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.
Mary River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
From Gympie to the Great Sandy Strait: the tidal Mary through Maryborough, a river of barramundi, bass, threadfin and mud crabs.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~18 °C est.
Air / High
19 °C / 22 °C
Wind
ESE 14 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Mary River is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 14 km/h, steady pressure near 1029 hPa and a high of 22 °C. 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 Mary River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:35), sunset (17:45), 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
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low22 °C / 19 °C
WindESE 14 km/h, gusts 28 km/h
Pressure1028.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain24% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset05:35 / 17:45
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Mary River
The best day on Mary River 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
- 05:35 to 17:45
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Mary River: 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 Mary River 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 Mary River 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 24 °C, wind to 24 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 23 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 26 °C, wind to 16 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 size and bag limits, the protection of the Mary River cod and the lungfish, and the Great Sandy Marine Park zoning at the mouth apply, on the Queensland Government pages linked below.
About this water
Mary River is a river in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Mary River: the full guide
The river
The Mary River rises in the Conondale Range and runs north through Gympie and Maryborough to enter the Great Sandy Strait south of Hervey Bay, tidal from the barrage at Maryborough to the sea and fresh above it through Gympie’s reaches. It is a river of two fisheries: the tidal reaches and the mouth, with their barramundi, threadfin, jack and mud crabs, and the fresh reaches, where Australian bass and the stocked natives live and the endangered Mary River cod is protected. Not to be confused with the Mary River of the Northern Territory. The report on this page is scored for the river at Maryborough.
Species and seasons
Barramundi fish the tidal river and the mouth on the run-off and the build-up, with the east coast closed season through the summer spawning to check; threadfin salmon fish the tidal reaches on the tide changes at night; mangrove jack and grunter fish the snags and the rocks; and mud crabs are a pot fishery in the mangroves toward the mouth. Above the barrage, Australian bass are the fish from spring to autumn, with the river’s closed season for bass to check, and the Mary River cod and the lungfish are protected and must go back if caught.
Reading this report for the river
The tide reaches the barrage and the tide panel, a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model, is for the direction of the run in the tidal reaches; the Bureau of Meteorology has the coastal times. Rain matters, because a fresh colours the river for days and a flood changes it for weeks. Pressure matters for barramundi, a falling barometer before a storm being the classic bite, and the sky fills in the score. The planner shows the night to take. Crocodiles are present in the lower river.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the barramundi closed season, the size and bag limits, the protection of the Mary River cod and the lungfish, and the Great Sandy Marine Park zoning at the mouth apply, on the Queensland Government pages linked below. The river parks at Maryborough, the barrage approaches and the reserves along the river are public, with ramps at Maryborough, the mouth at River Heads and the fresh reaches.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Mary River?
Barramundi and threadfin in the tidal reaches, mangrove jack and grunter, mud crabs toward the mouth, and Australian bass above the barrage; the Mary River cod and the lungfish are protected.
Do I need a licence to fish the Mary River?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; closed seasons, limits and the protected species rules apply.
Is fishing good at Mary River 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
- 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.