Barramundi
Closed today
Reopens 1 Feb 2027. Closed 7 October to 31 January in the Gulf of Carpentaria, tidal and fresh. No catch and release in the closure.
Karumba Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Gulf of Carpentaria’s fishing town: the Norman River mouth, the sandbar, the beach at Karumba Point and the barramundi and salmon of the Gulf.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
High 7:00 pm model
Air / High
29 °C / 35 °C
Wind
NNW 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Karumba is in full summer mode: early starts, shade at midday, and the evening change. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1010 hPa and a high of 35 °C. Tides: high 7:00 pm, low 8:39 am: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 29 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:35 PM-1:35 AM and 11:11 AM-1:11 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.
Spanish mackerel
Fair
Troll rigged garfish or lures over the reef edges and shoals at first light; float-line a live bait through the middle of the day.
Tie on: Soft plastic, 3 to 5 inch paddle tail · Pilchard on ganged hooks · Metal slug, 20 to 40 g · Surface walker at first light. Prime windows: 11:35 PM-1:35 AM, 11:11 AM-1:11 PM, 5:03 AM-6:03 AM. Similar at 34 °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 Karumba today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:54), sunset (18:46), 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 11:35 PM-1:35 AM and 11:11 AM-1:11 PM; minor 5:03 AM-6:03 AM. New Moon, 0% 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.
Mon
LOW8:39 am-0.27 m
HIGH7:00 pm1.66 m
Tue
LOW8:21 am-0.40 m
HIGH7:19 pm1.86 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp29 °C
High / Low35 °C / 25 °C
WindNNW 11 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure1009.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain19% cloud, 69%
Sunrise / Sunset05:54 / 18:46
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~29 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Karumba
The best day on Karumba this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:35 PM-1:35 AM and 11:11 AM-1:11 PM
- Minor period
- 5:03 AM-6:03 AM
- Sun
- 05:54 to 18:46
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 69%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Karumba: 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
Closed now Reopens 1 Feb 2027. Closed 7 October to 31 January in the Gulf of Carpentaria, tidal and fresh. 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.
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. Troll rigged garfish or lures over the reef edges and shoals at first light; float-line a live bait through the middle of the day.
When to come: the Karumba 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 29 °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 Karumba today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 37 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 34 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 33 °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 Gulf barramundi closed season and the size and bag limits apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Karumba is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Karumba: the full guide
Karumba and the Gulf
Karumba is the fishing town at the mouth of the Norman River on the south-eastern corner of the Gulf of Carpentaria, at the end of the road from Normanton, with the river and its wharves in the town, the sandbar and the beach at Karumba Point, the mangrove creeks either side, and the shallow, muddy Gulf in front where the prawn trawlers work. It is a dry-season town: the wet can cut the roads, and the cooler months bring the caravans for the barramundi and the sunsets. It fishes from the beach and the river banks, and from boats over the Gulf flats and up the creeks. The Norman River has been a gillnet-free area since 17 May 2024, closed to commercial gillnetting.
Species and seasons
Barramundi are the fish, in the river, the creeks and along the beach on the run-off after the wet and through the dry, closed in the Gulf from 7 October to 31 January, earlier than on the east coast, and they may not be targeted during the closure; king and blue threadfin salmon fish the beach and the river on the tide changes and are the everyday fish; and grunter and queenfish fish the sandbar and the flats. Mud crabs are a pot fishery in the creeks, Spanish mackerel and other pelagics fish the Gulf when the water clears, and sharks and crocodiles are part of every session.
Reading this report for Karumba
The tide is the whole story on the Gulf flats, where a small change in height moves water across wide areas of mud; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the Bureau of Meteorology has the prediction. The south-easterly blows through the dry and the afternoon sea breeze roughs up the Gulf, so the wind row shows the morning window. A falling barometer is the barramundi signal, and the rain row shows the wet arriving. Estuarine crocodiles occur throughout the Gulf, in the river, the creeks and the sea.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the Gulf barramundi closed season and the size and bag limits apply, on the pages linked below. The beach, the wharves and the river banks are public, and the creeks and the open Gulf need a boat and a close eye on the tide.
Common questions
When is barramundi season in Karumba?
Barramundi are closed in the Gulf from 7 October to 31 January, tidal and fresh, earlier than on the east coast; outside those dates the species card rates the month.
Do I need a fishing licence in Karumba?
No. No licence is sold for recreational fishing in Queensland, the Gulf included; closed seasons and limits apply.
Is fishing good at Karumba right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
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
- Pages checked
- 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.