Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Cooktown Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Endeavour River and the Cape York coast: barramundi in the river, the reef offshore, and a tide that most people search for before the fish.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 1:09 pm model
Air / High
21 °C / 26 °C
Wind
SE 23 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Cooktown sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SE around 24 km/h, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Tides: high 7:13 am and 7:30 pm, low 1:28 am and 1:09 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. 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.
Barramundi
Fair
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
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 Cooktown today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:06), sunset (18:15), 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
LOW1:28 am-0.02 m
HIGH7:13 am1.36 m
LOW1:09 pm-0.14 m
HIGH7:30 pm1.77 m
Sat
LOW1:50 am-0.09 m
HIGH7:44 am1.47 m
LOW1:43 pm-0.09 m
HIGH7:53 pm1.75 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low26 °C / 21 °C
WindSE 23 km/h, gusts 47 km/h
Pressure1020.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain32% cloud, 84%
Sunrise / Sunset06:06 / 18:15
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Cooktown
Today is the pick of the week on Cooktown, at 3 out of 5. 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: today, 25 Sept — fair at 3/5, 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
- 06:06 to 18:15
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 27 km/h
- Rain chance
- 84%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Cooktown: 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.
Spanish mackerel
Winter and spring in the north; summer in NSW
The narrow-barred Spanish mackerel: a speedster of the headlands, reefs and shoals from Queensland around to northern WA, and a summer visitor to NSW. Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
When to come: the Cooktown 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
Spanish mackerel
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 Cooktown 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. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 26 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 25 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Spanish mackerel 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 barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Cooktown is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Cooktown: the full guide
Cooktown and the Endeavour
Cooktown sits at the mouth of the Endeavour River on the east coast of Cape York, the last town on the sealed road north of Cairns, with the river and its mangrove creeks behind the town, the wharf and the rock walls on the river’s southern bank, Finch Bay and the headlands to the east, and the reef and the Lizard Island grounds offshore. It is a wet-tropics town at the edge of the dry cape, with a wet season that closes the road and floods the river and a dry season that brings the boats and the trade wind. Most searches for Cooktown are for the tide, and this page shows one: a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, with the Bureau of Meteorology’s official prediction linked. The report is scored for the town’s coordinates.
Species and seasons
Barramundi fish the river, the creeks and the mouth on the run-off and the build-up, with the east coast closed season through the summer spawning to check; mangrove jack, grunter and fingermark fish the snags, the rocks and the wharf; queenfish and trevally fish the river mouth and the bay on the tide; and Spanish mackerel run the headlands and the reef in the cooler months. Mud crabs are a pot fishery in the creeks, and the reef gives coral trout, nannygai and the reef species under the coral reef fin fish rules for the boats when the trade wind allows.
Reading this report here
The tide is the number people want and it runs hard here through the river mouth; the curve on this page is for the direction and the size, and the Bureau of Meteorology has the minute. The south-easterly trade wind decides whether the reef is reachable and pushes the fishing into the river when it is up; pressure matters for barramundi, a falling barometer before a storm being the classic bite; and the rain row shows the wet. Crocodiles live in the river, the creeks and the bay.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning apply, on the pages linked below. The wharf, the river walls and Finch Bay are public, with ramps at the town and the river; the cape beyond is four-wheel-drive country with Aboriginal land and its own permits.
Common questions
Do I need a fishing licence in Cooktown?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; closed seasons, limits and marine park zones apply.
Is fishing good at Cooktown 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.