Barramundi
Good
Work the colour changes and the snags on the run-out; larger swimbaits and slow-rolled plastics in the impoundments.
Herbert River at Ingham Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Herbert at Ingham: barramundi, sooty grunter and jungle perch in the wet-tropics river through the cane, with the Bureau’s gauge at the town.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Level
0.96 m
Air / High
21 °C / 25 °C
Wind
ESE 18 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 116001F, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Herbert River at Ingham is fishing in its best temperature window, with the bite spread across the day. The gauge reads 0.96 m, holding steady. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ESE around 18 km/h, steady pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 25 °C. 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.
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 24 °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 Herbert River at Ingham today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:02), sunset (18:11), 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
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 116001F (Herbert_R Ingham).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 116001F. Latest reading 2026-09-24 18:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low25 °C / 19 °C
WindESE 18 km/h, gusts 32 km/h
Pressure1023.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain42% cloud, 85%
Sunrise / Sunset06:02 / 18:11
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Herbert River at Ingham
Today is the pick of the week on Herbert River at Ingham, at 4 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 — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 25 Sept — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 06:02 to 18:11
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 85%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Herbert River at Ingham: 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.
When to come: the Herbert River at Ingham 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
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 Herbert River at Ingham today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 23 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 24 °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. Barramundi led the card at good. High of 27 °C, wind to 18 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 closure and the jungle perch rules apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Herbert River at Ingham is a river in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Herbert River at Ingham: the full guide
The reach
The Herbert at Ingham is the wet-tropics river north of Townsville as it leaves the gorge country and runs through the cane flats past the town toward the Hinchinbrook Channel, wide and sandy between river gums and cane with the Ingham bridge, the river reserves and the tidal reaches below Halifax. It is barramundi and grunter water on the edge of the tide, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Ingham supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi fish the snags, the rock and the deep bends in the warm months, with the Queensland east coast closure from 1 November to 31 January computed on the species card; sooty grunter are on the rock bars upstream; jungle perch are in the clear tributaries under their rules; mangrove jack and the estuary fish are in the tidal reaches; and the Herbert floods every wet. Crocodiles are in the river.
Where to fish it
The bridge and the river reserves give bank access at the town, the crossings upstream toward the gorge give the rock-bar reaches, and a boat launched at the town or at Halifax covers the river down to the channel; the snags and the deep bends are the barramundi water, the rock bars the grunter’s. The Hinchinbrook Channel is its own fishery.
Reading the report
The chart shows a wet-tropics river that floods every wet season and falls to sand and pools through the dry; the rain row is the first thing to read. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives a long barramundi band; the cane flats let the south-easterly cross the river; pressure counts before a storm.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the size and bag limits, the barramundi closure and the jungle perch rules apply, on the pages linked below. The bridge, the reserves and the crossings are public.
The gorge and the Wallaman Falls
Above Ingham the Herbert runs out of a gorge below Wallaman Falls, the highest single-drop waterfall in the country, and the gorge reaches are sooty grunter and jungle perch water reached on foot from the Abergowrie and Wallaman roads; the falls are in Girringun National Park with their own camp, and the river below the gorge opens into the cane flats that this page covers.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Herbert at Ingham?
Barramundi outside the closure, sooty grunter on the rock bars, jungle perch in the clear tributaries, mangrove jack in the tidal reaches.
Do I need a licence at Ingham?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; the limits and the closure apply.
Is fishing good at Herbert River at Ingham right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 116001F — Herbert_R Ingham
- 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.