Sunrise / Sunset05:48 / 19:32
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 Wollongong
The best day on Wollongong this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:55 PM-1:55 AM and 11:31 AM-1:31 PM
- Minor period
- 4:50 AM-5:50 AM
- Sun
- 05:48 to 19:32
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 27 km/h
- Rain chance
- 44%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Wollongong: 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 Wollongong 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 Wollongong 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 16 °C, wind to 34 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Yellowtail kingfish led the card at good. High of 28 °C, wind to 31 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Yellowtail kingfish led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 27 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
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About this water
Wollongong is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Wollongong: the full guide
Wollongong and the Illawarra
Wollongong is the city of the Illawarra, south of Sydney, on a narrow coastal plain between the escarpment and the sea, and its fishing is the coast: the rock platforms on the headlands between Stanwell Park and Port Kembla, the harbour and Belmore Basin in the middle of the city, the beaches between the points, and Lake Illawarra to the south with its entrance at Windang. The Five Islands off Port Kembla and the inshore reefs are boat water. It is a rock-fishing coast above all, and one where the swell has to be respected.
Species by season
Tailor and salmon run the rocks and the beaches in the cooler months, best at dawn and dusk from the platforms north of the city and around Port Kembla; bream and luderick fish the harbour walls and the rocks, luderick mostly in winter; drummer hold in the white water of the washes; and kingfish come to the headlands and the islands in summer. Mulloway are the night fish of the beaches and the harbour. Lake Illawarra, which has its own page, gives flathead on the flats in the warmer months and bream around the entrance, and squid work the harbour lights.
Reading this report here
The wind row and the swell decide the coast: a southerly or an easterly swell makes the rock platforms unsafe, a westerly flattens the sea and brings the calm mornings the rock anglers wait for, and a nor’-easter roughs up the afternoon. The score comes from the barometer and the cloud over the city, and the planner lays out the week; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, useful for the run at the lake entrance and in the harbour, and the Bureau of Meteorology publishes the official times.
Licence, safety and rules
Fishing here means paying the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee first: A$7 for three days, A$14 for a month, A$35 for a year or A$85 for three years, the figures DPIRD publishes. Wollongong is a declared area under the NSW Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, so anyone fishing from rocks exposed to ocean swell, children and helpers included, must wear a lifejacket to Australian Standard AS 4758 level 50S or higher (level 100 for children under 12), with a A$100 on-the-spot fine for going without; the Office of Local Government publishes the map of high-risk locations. The DPIRD bag and size limits are linked in the sources.
Common questions
Do I need a lifejacket to fish the rocks in Wollongong?
Yes. Wollongong is a declared area under the Rock Fishing Safety Act 2016, and a lifejacket is compulsory when fishing from rocks exposed to ocean swell, with a A$100 fine for not wearing one.
Do I need a fishing licence in Wollongong?
Yes. Everyone pays the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, which starts at A$7 for three days; residents and visitors pay the same.
Is fishing good at Wollongong 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.