Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Mossman Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Mossman and Daintree rivers and the Newell and Wonga beaches: barra, jacks and sooty grunter, with the reef off Port Douglas.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
Low 1:14 pm model
Air / High
21 °C / 25 °C
Wind
SSE 16 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Mossman has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSE around 16 km/h, steady pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 25 °C. Tides: high 7:14 am and 7:34 pm, low 1:30 am and 1:14 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 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Barramundi
Good
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: 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 Mossman today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:06), sunset (18:14), 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 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
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.
Fri
LOW1:30 am-0.09 m
HIGH7:14 am1.35 m
LOW1:14 pm-0.19 m
HIGH7:34 pm1.79 m
Sat
LOW1:52 am-0.18 m
HIGH7:46 am1.46 m
LOW1:43 pm-0.14 m
HIGH7:53 pm1.75 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low25 °C / 20 °C
WindSSE 16 km/h, gusts 35 km/h
Pressure1022.0 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain76% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset06:06 / 18:14
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Mossman
Today is the pick of the week on Mossman, 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
- 06:06 to 18:14
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Mossman: 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 Mossman 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 Mossman 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. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Spanish mackerel 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, at Mossman or anywhere; the barramundi closed season, the size and bag limits and the Daintree National Park rules apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Mossman is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Mossman: the full guide
Mossman and its rivers
Mossman is the sugar town north of Port Douglas on the Mossman River, with the river running from Mossman Gorge through the cane to the sea at Newell Beach, the Daintree River and its ferry to the north, Wonga Beach between them and the reef offshore. It is a river town between two beaches, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Port Douglas and the Daintree River have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Barramundi fish the lower Mossman, the Daintree and the creek mouths in the warm season and are the district’s fish, under the east coast closed season; mangrove jack fish the snags in summer; sooty grunter fish the Mossman’s fresh reaches below the gorge; whiting and dart fish Newell and Wonga beaches; grunter and bream fish the river mouths; queenfish and trevally work the mouths on the run-out; mud crabs work the mangroves; and the reef gives coral trout for the boats out of Port Douglas. The fresh reaches are the quiet water.
Where to fish it
The Mossman River below the town, from the sugar mill bridge down through the cane to Newell Beach, is the barra and jack water for small boats and kayaks, and the fresh reaches up toward the gorge are the sooty grunter water; Newell and Wonga beaches are the whiting and dart sand, and the Daintree River mouth north of Wonga is the barra and crab water. The ramps are at Newell Beach and the Daintree ferry.
Reading this report here
The coast faces east and a south-easterly builds the surf on the beaches while the rivers stay fishable; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Mossman, labelled as a model, and the river mouths run on it. Pressure and sky build the score at Mossman, and the rain row matters most here of anywhere, because the wet season floods the rivers; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Queensland has no general fishing licence, at Mossman or anywhere; the barramundi closed season, the size and bag limits and the Daintree National Park rules apply, on the pages linked below. The beaches, the river banks at the town and the mouths are public, with ramps at Newell and the Daintree; the crocodile warnings on both rivers are the other rule to read.
Common questions
What can I catch around Mossman?
Barramundi and mangrove jack in the lower rivers in the warm season, sooty grunter in the fresh reaches, whiting and dart on Newell and Wonga beaches, mud crabs in the mangroves.
Do I need a licence at Mossman?
No. Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and the closed seasons still apply.
Is fishing good at Mossman 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
- 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.