Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Daly River at Nauiyu Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Daly River at Nauiyu, the community at the crossing: the Territory’s best-known barramundi water, with a Bureau gauge at the police station.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
1.47 m
Air / High
25 °C / 36 °C
Wind
NNW 9 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge G8140003, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Daly River at Nauiyu sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 1.47 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1016 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 36 °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 Daly River at Nauiyu today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:34), sunset (18:43), 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 G8140003 (Daly River - Police Station).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station G8140003. Latest reading 2026-09-24 06:45.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp25 °C
High / Low36 °C / 22 °C
WindNNW 9 km/h, gusts 19 km/h
Pressure1015.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain2% cloud, 10%
Sunrise / Sunset06:34 / 18:43
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Daly River at Nauiyu
The best day on Daly River at Nauiyu 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
- 06:34 to 18:43
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 10%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Daly River at Nauiyu: 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 Daly River at Nauiyu 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 Daly River at Nauiyu 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 37 °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
No recreational fishing licence is needed in the Northern Territory; the Daly’s possession limits, the closed areas and the land access rules apply, on the pages linked below..
About this water
Daly River at Nauiyu is a river in Northern Territory, Australia, covered from the Northern Territory reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Daly River at Nauiyu: the full guide
The Daly at Nauiyu
Nauiyu is the Aboriginal community at the Daly River crossing, south-west of Darwin, where the big, slow river runs between high muddy banks and paperbark flats on its way to the Timor Sea, with the fishing lodges and camps spread along the road to it. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the police station supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page, the level the Daly page without a gauge could not show. The Daly River page covers the river as a whole.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are the fish of the Daly, best in the run-off from about March to May, when the floodplain drains back through the creek mouths, and again in the build-up; saratoga, sooty grunter and catfish are also caught. The Northern Territory has no general closed season for barramundi, but NT Fisheries publishes possession limits and closed areas for the Daly; check them before you fish.
Where to fish it
The ramps at the crossing and at the lodges put boats on the river, and the snags, rock bars and creek mouths up and down from Nauiyu hold the fish. The Daly is estuarine crocodile water: fish from a boat and keep back from the bank.
Planning a visit
Nauiyu has a store and fuel; the lodges and caravan parks along the river have accommodation, and Darwin is about three hours away. Nauiyu is an Aboriginal community: respect its rules and its private land.
Seasons on the Daly
Through the wet, roughly November to April, the Daly rises and floods at Nauiyu. The dry season, May to October, is when the lodges and the river road are busiest.
Reading this report here
The chart matters on the Daly: the run-off is a falling river, and the level at Nauiyu shows it happening. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm all year; pressure and sky build the score at Nauiyu.
Licence, access and rules
No recreational fishing licence is needed in the Northern Territory; the Daly’s possession limits, the closed areas and the land access rules apply, on the pages linked below.
Common questions
When is the run-off on the Daly at Nauiyu?
From about March to May; the falling level on the chart above shows when it is happening.
Are there special rules for barramundi on the Daly?
NT Fisheries publishes possession limits and closed areas for the Daly; they are linked in the sources.
Do I need a licence here?
No. The Northern Territory has no recreational fishing licence.
Is fishing good at Daly River at Nauiyu 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 G8140003 — Daly River - Police Station
- 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.