Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Nhulunbuy Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Gove on the Arnhem Land coast: the beaches and reefs of the peninsula, Melville Bay and the islands, with Spanish mackerel, coral trout, barra and the permits of Yolngu country.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 1:26 am model
Air / High
23 °C / 29 °C
Wind
SE 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Nhulunbuy sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings clear skies, wind SE around 11 km/h, falling pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 28 °C. Tides: high 7:44 am and 7:33 pm, low 1:26 am and 1:43 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: 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: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Similar at 29 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 Nhulunbuy today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:10), sunset (18:18), 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% 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.
Sat
LOW1:26 am-0.67 m
HIGH7:44 am1.11 m
LOW1:43 pm-0.28 m
HIGH7:33 pm1.16 m
Sun
LOW2:01 am-0.75 m
HIGH8:12 am1.21 m
LOW2:27 pm-0.50 m
HIGH8:19 pm1.30 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp23 °C
High / Low29 °C / 23 °C
WindSE 11 km/h, gusts 20 km/h
Pressure1015.6 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain4% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset06:10 / 18:18
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Nhulunbuy
The best day on Nhulunbuy this week looks like Sunday 27 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: Sunday, 27 Sept — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 06:10 to 18:18
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Nhulunbuy: 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 Nhulunbuy 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 Nhulunbuy today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
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 18 km/h.
Thu, 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 28 °C, wind to 21 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 29 °C, wind to 18 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, at Nhulunbuy or anywhere; the possession and size limits and the closed areas apply, and fishing on or near Aboriginal land needs the permits of the Northern Land Council and the Dhimurru rangers, on the NT Government pages linked below.
About this water
Nhulunbuy is a coastal town in Northern Territory, Australia, covered from the Northern Territory reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Nhulunbuy: the full guide
Nhulunbuy and the Gove Peninsula
Nhulunbuy is the mining town on the Gove Peninsula at the north-eastern tip of Arnhem Land, reached by air or by the long Central Arnhem Road with a permit, with the town beaches and the boat ramps, Melville Bay and its islands, the reefs and the deep water of the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Arafura Sea, the creeks and the mangroves and Yolngu country all around. It is a remote peninsula town on Aboriginal land, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Darwin has its own page.
Species and seasons
Spanish mackerel run the reefs and the islands in the dry season and are the town’s fish; coral trout, red emperor and golden snapper fish the reef for the boats, under the NT’s possession limits; barramundi fish the creeks and the mouths in the run-off and the build-up; queenfish and giant trevally work the beaches and the points; black jewfish fish the rubble; sailfish and marlin run the deep water for the game boats; and mud crabs work the creeks under the pot rules. The permits of Yolngu country decide where you may fish from the shore.
Where to fish it
The town beaches at Gove Harbour and the ramps at the Gove boat club and Melville Bay put a boat into the peninsula’s water within the town lease, and the points and the reefs of Melville Bay and the islands off the peninsula are the mackerel, trevally and coral trout marks for the boats at dawn; the creeks of the peninsula are the barra water in the run-off, on the Dhimurru permit where they are outside the lease, and the beach at Little Bondi is the queenfish sand.
Reading this report here
The dry-season south-easterly blows for months and the peninsula has a lee shore in it, so the wind row decides which side; the wet-season north-westerly is the other wind. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Nhulunbuy, labelled as a model, and it rules the creeks and the flats. Pressure and sky build the score at Nhulunbuy, and the cyclone season from November to April is the thing to watch; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
The Northern Territory has no recreational fishing licence, at Nhulunbuy or anywhere; the possession and size limits and the closed areas apply, and fishing on or near Aboriginal land needs the permits of the Northern Land Council and the Dhimurru rangers, on the NT Government pages linked below. The town beaches and the ramps are public within the town lease; the country beyond it is Yolngu land under permit; the crocodile warnings are the other rule to read.
Common questions
Do I need a permit to fish at Nhulunbuy?
Within the town lease, no; beyond it the beaches and the creeks are Yolngu country and the Dhimurru access permit is required, with the Northern Land Council permit for the road in; both are linked in the sources.
Do I need a licence at Nhulunbuy?
No. The Northern Territory has no recreational fishing licence; the possession limits and the Aboriginal land permits still apply.
Is fishing good at Nhulunbuy 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
- 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.