Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Territory’s big barramundi river: the Daly through the country of the Malak Malak people, with a spawning closure on its lower reaches from October to January.
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Daly River is in full summer mode: early starts, shade at midday, and the evening change. Today brings clear skies, wind W around 6 km/h, rising pressure near 1010 hPa and a high of 35 °C. Water sits around 29 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:49 PM-1:49 AM and 11:25 AM-1:25 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.
Reopens 1 Feb 2027. All fishing is closed from 1 October to 31 January in the Daly River from the Reynolds River to Cliff Head line at the mouth upstream to Moon Billabong Outlet: no fishing, no line with a hook, lure or bait attached, and no barramundi in possession. Upstream of Moon Billabong the Daly River Fish Management Zone limits apply.
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: 11:49 PM-1:49 AM, 11:25 AM-1:25 PM, 5:23 AM-6:23 AM. Similar at 34 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
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.
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:13), sunset (18:52), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Solunar majors 11:49 PM-1:49 AM and 11:25 AM-1:25 PM; minor 5:23 AM-6:23 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Latest readings
The best day on Daly River 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.
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
The species that matter on Daly River: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Closed now Reopens 1 Feb 2027. All fishing is closed from 1 October to 31 January in the Daly River from the Reynolds River to Cliff Head line at the mouth upstream to Moon Billabong Outlet: no fishing, no line with a hook, lure or bait attached, and no barramundi in possession. Upstream of Moon Billabong the Daly River Fish Management Zone limits apply. Rule as read from NT Government on 2026-09-27.
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.
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 29 °C (estimated, not a reading).
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.
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 18 km/h.
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 33 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
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 34 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Northern Territory has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and closures do. Details and where to buy →
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.
The Northern Territory has no fishing licence.
Daly River is a river in Northern Territory, Australia, covered from the Northern Territory reports and listed in all Australia waters.
The Daly River runs west from the Katherine region through the tropical savanna to the Timor Sea at Anson Bay, a big, slow freshwater river above the tidal limit and a wide, muddy estuary below it, with the Daly River crossing and the community of Nauiyu, the lodges and the camps on its banks, and long stretches of snags, rock bars and creek mouths in between. The Northern Territory Government notes that the Malak Malak people are the Traditional Owners of the middle reaches, and asks anglers to respect the cultural importance of these waters; cultural ceremonies can occasionally close an area. It is fished from boats on the freshwater reaches and the tidal river, and from the bank at the crossing and the camps. The report on this page is scored for the river’s coordinates near the crossing.
Barramundi are the fish, often at their best on the run-off, roughly March to May, when the floodplain drains back into the river through the creek mouths, then through the dry along the snags and the rock bars, and again on the build-up before the wet. The lower river has a spawning closure: the Daly between the Moon Billabong outlet and Anson Bay is closed from 1 October to 31 January, and possession limits apply throughout. Saratoga hold in the still backwaters, sooty grunter in the fresh reaches, and the tidal river gives threadfin salmon, black jewfish and mud crabs. Saltwater crocodiles live throughout the river, so stay well back from the edge.
The river’s level is the whole story on the run-off, and it is published by the water authorities rather than on this page, which reads the weather over the river instead: pressure, which matters for barramundi, a falling barometer before a storm being the classic bite; the rain row, which shows the wet arriving and the floodplain filling; and the water temperature, which is an estimate for a tropical river and says so. The tide reaches well up the lower river, and the tide panel, a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model, is for the direction there; the wind matters little.
The Northern Territory has no fishing licence. The Government says recreational fishers, tour operators and commercial fishers need no permit to access the waters of the Daly River and the Daly River mouth region, but must follow the guidelines for entering Aboriginal lands and waters. The seasonal closure below Moon Billabong, the possession limits and the Fishing the Daly River guide are on the pages in the sources. The crossing, the camps and the lodges are the usual access, with boat ramps at the crossing and the camps.
Roughly March to May, as the floodplain drains back into the river after the wet; the timing depends on the season and on the river’s level, which the water authorities publish.
Yes, on the lower river: the stretch from the Moon Billabong outlet to Anson Bay is closed from 1 October to 31 January. Possession limits apply all year.
No. The Northern Territory has no fishing licence, and no permit is needed to access the waters of the Daly River and its mouth, though the guidelines for Aboriginal lands and waters apply.
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.
Pablo Ruiz QuinteroReadings 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.