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.
Caloundra Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Where the Pumicestone Passage meets the sea: the bar, the beaches and the passage flats at the southern end of the Sunshine Coast.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 6:36 pm model
Air / High
17 °C / 22 °C
Wind
ESE 8 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Caloundra has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ESE around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 22 °C. Tides: high 6:22 am and 6:36 pm, low 12:16 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 Caloundra today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:34), sunset (17:44), 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
HIGH6:22 am0.80 m
LOW12:16 pm-0.41 m
HIGH6:36 pm1.10 m
Sat
LOW12:57 am-0.50 m
HIGH6:58 am0.91 m
LOW12:58 pm-0.47 m
HIGH7:08 pm1.06 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp17 °C
High / Low22 °C / 16 °C
WindESE 8 km/h, gusts 17 km/h
Pressure1029.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain32% cloud, 81%
Sunrise / Sunset05:34 / 17:44
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 Caloundra
The best day on Caloundra 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
- 81%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Caloundra: 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 Caloundra 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 Caloundra 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 19 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 25 °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, the closed seasons and the Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning of the passage apply, on the Queensland Government pages linked below.
About this water
Caloundra is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Caloundra: the full guide
Caloundra and the bar
Caloundra is the southern town of the Sunshine Coast, on the headland where the Pumicestone Passage opens to the sea opposite the top of Bribie Island. That gives it a bar and a channel that fish on every tide, a run of beaches from Bulcock and Kings to Dicky and Moffat, rock platforms at the headlands, and the calm water of the passage behind the town, with Golden Beach and the flats toward Bells Creek. The reefs off Caloundra are a short run for the boats.
Species by season
Bream, flathead and whiting are the passage’s fish, the flathead on the sand edges in the warmer months, the bream around the rock walls and the pontoons all year and the whiting on the flats in summer; tailor and dart fish the beaches, tailor in the cooler months at dawn and dusk; mulloway are the night fish of the bar and the beach gutters; and the bar itself gives trevally, tailor and school mackerel on the run. Mud crabs and sand crabs are a pot fishery in the passage, and the offshore reefs fish for snapper in winter and pelagics in summer. Kings Beach and the Caloundra headland rocks are the town’s classic land-based marks, with the bar walls a short walk from the main street.
Reading this report here
The wind row decides between the passage and the beaches: a south-easterly stirs the surf and makes the passage the place, a westerly cleans the beaches up. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the bar and the passage run hard on the tide, so use the curve for the direction and the Bureau of Meteorology prediction for the minute.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the size and bag limits, the closed seasons and the Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning of the passage apply, on the Queensland Government pages linked below. The beaches, the headlands and the passage foreshore at Golden Beach are public, with ramps at Golden Beach and Bells Creek.
Common questions
Do I need a fishing licence in Caloundra?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; marine park zones, size and bag limits and closed seasons apply.
What can I catch at the Caloundra bar?
Trevally, tailor and school mackerel on the run, flathead and whiting on the edges, and mulloway at night.
Is fishing good at Caloundra 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.