Tailor
Excellent
The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
Boyne Island Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Boyne River from the island side: the river’s barra, bream and whiting, the Lilley’s Beach coast and the Awoonga fish downstream of the dam.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 7:03 pm model
Air / High
18 °C / 24 °C
Wind
SSE 14 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Boyne Island has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind SSE around 14 km/h, steady pressure near 1028 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 6:55 am and 7:03 pm, low 12:58 am and 12:55 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 18 °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.
Bream
Fair
Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
Flathead
Fair
Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
Mulloway
Fair
The estuary fish move to the deeper reaches. Long, quiet sessions on the bottom with fresh bait across the top of the tide.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. 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 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 Boyne Island today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:41), sunset (17:51), 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
LOW12:58 am-0.84 m
HIGH6:55 am1.60 m
LOW12:55 pm-0.80 m
HIGH7:03 pm2.05 m
Sat
LOW1:27 am-0.96 m
HIGH7:25 am1.72 m
LOW1:33 pm-0.86 m
HIGH7:36 pm1.97 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp18 °C
High / Low24 °C / 17 °C
WindSSE 14 km/h, gusts 31 km/h
Pressure1027.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain8% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset05:41 / 17:51
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Boyne Island
The best day on Boyne Island this week looks like Thursday 1 Oct, 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: Thursday, 1 Oct — 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
- 05:41 to 17:51
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 26 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Boyne Island: 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. Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
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. Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
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. The estuary fish move to the deeper reaches. Long, quiet sessions on the bottom with fresh bait across the top of the tide.
Tailor
Autumn and winter on the east coast; August to September on Fraser Island
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. The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
When to come: the Boyne Island 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
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 18 °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 Boyne Island 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. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 13 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 Boyne Island needs no Queensland licence, and the Boyne below the dam needs no stocked impoundment permit; the barramundi closed season, the size and bag limits and the crab rules apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Boyne Island is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Boyne Island: the full guide
Boyne Island and the river
Boyne Island is the town on the northern bank of the Boyne River south of Gladstone, across the bridge from Tannum Sands, with the river running from Awoonga dam through the town to its mouth, the Lilley’s Beach coast on the ocean side of the island, the mangrove creeks of the Calliope and the harbour of Gladstone a few minutes north. It is a river town on the barra water below the dam, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Tannum Sands, Gladstone and Lake Awoonga have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Barramundi run the Boyne in the warm season and are the town’s fish, the fish that come over the Awoonga spillway in the wet being the reason, under the east coast closed season; bream fish the river walls and the mangroves all year; whiting fish the river sand and the mouth; flathead lie on the river flats; mangrove jack fish the snags in summer; king threadfin salmon fish the mouth; mud crabs work the creeks under the pot rules; and Lilley’s Beach gives whiting, dart and tailor. The river’s freshwater reaches below the dam are the quiet water.
Where to fish it
The river from the Boyne Island foreshore up to the Awoonga road is the barra, bream and jack water for small boats and kayaks, fished on the run-out and at night, and the rock walls at the mouth are the bream and whiting marks; Lilley’s Beach on the ocean side of the island is the whiting and tailor sand, four-wheel drive from the town. The ramps are on both banks of the river at the bridge.
Reading this report here
The river is sheltered and fishes in most weather; the wind row matters at the mouth and on the beach. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Boyne Island, labelled as a model, and the river runs on it. Pressure and sky build the score at Boyne Island, and the rain row matters because a wet-season spill from Awoonga brings the barra down; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing at Boyne Island needs no Queensland licence, and the Boyne below the dam needs no stocked impoundment permit; the barramundi closed season, the size and bag limits and the crab rules apply, on the pages linked below. The river banks, the beach and the ramps on both sides of the river are public; the DAF rules are in the sources.
Common questions
When do barramundi run the Boyne River?
In the warm season, outside the closed season, and especially after a wet-season spill from Awoonga brings the dam’s fish over the spillway.
Do I need a licence at Boyne Island?
No. Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence, and the river below the dam needs no impoundment permit; the limits and the closed seasons still apply.
Is fishing good at Boyne Island 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.