Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Seaforth Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The beaches and creeks north of Mackay: Seaforth, Halliday Bay and the Cape Hillsborough coast, with barra, grunter, whiting and mackerel off the islands.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
Low 3:35 pm model
Air / High
17 °C / 25 °C
Wind
SSE 13 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Seaforth sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSE around 13 km/h, steady pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 25 °C. Tides: high 9:26 am and 9:41 pm, low 3:32 am and 3:35 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 26 °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 Seaforth today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:51), sunset (18:01), 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
LOW3:32 am-1.28 m
HIGH9:26 am2.34 m
LOW3:35 pm-1.26 m
HIGH9:41 pm2.83 m
Sat
LOW4:02 am-1.50 m
HIGH10:01 am2.53 m
LOW4:10 pm-1.39 m
HIGH10:12 pm2.78 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp17 °C
High / Low25 °C / 17 °C
WindSSE 13 km/h, gusts 29 km/h
Pressure1025.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain52% cloud, 96%
Sunrise / Sunset05:51 / 18:01
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 Seaforth
Today is the pick of the week on Seaforth, 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
- 05:51 to 18:01
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 96%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Seaforth: 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 Seaforth 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 Seaforth 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 26 °C, wind to 26 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 26 °C, wind to 24 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 18 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 Seaforth or anywhere; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits, the crab rules and the marine park zoning of the Newry islands apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Seaforth is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Seaforth: the full guide
Seaforth and the northern beaches
Seaforth is the beach village on the coast north of Mackay, with the long beach and its ramp, Halliday Bay and Ball Bay to the north, Cape Hillsborough and its national park to the south, the creeks of Constant, Victor and Murray behind the beaches and the islands of the Newry group offshore. It is a beach-and-creek coast facing islands, and the report on this page is scored for the village’s coordinates. Mackay has its own page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi fish the creeks and the drains in the warm season and are the coast’s fish, under the east coast closed season; grunter fish the creek holes and the bays and are the village’s everyday catch; whiting and dart fish the beaches; mangrove jack fish the snags in summer; king threadfin salmon fish the creek mouths; Spanish mackerel run the islands in the cooler months; mud crabs work the creeks under the pot rules; and the reef beyond the islands gives coral trout for the boats. The Newry islands have marine park sanctuary zones.
Where to fish it
Seaforth beach in front of the village and the ramp at its northern end are the whiting sand and the boat access, and Constant, Victor and Murray creeks either side of the village are the barra, grunter and crab water for small boats on the run-out; the Newry islands are a short run for the mackerel, and Cape Hillsborough’s beach is the quiet sand. The Victor Creek ramp works on more of the tide.
Reading this report here
The coast faces north-east and a northerly roughs the beach while a south-easterly leaves it fishable in the lee of the cape; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Seaforth, labelled as a model, and the range is large, so the creeks empty and the ramp dries at low water. Pressure and sky build the score at Seaforth; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Queensland has no general fishing licence, at Seaforth or anywhere; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits, the crab rules and the marine park zoning of the Newry islands apply, on the pages linked below. The beach, the creeks and the ramps at Seaforth and Victor Creek are public; the Cape Hillsborough National Park rules are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Seaforth?
Barramundi in the creeks in the warm season, grunter in the holes and the bays, whiting and dart on the beach, mackerel off the islands in the cooler months, mud crabs in the creeks.
Do I need a licence at Seaforth?
No. Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and the closed seasons still apply.
Is fishing good at Seaforth 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.