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.
Bundaberg Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Burnett River, the Elliott and the Kolan, Bargara’s rocks and the reefs off the coast: the southern gateway to the reef with an estuary at its door.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 6:54 pm model
Air / High
18 °C / 23 °C
Wind
SSE 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bundaberg is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind SSE around 11 km/h, steady pressure near 1028 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Tides: high 6:43 am and 6:54 pm, low 12:46 am and 12:41 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 Bundaberg today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:37), sunset (17:47), 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
LOW12:46 am-0.65 m
HIGH6:43 am1.31 m
LOW12:41 pm-0.63 m
HIGH6:54 pm1.72 m
Sat
LOW1:13 am-0.76 m
HIGH7:13 am1.49 m
LOW1:21 pm-0.68 m
HIGH7:24 pm1.65 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp18 °C
High / Low23 °C / 16 °C
WindSSE 11 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure1028.3 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain23% cloud, 98%
Sunrise / Sunset05:37 / 17:47
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 Bundaberg
The best day on Bundaberg this week looks like Sunday 27 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: Sunday, 27 Sept — good at 4/5, 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
- 05:37 to 17:47
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 98%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Bundaberg: 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 Bundaberg 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 Bundaberg 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 23 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 25 °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 26 °C, wind to 11 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, the barramundi closed season and the Great Sandy Marine Park zoning at the southern end apply, on the Queensland Government pages linked below.
About this water
Bundaberg is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Bundaberg: the full guide
Bundaberg and its rivers
Bundaberg sits on the Burnett River a few kilometres from the coast, and its fishing spreads along three rivers, the Burnett, the Elliott and the Kolan, and along the coast from Burnett Heads and Bargara down to Elliott Heads and Woodgate. The rivers are bream, flathead, whiting and, in the warmer months, barramundi and mangrove jack water; the coast is rock platforms at Bargara and the heads, beaches between them and the reefs offshore that make Bundaberg a departure point for the southern Great Barrier Reef.
Species by season
Bream and flathead fish the rivers and their mouths all year, the flathead on the sand in the warmer months; whiting work the river flats and the beaches in summer; barramundi and mangrove jack push into the rivers through the warm months, with the east coast barramundi closed season to check; and mud crabs are a pot fishery in the creeks. The rocks at Bargara and the heads give tailor, trevally and, in winter, snapper to the shore anglers, school mackerel and tuna run the coast in season, and the offshore reefs fish for snapper, sweetlip and the reef species when the seas allow.
Reading this report here
The south-easterly is the wind to read: it stirs the coast and pushes the fishing into the rivers, and a westerly or a still morning opens the rocks and the reefs. The pressure trend and the sky feed the score, and the seven-day planner picks the day, and the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model; the rivers run hard on the tide and fish on the change, so use the curve for the direction and the Bureau of Meteorology prediction for the times.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the size and bag limits, the barramundi closed season and the Great Sandy Marine Park zoning at the southern end apply, on the Queensland Government pages linked below. The river banks, the rock platforms and the beaches are public, with ramps at Burnett Heads, Bundaberg port and the river mouths.
Common questions
Do I need a fishing licence in Bundaberg?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; limits, closed seasons and marine park zones apply.
What can I catch in the Burnett River?
Bream, flathead and whiting, barramundi and mangrove jack in the warmer months, and mud crabs in pots.
Is fishing good at Bundaberg 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.