Bream
Good
Prime bream weather. Cast small vibes, crankbaits and 2 to 3 inch plastics at every piece of structure on the rising tide.
Bargara Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Bundaberg’s beach: the Bargara rocks and beaches, the turtle coast of Mon Repos, with whiting, bream, tailor and the mackerel of the reef.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 1:53 pm model
Air / High
23 °C / 25 °C
Wind
NE 17 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bargara sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings cloud cover, wind NE around 18 km/h, rising pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 25 °C. Tides: high 7:30 am and 7:28 pm, low 1:02 am and 1:53 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 22 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 10:23 AM-12:23 PM and 10:45 PM-12:45 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Flathead
Good
The best of it. Drift the sand and weed edges, bounce plastics or a strip of bait along the bottom, and cover ground until you find the school.
Mulloway
Fair
Fish the deep holes and the rock walls through a tide change after dark; live mullet, yellowtail or a large soft plastic worked slowly.
Tailor
Fair
Rock ledges and beach gutters on the rising tide; metals cast and retrieved fast, or a whole pilchard drifted through the wash.
Coral trout
Closed today
Reopens 11 Nov 2026. All coral reef fin fish (coral trout, cods and groupers, emperors and the other listed reef species) are closed for two 5-day periods around the October and November new moons, in tidal waters from Cape York south to 24°50′S.
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: 10:23 AM-12:23 PM, 10:45 PM-12:45 AM, 4:02 AM-5:02 AM. Similar at 26 °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 bream here? Check the size and bag limits with Queensland DPI before you keep anything; the Bream page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Bargara today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (04:58), sunset (18:10), 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 10:23 AM-12:23 PM and 10:45 PM-12:45 AM; minor 4:02 AM-5:02 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
LOW1:02 am-0.75 m
HIGH7:30 am1.74 m
LOW1:53 pm-0.42 m
HIGH7:28 pm1.20 m
Tue
LOW1:40 am-0.65 m
HIGH8:03 am1.70 m
LOW2:33 pm-0.38 m
HIGH8:00 pm1.08 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp23 °C
High / Low25 °C / 21 °C
WindNE 17 km/h, gusts 32 km/h
Pressure1017.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 55%
Sunrise / Sunset04:58 / 18:10
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~22 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Bargara
The best day on Bargara this week looks like Friday 13 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Friday, 13 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:23 AM-12:23 PM and 10:45 PM-12:45 AM
- Minor period
- 4:02 AM-5:02 AM
- Sun
- 04:58 to 18:10
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 26 km/h
- Rain chance
- 55%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Bargara: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Bream
Year-round; summer and autumn in the estuaries, winter at the mouths
Yellowfin bream on the east coast, black bream in the southern estuaries. Structure fish: rock walls, jetty piles, oyster racks, snags and pontoons. Prime bream weather. Cast small vibes, crankbaits and 2 to 3 inch plastics at every piece of structure on the rising tide.
Flathead
Best: November to April
Dusky flathead in the eastern estuaries, sand flathead in the southern bays. An ambush predator lying on sand and mud edges waiting for whatever the tide brings. The best of it. Drift the sand and weed edges, bounce plastics or a strip of bait along the bottom, and cover ground until you find the school.
Mulloway
Best: summer and autumn, especially after rain
Jewfish. The big silver prize of the estuaries, breakwalls and surf beaches: nocturnal, tide-driven and unforgiving of noise. Fish the deep holes and the rock walls through a tide change after dark; live mullet, yellowtail or a large soft plastic worked slowly.
Tailor
Autumn and winter on the east coast; the run reaches K'gari (Fraser Island) in late winter, where the east beach from Waddy Point to Indian Head is closed to all fin fish from 1 August to 29 September
The surf and rock fish of the east coast, running north in autumn and winter. Fast, toothy and best at dawn, dusk and into the dark. Rock ledges and beach gutters on the rising tide; metals cast and retrieved fast, or a whole pilchard drifted through the wash.
Coral trout
Year-round on the reef; in Queensland two 5-day closures around the October and November new moons cover all coral reef fin fish
Closed now Reopens 11 Nov 2026. All coral reef fin fish (coral trout, cods and groupers, emperors and the other listed reef species) are closed for two 5-day periods around the October and November new moons, in tidal waters from Cape York south to 24°50′S. Rule as read from Queensland Department of Primary Industries on 2026-09-29.
The main line-caught reef fish of the Great Barrier Reef, holding on coral outcrops and reef edges from a few metres to 100 metres, and gathering to spawn around the new moons of spring and summer. Queensland sets a 38 cm minimum and a combined limit of 7 coral trout, and closes all coral reef fin fish for two 5-day periods in October and November.
When to come: the Bargara 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
Bream
Flathead
Mulloway
Tailor
Coral trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 22 °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 Bargara today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Bream led the card at good. High of 30 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Bream led the card at excellent. High of 27 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Bream led the card at excellent. High of 27 °C, wind to 24 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
Line fishing at Bargara needs no Queensland licence; the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits, the Spanish mackerel closures in February and March and the marine park zoning apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Bargara is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Bargara: the full guide
Bargara and the coast
Bargara is the beach town east of Bundaberg, with the basalt rock platforms and pools of the foreshore, Kellys Beach to the south, the turtle beach of Mon Repos to the north, Burnett Heads and the river mouth beyond it, and the southern reefs further out to sea. It is a rocks-and-beach town at the southern edge of the reef, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Bundaberg has its own page.
Species and seasons
Whiting fish Kellys Beach and the sand all year and are the town’s fish; bream fish the basalt platforms and the pools; tailor run the beaches and the rocks in the cooler months; dart fish the beaches; flathead lie in the beach gutters; Spanish mackerel run the headlands and the reef in the cooler months; squid work the rock pools; and the reef gives coral trout, red emperor and sweetlip for the boats out of Burnett Heads. Mon Repos is a turtle nesting beach and conservation park, managed by Queensland Parks with seasonal rules for visitors.
Where to fish it
The basalt platforms along the Bargara foreshore from the Basin to Nielson Park are the bream and squid rocks, fished on the rising tide, and Kellys Beach south of the town is the whiting sand; Mon Repos north of the town is a conservation park, so read its rules before fishing near it, and Burnett Heads’ walls and the river mouth are the jew and bream marks. The ramps are at Burnett Heads and the Burnett River.
Reading this report here
The coast faces east and a south-easterly builds the surf and closes the platforms and the beaches, while a westerly flattens the sea; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Bargara, labelled as a model, and the platforms fish on the rising tide. Pressure and sky build the score at Bargara; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing at Bargara needs no Queensland licence; the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits, the Spanish mackerel closures in February and March and the marine park zoning apply, on the pages linked below. The platforms, the beaches and the foreshore are public, with ramps at Burnett Heads; Queensland Parks sets the Mon Repos Conservation Park rules on the turtle beach.
Common questions
What can I catch at Bargara?
Whiting on Kellys Beach, bream on the basalt platforms, tailor in the cooler months, mackerel off the headlands, reef fish for the boats out of Burnett Heads.
Do I need a licence at Bargara?
No licence for Bargara’s rocks and beaches; Queensland’s limits and marine park zoning are the rules.
Is fishing good at Bargara 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
- Pages checked
- 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.