Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway: barramundi in the tidal river of the jumping crocodile cruises, an hour from Darwin, with the Bureau’s gauge at the bridge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
0.49 m
Air / High
26 °C / 36 °C
Wind
N 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge G8170021, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. The gauge reads 0.49 m, up 0.43 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 36 °C. Water sits around 26 °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.
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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 34 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Northern Territory has no general fishing licence, but rules and permits apply. Northern Territory fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing barramundi here? Check the size and bag limits with NT Fisheries before you keep anything; the Barramundi page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:32), sunset (18:40), the moon and today's score. 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
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station G8170021 (Adelaide River - Arnhem Hwy).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station G8170021. Latest reading 2026-09-24 06:44.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp26 °C
High / Low36 °C / 21 °C
WindN 8 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1016.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain20% cloud, 67%
Sunrise / Sunset06:32 / 18:40
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway
The best day on Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway this week looks like Saturday 26 Sept, 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: Saturday, 26 Sept — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 25 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 06:32 to 18:40
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 67%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Barramundi
Run-off (March to May) and build-up (October to November) in the north; check the closed season on the Queensland east coast
The north's fish. Tidal rivers, run-off creeks, rock bars and the stocked impoundments. Warm water, moving water and a barometer on the way down. Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
When to come: the Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway 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
Barramundi
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 26 °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 Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 36 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 36 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 35 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Northern Territory has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and closures do. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by NT Fisheries and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Northern Territory licence page before you keep anything.
Access
The Northern Territory has no fishing licence; the barramundi possession limit and the closed areas NT Fisheries publishes apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway is a river in Northern Territory, Australia, covered from the Northern Territory reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway: the full guide
The reach
The Adelaide at the Arnhem Highway is the tidal river an hour east of Darwin where the highway to Kakadu crosses it, a wide, muddy, mangrove-lined river of big tides and jumping crocodile cruises, with the bridge, the ramp and the reaches upstream toward the Adelaide River township and downstream toward the floodplains and the sea. It is barramundi water of the classic Top End kind, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the Arnhem Highway supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi fish the snags, the creek mouths and the rock bars on the tide, at their best on the run-off from March to May when the floodplain drains and on the build-up from October, with no closed season in the Territory and the possession limit the constraint; threadfin salmon and black jew fish the deeper holes; catfish are everywhere; and the saltwater crocodiles that the cruises feed are the reason nobody fishes from the bank. Mud crabs are a pot fishery in the mangroves.
Where to fish it
The ramp at the highway launches onto the tidal river, and the fishing is a boat fishery of the creek mouths on the run-out, the snags on the run-in and the rock bars at the change; the floodplain drains and the creek mouths on the run-off are the classic water. The cruise boats work the reach near the bridge and the fishing boats go up or down.
Reading the report
The chart shows the tide’s big swing at the bridge and the wet-season rise, when the river floods the highway; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the Bureau has the times. The rain row shows the wet and the run-off that follows; the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives a long barramundi band; pressure counts before a storm.
Rules and access
The Northern Territory has no fishing licence; the barramundi possession limit and the closed areas NT Fisheries publishes apply, on the pages linked below. The ramp at the highway is public; the bank is the crocodiles’.
Common questions
Can I fish the Adelaide River from the bank?
It is not done: the river’s saltwater crocodiles are the ones the cruises feed, and the fishing is from a boat launched at the highway ramp.
Do I need a licence on the Adelaide River?
No. The Northern Territory has no recreational fishing licence; the barramundi possession limit applies.
Is fishing good at Adelaide River at the Arnhem Highway 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
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station G8170021 — Adelaide River - Arnhem Hwy
- 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.