Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Airlie Beach Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The gateway to the Whitsundays: the marinas, Shute Harbour, the mangrove creeks and seventy-four islands with the reef beyond.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 2:49 pm model
Air / High
18 °C / 24 °C
Wind
SE 19 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Airlie Beach has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SE around 19 km/h, steady pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 8:52 am and 9:02 pm, low 3:00 am and 2:49 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 23 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Queensland has no general fishing licence, but rules and permits apply. Queensland fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing barramundi here? Check the size and bag limits with Queensland DPI before you keep anything; the Barramundi page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Airlie Beach today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:52), sunset (18:01), 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
LOW3:00 am-0.51 m
HIGH8:52 am1.56 m
LOW2:49 pm-0.48 m
HIGH9:02 pm1.98 m
Sat
LOW3:23 am-0.53 m
HIGH9:23 am1.60 m
LOW3:21 pm-0.48 m
HIGH9:30 pm1.82 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp18 °C
High / Low24 °C / 18 °C
WindSE 19 km/h, gusts 46 km/h
Pressure1024.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain47% cloud, 96%
Sunrise / Sunset05:52 / 18:01
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 Airlie Beach
The best day on Airlie Beach this week looks like Wednesday 30 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: Wednesday, 30 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
- 05:52 to 18:01
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 26 km/h
- Rain chance
- 96%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Airlie Beach: 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
Open now Closes 1 Nov 2026. Closed 1 November to 31 January on the east coast, tidal and fresh, except in the stocked dams the Queensland Government lists. No catch and release in the closure. Rule as read from Queensland Department of Primary Industries on 2026-09-23.
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 Airlie Beach 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 Airlie Beach today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 27 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 23 °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 24 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence; permits apply on some waters and the limits and closures do. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by Queensland DPI and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Queensland licence page before you keep anything.
Access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning, with green zones around many of the islands, apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Airlie Beach is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Airlie Beach: the full guide
Airlie Beach and the islands
Airlie Beach is the resort town of the Whitsunday coast in north Queensland, on Pioneer Bay with the marinas and the boardwalk in front, Shute Harbour and the island ferries to the east, the creeks and mangroves of the bay either side, and the seventy-four islands of the Whitsundays and the reef beyond them. It is a boat town before a shore town: the islands and their passages are the fishery most people mean, but the marinas, the rock walls and the creeks fish from the shore on the tide. The report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates.
Species and seasons
Spanish mackerel run the island passages and the headlands in the cooler months and are the fish the Whitsundays are known for; queenfish and trevally fish the bay, the marinas and the beaches on the tide all year; coral trout, nannygai and the reef species fish the island fringing reefs and the outer reef under the coral reef fin fish rules; and barramundi, mangrove jack and grunter fish the creeks on the run-off and the build-up, with the east coast barramundi closed season to check. Mud crabs are a pot fishery in the creeks, and the marinas give bream and the tropical species under the lights.
Reading this report here
The south-easterly trade wind decides everything on this coast: it makes the passages rough and the outer reef unreachable through the dry season, and the lee sides of the islands and the creeks are the fallback. Pressure matters for barramundi in the build-up, and the rain row shows the wet arriving. The tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model; the Whitsundays have big tides and the passages run hard, so use the curve for the direction and the Bureau of Meteorology prediction for the minute. Crocodiles are in the creeks and irukandji jellyfish in the summer water.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning, with green zones around many of the islands, apply, on the pages linked below. The boardwalk, the marina walls and the creek mouths are public, with ramps at Shute Harbour, the marinas and the creeks; the islands are a ferry, a charter or a boat.
Common questions
Do I need a fishing licence in Airlie Beach?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; closed seasons, limits and the marine park green zones apply.
What can I catch in the Whitsundays?
Spanish mackerel in the passages in the cooler months, queenfish and trevally on the tide, coral trout and the reef species on the reefs, and barramundi and jack in the creeks.
Is fishing good at Airlie Beach 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.