Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Port Douglas Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Where the rainforest meets the reef: Dickson Inlet, the Daintree and Mossman rivers, Four Mile Beach and the outer reef an hour offshore.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
Low 1:13 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
Port Douglas is fishing in its best temperature window, with the bite spread across 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 7:32 pm, low 1:28 am and 1:13 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. 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 Port Douglas 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
LOW1:28 am-0.10 m
HIGH7:14 am1.35 m
LOW1:13 pm-0.20 m
HIGH7:32 pm1.78 m
Sat
LOW1:51 am-0.19 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, 44%
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 Port Douglas
Today is the pick of the week on Port Douglas, 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
- 44%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Port Douglas: 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 Port Douglas 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 Port Douglas 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 25 °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 coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Port Douglas is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Port Douglas: the full guide
Port Douglas and its water
Port Douglas is the resort town of the far north Queensland coast, an hour north of Cairns, on Dickson Inlet with the marina and the mangrove creeks behind it, Four Mile Beach in front, the Mossman and Daintree rivers to the north and the Great Barrier Reef, at its closest to the coast here, offshore. It is wet tropics country: rainforest to the water, a wet season that floods the rivers and a dry season that settles the seas, and a fishery split between the creeks and the rivers on one side and the reef on the other. The report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates.
Species and seasons
Barramundi fish the inlet, the creeks and the Daintree and Mossman rivers on the run-off and the build-up, with the east coast closed season through the summer spawning that the Queensland Government publishes; mangrove jack and grunter fish the snags and the rocks, queenfish and trevally the inlet mouth and the beach on the tide, and Spanish mackerel run the headlands and the reef in the cooler months. Mud crabs are a pot fishery in the creeks; the reef gives coral trout, nannygai and the reef species under the coral reef fin fish rules for the charter fleet and the private boats.
Reading this report here
The south-easterly trade wind decides whether the reef is reachable and pushes the fishing into the inlet and the rivers when it is up; the wet season, in the rain row, closes the rivers with floods and then opens them with the run-off. Pressure matters for barramundi, a falling barometer before a storm being the classic bite. The tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model; the creeks and the inlet run on big tides, so use the curve for the direction and the Bureau of Meteorology prediction for the minute. Crocodiles live in every piece of this water, including the beach after rain.
Rules and access
Queensland has no general fishing licence; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning apply, on the pages linked below. The marina walls, the inlet foreshore and Four Mile Beach are public, with ramps at the marina and the rivers; the Daintree has a ferry and the reef is a charter or a serious boat.
Common questions
Do I need a fishing licence in Port Douglas?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; closed seasons, limits and marine park zones apply.
Can I fish the Daintree River?
Yes, from a boat and from the bank where access exists, for barramundi, mangrove jack, grunter and mud crabs, under the closed season and limits; crocodiles are in the river.
Is fishing good at Port Douglas 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.