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.
Wollongong Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Illawarra coast: rock platforms under the escarpment, the harbour and Belmore Basin, Lake Illawarra to the south and beaches all the way.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 12:25 pm model
Air / High
19 °C / 25 °C
Wind
NW 9 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Wollongong is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 25 °C. Tides: high 6:30 am and 6:38 pm, low 12:25 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 29 °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 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 (05:42), sunset (17:54), 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
LOW12:25 pm-0.47 m
HIGH6:38 pm0.68 m
Sat
LOW12:58 am-0.65 m
HIGH7:10 am0.58 m
LOW1:02 pm-0.50 m
HIGH7:12 pm0.70 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low25 °C / 16 °C
WindNW 9 km/h, gusts 19 km/h
Pressure1025.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain15% cloud, 63%
Sunrise / Sunset05:42 / 17:54
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 Wollongong
The best day on Wollongong 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
- 05:42 to 17:54
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 63%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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; 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 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 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 Wollongong 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 20 °C, wind to 24 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 10 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 15 °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
Fishing here means paying the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee first, A$7 for a three-day trip or A$85 for three years, as read from DPIRD on our New South Wales licence page.
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 at every headland from Stanwell Park to 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 reefs are for the boats. 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, with the rock platforms at Bellambi, Towradgi and Port Kembla the classic marks at dawn and dusk; bream and luderick fish the harbour walls and the rocks, luderick in winter; drummer hold in the washes; and kingfish come to the headlands and the islands in summer. Lake Illawarra gives flathead on the flats in the warmer months, bream around the entrance and the bridge, and prawns in summer. Snapper come onto the reefs in winter for the boats, 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 closes the rock platforms, a westerly flattens the coast and gives the calm mornings the rock anglers wait for, and a nor’-easter roughs up the afternoon. 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, useful for the run at the lake entrance and around the harbour, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the times.
Licence, access and rules
Fishing here means paying the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee first, A$7 for a three-day trip or A$85 for three years, as read from DPIRD on our New South Wales licence page. The harbour, the rocks and the beaches are public, with ramps in the harbour, at Bellambi and on the lake; the DPIRD limits are on the page in the sources, and rock fishing in this area is subject to the life-jacket rules the council applies.
Common questions
Where can I fish from the rocks in Wollongong?
The rock platforms at the headlands from Stanwell Park to Port Kembla, with the life-jacket rules the council applies; the swell decides which are safe.
Do I need a fishing licence in Wollongong?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days.
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
- 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.