Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Magnetic Island Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Townsville’s island: the jetties of Picnic Bay and Nelly Bay, the bays and headlands, with mackerel, queenfish, trevally and the reef around the island.
2/5
Slow. The wind owns today.39 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
Next tide
Low 1:46 pm model
Air / High
21 °C / 21 °C
Wind
ESE 34 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Magnetic Island has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 34 km/h, steady pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Tides: high 7:34 am and 7:41 pm, low 2:00 am and 1:46 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: 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: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Similar at 21 °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 Magnetic Island today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:59), sunset (18:09), 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% 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.
Sat
LOW2:00 am-0.39 m
HIGH7:34 am1.66 m
LOW1:46 pm-0.33 m
HIGH7:41 pm2.00 m
Sun
LOW2:18 am-0.47 m
HIGH8:07 am1.78 m
LOW2:20 pm-0.24 m
HIGH8:09 pm1.91 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low21 °C / 18 °C
WindESE 34 km/h, gusts 45 km/h
Pressure1022.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain20% cloud, 65%
Sunrise / Sunset05:59 / 18:09
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Magnetic Island
Today is the pick of the week on Magnetic Island, at 2 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, 26 Sept — tough at 2/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 26 Sept — Tough
39 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:59 to 18:09
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 39 km/h
- Rain chance
- 65%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Magnetic Island: 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 Magnetic Island 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 Magnetic Island today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 40 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 40 km/h.
Thu, Sep 24
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 42 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 42 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 39 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 39 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, at Magnetic Island or anywhere; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning around the island, with its sanctuary zones, apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Magnetic Island is a bay or coastal water in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Magnetic Island: the full guide
Magnetic Island and its bays
Magnetic Island is the island in Cleveland Bay off Townsville, twenty minutes by ferry, with the villages of Picnic Bay, Nelly Bay, Arcadia and Horseshoe Bay, the jetties at Picnic Bay and Nelly Bay, the granite headlands and boulder shores between the bays, the fringing reef and the deeper water of the bay around it. It is an island of jetties and headlands, and the report on this page is scored for the island’s coordinates. Townsville has its own page.
Species and seasons
Queenfish and trevally work the jetties and the headlands all year and are the island’s fish; Spanish and school mackerel run the headlands and the reef in the cooler months; grunter, bream and fingermark fish the jetties at night; whiting fish the bay sand; coral trout and sweetlip fish the fringing reef for the boats; barramundi are taken in the island’s creeks and the bays in the warm season under the closed season; and squid work the jetty lights. The marine park zoning around the island has sanctuary zones in some bays.
Where to fish it
Picnic Bay jetty and Nelly Bay harbour walls are the walk-on marks for trevally, queenfish and grunter, fished at night under the lights, and the boulder shores between Arcadia and Horseshoe Bay are the mackerel and trevally rocks at dawn; Horseshoe Bay’s sand is the whiting water. The ferry lands at Nelly Bay, the ramp is there, and the sanctuary zones in Geoffrey and Florence bays are no-take.
Reading this report here
The island has a bay for every wind: a south-easterly roughs the eastern bays and leaves Horseshoe Bay fishable, and a northerly the reverse; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Magnetic Island, labelled as a model, and the jetties fish on the change. Pressure and sky build the score at Magnetic Island; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Queensland has no general fishing licence, at Magnetic Island or anywhere; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning around the island, with its sanctuary zones, apply, on the pages linked below. The jetties, the beaches and the headland tracks are public, with the ferry from Townsville and a ramp at Nelly Bay.
Common questions
What can I catch on Magnetic Island?
Queenfish and trevally off the jetties and the headlands, mackerel in the cooler months, grunter and fingermark at the jetties at night, reef fish on the fringing reef for the boats.
Do I need a licence on Magnetic Island?
No. Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits, the closed seasons and the marine park zoning still apply.
Is fishing good at Magnetic Island right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. The wind owns today. 39 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
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.