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.
Moreton Island Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Mulgumpin: a sand island of surf beaches, the Tangalooma wrecks and the bay flats, reached by barge and driven on the sand.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 1:20 am model
Air / High
21 °C / 22 °C
Wind
E 17 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Moreton Island has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings a mixed sky, wind E around 18 km/h, falling pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 22 °C. Tides: high 7:17 am and 7:30 pm, low 1:20 am and 1:27 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 17 °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.
Australian salmon
Good
The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
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.
Yellowtail kingfish
Slow
The fish thin out as the current cools; jig the deeper offshore marks and work the harbours on the warmer afternoons.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Similar at 22 °C. 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 tailor here? Check the size and bag limits with Queensland DPI before you keep anything; the Tailor page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Moreton Island today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:32), sunset (17:44), 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
LOW1:20 am-0.75 m
HIGH7:17 am1.17 m
LOW1:27 pm-0.70 m
HIGH7:30 pm1.32 m
Sun
LOW1:51 am-0.85 m
HIGH7:54 am1.28 m
LOW2:05 pm-0.75 m
HIGH8:02 pm1.28 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low22 °C / 17 °C
WindE 17 km/h, gusts 45 km/h
Pressure1030.0 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain31% cloud, 67%
Sunrise / Sunset05:32 / 17:44
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Moreton Island
Today is the pick of the week on Moreton Island, 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, 26 Sept — fair at 3/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:32 to 17:44
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 67%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Moreton Island: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
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.
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.
Yellowtail kingfish
Best: December to April
The hardest-pulling fish within reach of the shore. Headlands, harbour markers, offshore reefs and the warm current in summer. The fish thin out as the current cools; jig the deeper offshore marks and work the harbours on the warmer afternoons.
Australian salmon
Winter and spring on the southern beaches
Not a salmon at all: a hard-fighting schooling fish of the surf and the bays, from WA around to NSW. Great on light gear, poor on the plate. The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
When to come: the Moreton 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
Tailor
Mulloway
Yellowtail kingfish
Australian salmon
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 17 °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 Moreton Island today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Thu, 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 22 °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 23 °C, wind to 26 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 closed seasons and the Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning, with sanctuary zones around the island, apply, on the Queensland Government pages linked below.
About this water
Moreton Island is a bay or coastal water in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Moreton Island: the full guide
The island
Moreton Island, Mulgumpin, is the sand island that closes the northern half of Moreton Bay, almost all of it national park, reached by vehicle barge from the Port of Brisbane to Tangalooma or Bulwer. Its ocean side is a long surf beach from Cape Moreton to the southern tip, driven on the sand and fished in the gutters; its bay side has the Tangalooma wrecks, the flats and the jetties at Bulwer and Kooringal, and the deep water of the shipping channel close to shore. Cape Moreton at the northern end is the classic land-based mark. The report on this page is scored for the island’s coordinates.
Species and seasons
Tailor run the ocean beach and the cape in the cooler months, in the gutters at dawn and dusk; dart and whiting fish the gutters in summer; bream fish the wrecks and the rocks all year; and mulloway are the night fish of the deeper gutters. The bay side gives flathead and whiting on the flats, snapper around the wrecks and the deeper edges in winter, trevally, tailor and school mackerel on the tide, and squid under the jetty lights; Cape Moreton turns up kingfish, tuna and the pelagics in summer for the rock anglers who make the walk.
Reading this report for the island
The wind and swell run the ocean beach: a south-easterly builds the surf and puts weed in the gutters, a westerly flattens the beach and is the day to fish it; the bay side is the fallback. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the gutters fish on the falling tide while the bay flats fish on the run-in; the Bureau of Meteorology has the minute. The beach is also the road and the tide decides when.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the size and bag limits, the closed seasons and the Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning, with sanctuary zones around the island, apply, on the Queensland Government pages linked below. The island needs a vehicle access permit and camping permits from the parks service, published on its site; the barge carries vehicles from the Port of Brisbane.
Common questions
Do I need a licence to fish on Moreton Island?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; marine park zones, limits and closed seasons apply, and the island needs a vehicle access permit.
What can I catch at the Tangalooma wrecks?
Bream all year, snapper around the deeper edges in winter, trevally and tailor on the tide, and squid under the lights.
Is fishing good at Moreton Island 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.