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.
Darwin Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Darwin Harbour, the creeks and the run-off: barramundi water where the tides are big, the Territory’s four fishing seasons set the calendar and no licence is needed.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 10:56 am model
Air / High
31 °C / 33 °C
Wind
NNW 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Darwin runs hot and bright: the fish feed early, late and deep. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1010 hPa and a high of 33 °C. Tides: high 4:25 am and 5:14 pm, low 10:56 am and 11:33 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 29 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.
Spanish mackerel
Fair
Troll rigged garfish or lures over the reef edges and shoals at first light; float-line a live bait through the middle of the day.
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: 11:46 PM-1:46 AM, 11:22 AM-1:22 PM, 5:22 AM-6:22 AM. Similar at 32 °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 (06:11), sunset (18:49), 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 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM; minor 5:22 AM-6:22 AM. New Moon, 0% 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.
Mon
HIGH4:25 am2.95 m
LOW10:56 am-2.80 m
HIGH5:14 pm3.63 m
LOW11:33 pm-1.04 m
Tue
HIGH5:00 am3.03 m
LOW11:30 am-2.80 m
HIGH5:48 pm3.69 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp31 °C
High / Low33 °C / 25 °C
WindNNW 11 km/h, gusts 23 km/h
Pressure1009.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 51%
Sunrise / Sunset06:11 / 18:49
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~29 °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 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
- 11:46 PM-1:46 AM and 11:22 AM-1:22 PM
- Minor period
- 5:22 AM-6:22 AM
- Sun
- 06:11 to 18:49
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 51%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
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. 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.
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. Troll rigged garfish or lures over the reef edges and shoals at first light; float-line a live bait through the middle of the day.
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 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 Darwin 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 32 °C, wind to 21 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 33 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
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.
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. Barramundi are the fish most visitors come for, and the NT Government divides the year into four fishing seasons: the wet from January to mid-March, the run-off from March to April, the dry from May to September and the build-up from October to December. The harbour itself fishes all year from the rock walls and by boat, and Nightcliff and East Point are the best-known shore areas, with their own rules: East Point is an aquatic life reserve where fish under 30 centimetres may not be taken, and Doctors Gully, where fish are hand-fed, is closed to fishing.
Species by season
The NT Government says barramundi can be caught in all four of its fishing seasons; the run-off in the rivers is the classic time, and possession and size limits apply, with Kakadu’s own limit of three fish up to 90 centimetres and one over per boat. Threadfin salmon fish the harbour and the river mouths, mangrove jack 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. Golden snapper need care: the Territory’s latest stock assessment puts them in the Greater Darwin region at 14 per cent of original levels, and reef fish protection areas close some grounds. 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, whose range is big enough that the East Arm ramp’s damaged pontoon only helps above about 5.5 metres, and the pressure, because a falling barometer in the build-up is a pattern barramundi anglers watch. 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 live in most Territory waters, as the government’s ramp page warns.
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 and the beaches are public, and the government lists ramps at Dinah Beach, East Arm and Nightcliff, each with a minimum tide; 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?
The NT Government’s fishing calendar puts the run-off in March and April, after the wet from January to mid-March; the build-up from October to December is the other classic time. The barramundi card on this page rates the month and today’s weather.
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
- Pages checked
- nt.gov.au/marine/recreational-fishing/rules/about-recreational-fishing
- nt.gov.au/marine/recreational-fishing/when-and-where-to-fish/fishing-s
- nt.gov.au/marine/for-all-harbour-and-boat-users/ramps-wharves-and-moor
- nt.gov.au/marine/recreational-fishing/when-and-where-to-fish/rules-for
- nt.gov.au/marine/reef-fishing-management/golden-snapper-recovery
- 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.