Barramundi
Excellent
Dawn, dusk and the run-off drains and creek mouths on the falling tide; hardbodies and soft vibes cast tight to snags and rock bars.
Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats on the floodplain: barramundi in the river’s middle reaches between the township and the Arnhem Highway, with a Bureau gauge.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
0.67 m
Air / High
31 °C / 36 °C
Wind
NNW 12 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge G8170084, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats runs hot and bright: the fish feed early, late and deep. The gauge reads 0.67 m, easing 0.19 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1010 hPa and a high of 36 °C. Water sits around 29 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:45 PM-1:45 AM and 11:21 AM-1:21 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.
Tie on: Soft plastic, 3 to 5 inch paddle tail · Pilchard on ganged hooks · Metal slug, 20 to 40 g · Surface walker at first light. Prime windows: 11:45 PM-1:45 AM, 11:21 AM-1:21 PM, 5:19 AM-6:19 AM. Similar at 36 °C with a rain chance. 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 Tortilla Flats today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:09), sunset (18:48), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:45 PM-1:45 AM and 11:21 AM-1:21 PM; minor 5:19 AM-6:19 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station G8170084 (Adelaide River - Tortilla Flats).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station G8170084. Latest reading 2026-11-08 06:45.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp31 °C
High / Low36 °C / 25 °C
WindNNW 12 km/h, gusts 24 km/h
Pressure1009.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain8% cloud, 31%
Sunrise / Sunset06:09 / 18:48
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~29 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats
The best day on Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:45 PM-1:45 AM and 11:21 AM-1:21 PM
- Minor period
- 5:19 AM-6:19 AM
- Sun
- 06:09 to 18:48
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 31%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats: 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. Dawn, dusk and the run-off drains and creek mouths on the falling tide; hardbodies and soft vibes cast tight to snags and rock bars.
When to come: the Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats 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 29 °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 Tortilla Flats today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 36 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 36 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 37 °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
No recreational fishing licence is needed in the Northern Territory; the possession and size limits and closed areas apply, on the pages linked below..
About this water
Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats is a river in Northern Territory, Australia, covered from the Northern Territory reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats: the full guide
The Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats
Tortilla Flats is a gauging site on the Adelaide River’s middle reaches, on the floodplain country between the township and the Arnhem Highway crossing, where the river winds through paperbark swamps and grassland toward the sea. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge there supplies the level of the Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats and the 30-day chart on this page. The Adelaide River at the township and at the Arnhem Highway have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are the fish of the Adelaide River, best in the run-off after the wet, when the floodplains drain into the river, and in the build-up before the rains. The Northern Territory has no general closed season for barramundi; NT-wide the possession limit is five and the minimum length 55 cm.
Where to fish it
Access to this reach is limited and mostly by boat from the ramps downstream; the floodplain is crocodile country, and the banks are not safe to fish.
Planning a visit
Darwin and the Arnhem Highway ramps are the bases for fishing the Adelaide. Go with local knowledge, a suitable boat and a plan for the tides and the crocodiles.
The river through the year
The Adelaide River’s year is set by the wet. Through the monsoon, roughly November to April, it floods the plains around Tortilla Flats and joins the swamps; in the run-off, as the rain eases, the plains drain back and the barramundi feed at the drains and the creek mouths. Through the dry, from about May to October, the river falls within its banks and the fish hold on the snags and the bends. The build-up, the humid weeks before the rains, brings storms and a burst of activity. The level on the chart shows where the river is in that cycle.
Reading this report here
The chart shows the Adelaide River’s wet-season rise; the run-off is the barramundi season. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm all year; pressure and sky build the score at Tortilla Flats.
Licence, access and rules
No recreational fishing licence is needed in the Northern Territory; the possession and size limits and closed areas apply, on the pages linked below.
Common questions
When is the best barramundi fishing on the Adelaide River?
In the run-off after the wet and the build-up before it.
Can I fish from the bank here?
The floodplain banks are crocodile country and not safe; the reach is fished by boat.
Do I need a licence here?
No. Nobody needs a recreational fishing licence to fish the Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats, or anywhere else in the Territory.
Is fishing good at Adelaide River at Tortilla Flats 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
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station G8170084 — Adelaide River - Tortilla Flats
- 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.