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.
Brisbane River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
A tidal river through a capital: bream on the pontoons, threadfin and jew in the deep reaches, jack in the snags, and the port at the mouth.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~18 °C est.
Air / High
19 °C / 23 °C
Wind
ESE 13 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Brisbane River is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ESE around 13 km/h, steady pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 23 °C. 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 22 °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 Brisbane River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:34), sunset (17:44), 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
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low23 °C / 17 °C
WindESE 13 km/h, gusts 27 km/h
Pressure1030.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain25% cloud, 73%
Sunrise / Sunset05:34 / 17:44
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Brisbane River
The best day on Brisbane River 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
- 05:34 to 17:44
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 73%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Brisbane River: 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 Brisbane River 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 Brisbane River 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 23 °C, wind to 21 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 19 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 26 °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
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the size and bag limits and the closed seasons apply, on the Queensland Government pages linked below, and the port has exclusion zones the port publishes.
About this water
Brisbane River is a river in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Brisbane River: the full guide
The river
The Brisbane River runs tidal from the Mount Crosby weir through the western suburbs, past the University and the CBD, under the Story Bridge and out through the port to Moreton Bay, and it fishes along that whole length: the pontoons and the rock walls of the inner city, the deep reaches around the port and the Gateway, the sand flats and the creek mouths of the lower river, and the snags and the bends of the upper reaches. Brisbane the city has its own page; this one is scored for the river and reads its reaches first. Moreton Bay, where it ends, has its own page too.
Species and seasons
Bream are the river’s year-round fish along the walls, the pontoons and the pylons; threadfin salmon and mulloway are its prize, in the deep holes and along the drop-offs of the middle and lower river at night on the tide changes; flathead lie on the sand of the lower river and the creek mouths in the warmer months; and mangrove jack push into the snags of the upper river through summer. Tailor and trevally come up the river on the tide, mud crabs are a pot fishery in the creeks and the mangroves, and the port reaches turn up snapper in winter for the patient.
Reading this report for the river
The river runs hard on the tide and the tide panel, a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model, is the thing to read for the bream on the run and the jew and threadfin on the change; the Bureau of Meteorology has the official times. Rain matters, because a fresh from the catchment colours the river for days and moves the fish downstream. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the night to take.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the size and bag limits and the closed seasons apply, on the Queensland Government pages linked below, and the port has exclusion zones the port publishes. The river parks, the pontoons and the rock walls are public along most of the river, with ramps at Colmslie, Pinkenba, Bulimba, the University and the western suburbs.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Brisbane River?
Bream on the walls and pontoons, threadfin salmon and mulloway in the deep reaches at night, flathead on the sand, mangrove jack in the snags in summer and mud crabs in the creeks.
Do I need a licence to fish the Brisbane River?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; limits, closed seasons and the port exclusion zones apply.
Is fishing good at Brisbane River 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
- 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.