Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Sarina Beach Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The beaches south of Mackay: Sarina Beach, Grasstree and Campwin, the creeks and the Cape Palmerston coast, with whiting, barra and mackerel.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 3:44 pm model
Air / High
18 °C / 23 °C
Wind
SE 19 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Sarina Beach sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings cloud cover, wind SE around 19 km/h, steady pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Tides: high 9:38 am and 9:51 pm, low 3:41 am and 3:44 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
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: 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 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 Sarina Beach today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:50), sunset (17:59), 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
LOW3:41 am-1.71 m
HIGH9:38 am2.62 m
LOW3:44 pm-1.64 m
HIGH9:51 pm3.21 m
Sat
LOW4:10 am-1.91 m
HIGH10:10 am2.82 m
LOW4:17 pm-1.78 m
HIGH10:19 pm3.11 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp18 °C
High / Low23 °C / 18 °C
WindSE 19 km/h, gusts 40 km/h
Pressure1025.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain60% cloud, 99%
Sunrise / Sunset05:50 / 17:59
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 Sarina Beach
The best day on Sarina Beach this week looks like Tuesday 29 Sept, 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: Tuesday, 29 Sept — 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
- 05:50 to 17:59
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 31 km/h
- Rain chance
- 99%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Sarina Beach: 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 Sarina Beach 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 Sarina Beach 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. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 29 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Spanish mackerel led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 29 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 24 °C, wind to 23 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
Line fishing at Sarina Beach needs no Queensland licence; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits and the crab rules apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Sarina Beach is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Sarina Beach: the full guide
Sarina Beach and the coast
Sarina Beach is the beach village east of the sugar town of Sarina south of Mackay, with the beach and its rocky headlands, Grasstree and Campwin beaches to the north, Armstrong Beach and Cape Palmerston to the south, the creeks of Plane and Sarina Inlet behind the beaches and the reef offshore. It is a beach-and-creek coast with big tides, and the report on this page is scored for the village’s coordinates. Mackay has its own page.
Species and seasons
Whiting and dart fish the beaches all year and are the coast’s fish; barramundi fish the creeks and the inlets in the warm season under the closed season; mangrove jack fish the snags in summer; grunter and bream fish the creek holes and the headlands; king threadfin salmon fish the creek mouths; Spanish mackerel run the headlands and the reef in the cooler months; mud crabs work the creeks under the pot rules; and the reef gives coral trout and red emperor for the boats out of Grasstree. The tides here are among the biggest on the east coast.
Where to fish it
Sarina Beach in front of the village and its headlands are the whiting and bream marks, fished on the rising tide, and Sarina Inlet behind the beach and Plane Creek to the north are the barra, jack and crab water for small boats on the run-out; Grasstree and Campwin beaches are the ramps for the run to the reef, and Cape Palmerston’s beaches are the four-wheel drive water.
Reading this report here
The coast faces east and a south-easterly builds the surf and closes the beaches, while a westerly flattens them and the creeks are the fallback; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Sarina Beach, labelled as a model, and it matters more here than most places, because the range is large and the flats empty. Pressure and sky build the score at Sarina Beach; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing at Sarina Beach needs no Queensland licence; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits and the crab rules apply, on the pages linked below. The beaches, the headlands and the creeks are public, with ramps at Grasstree, Campwin and the inlet; the Cape Palmerston National Park rules are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Sarina Beach?
Whiting and dart on the beaches, barramundi and mangrove jack in the creeks in the warm season, grunter at the headlands, mackerel in the cooler months, mud crabs in the creeks.
Do I need a licence at Sarina Beach?
No. Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and the closed seasons still apply.
Is fishing good at Sarina Beach 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.