Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Darwin Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Darwin Harbour, the creeks and the run-off: the barramundi capital, where the tide is huge, the wet season sets the calendar and no licence is needed.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
High 4:33 pm model
Air / High
26 °C / 30 °C
Wind
SSW 3 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Darwin has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings clear skies, wind SSW around 3 km/h, rising pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 30 °C. Tides: high 4:18 am and 4:33 pm, low 10:42 am and 10:47 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. 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.
Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
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 31 °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 Darwin today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:34), sunset (18:42), 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
HIGH4:18 am2.88 m
LOW10:42 am-1.57 m
HIGH4:33 pm2.59 m
LOW10:47 pm-1.89 m
Sat
HIGH4:47 am3.19 m
LOW11:09 am-2.11 m
HIGH5:07 pm3.24 m
LOW11:23 pm-2.02 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp26 °C
High / Low30 °C / 22 °C
WindSSW 3 km/h, gusts 14 km/h
Pressure1015.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 82%
Sunrise / Sunset06:34 / 18:42
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Darwin
The best day on Darwin this week looks like Saturday 26 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: Saturday, 26 Sept — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
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
- 06:34 to 18:42
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 82%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Darwin: 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.
Spanish mackerel
Winter and spring in the north; summer in NSW
The narrow-barred Spanish mackerel: a speedster of the headlands, reefs and shoals from Queensland around to northern WA, and a summer visitor to NSW. Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
When to come: the Darwin 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
Spanish mackerel
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 Darwin 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. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 31 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 31 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 29 °C, wind to 19 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 recreational fishing licence, as the NT Government states; the possession and size limits, closed areas and protected species apply, and fishing near Aboriginal land has its own access permits, all on the NT Government pages linked below.
About this water
Darwin is a coastal town in Northern Territory, Australia, covered from the Northern Territory reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Darwin: the full guide
Darwin and its harbour
Darwin sits on a harbour of mangrove creeks and mudflats on the Timor Sea, with the Mary, Adelaide and Daly rivers within reach and the coast running east to Kakadu. It is the barramundi city, and the fishing follows the seasons of the Top End: the build-up in October and November when the storms start and the fish feed, the wet from December to March when the rivers flood, and the run-off from March into May when the floodplains drain back into the creeks and the barramundi wait at the mouths. The harbour itself fishes all year from the rock walls, the wharves and the boat, and Nightcliff, East Point and the harbour arms are the shore marks.
Species by season
Barramundi are the fish, in the harbour creeks all year and at their best on the run-off in the rivers; there is no closed season in the Northern Territory but there are possession and size limits and closed areas the NT Government publishes. Threadfin salmon fish the harbour and the river mouths, mangrove jack and golden snapper the rocks and the snags, queenfish and trevally the harbour on the tide, and Spanish mackerel and the reef species the offshore reefs in the dry season. Mud crabs are a pot fishery in the creeks with their own rules.
Reading this report for Darwin
Two numbers run this water: the tide, which is one of the largest in the country and decides where the fish are and when the creeks can be reached, and the pressure, because a falling barometer in the build-up is the classic barramundi bite. The tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and with tides this big the direction matters more than the minute; the Bureau of Meteorology has the exact times. The wind row is the sea breeze and the dry-season south-easterly, and the rain row is the wet arriving. Crocodiles are in every piece of this water.
Rules and access
The Northern Territory has no recreational fishing licence, as the NT Government states; the possession and size limits, closed areas and protected species apply, and fishing near Aboriginal land has its own access permits, all on the NT Government pages linked below. The harbour walls, the wharves and the beaches are public, with ramps at Dinah Beach, East Arm and Buffalo Creek; the rivers are a drive and a boat.
Common questions
Do I need a fishing licence in Darwin?
No. The NT Government states that no recreational fishing licence is needed in the Northern Territory; limits and closed areas apply, and Aboriginal land has access permits.
When is the barramundi run-off in Darwin?
From about March into May, as the floodplains drain after the wet; the build-up in October and November is the other classic time. The species card rates the month and today’s conditions.
Is fishing good at Darwin 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.