Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Barron River at Mareeba Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Barron at Mareeba: sooty grunter and barramundi in the tableland river below Tinaroo, with the Bureau’s gauge at the town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
1.75 m
Air / High
18 °C / 25 °C
Wind
SE 2 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 110002A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Barron River at Mareeba is fishing in its best temperature window, with the bite spread across the day. The gauge reads 1.75 m, up 0.24 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SE around 2 km/h, steady pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 26 °C. 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.
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 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 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 Barron River at Mareeba today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:06), sunset (18:14), the moon and today's score. 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
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 110002A (Barron_R Mareeba).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 110002A. Latest reading 2026-09-24 18:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp18 °C
High / Low25 °C / 18 °C
WindSE 2 km/h, gusts 6 km/h
Pressure1022.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain29% cloud, 47%
Sunrise / Sunset06:06 / 18:14
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Barron River at Mareeba
The best day on Barron River at Mareeba this week looks like Wednesday 30 Sept, at 5 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 — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
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
- 06:06 to 18:14
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 47%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Barron River at Mareeba: 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.
When to come: the Barron River at Mareeba 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
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 Barron River at Mareeba 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. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 26 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 26 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 26 °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 size and bag limits and the barramundi closure apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Barron River at Mareeba is a river in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Barron River at Mareeba: the full guide
The reach
The Barron at Mareeba is the river on the Atherton Tableland below Lake Tinaroo, running through the town and the tableland farms over rock bars, sand and river gums toward Kuranda and the gorge, with the Mareeba bridge, the river parks and the irrigation channels leaving the river. It is grunter and barramundi water of the tableland, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Mareeba supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Sooty grunter are the fish, on the rock bars and the snags in the warm months on lures and bait; barramundi drop down from Tinaroo and hold in the deeper pools, with the Queensland east coast closure from 1 November to 31 January computed on the species card and no exemption for the river; sleepy cod and catfish are present; and red claw are a pot fishery. Lake Tinaroo upstream, exempt from the closure, has its own page.
Where to fish it
The river parks and the bridge give bank access at the town, the crossings downstream toward Kuranda give the rock-bar reaches, and a kayak covers the pools between; the rock bars and the snags are the grunter water and the deep pools the barramundi’s. The tableland is cooler than the coast and the grunter feed through the warm months.
Reading the report
The chart follows the Tinaroo releases and the tableland’s wet-season rain, and a release keeps the river running through the dry; the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cooler than the coast and gives the barramundi a shorter band. The open tableland lets the wind cross the river; pressure counts before a storm.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the size and bag limits and the barramundi closure apply, on the pages linked below. The parks, the bridge and the crossings are public.
Down to the gorge
Below Mareeba the Barron runs through Kuranda and drops through the Barron Gorge to the coast at Cairns, and the Kuranda reach above the falls has its own page; the tableland reach at Mareeba is the flatter, warmer water of the two, and the Tinaroo releases upstream decide how much of it runs in the dry.
Common questions
Is barramundi closed in the Barron at Mareeba?
Yes, from 1 November to 31 January: the river has no exemption, unlike Lake Tinaroo above it, and the species card computes the closure.
Do I need a licence at Mareeba?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; the limits and the closure apply.
Is fishing good at Barron River at Mareeba 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
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 110002A — Barron_R Mareeba
- 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.