Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Stanage Bay Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The end of the road on the Shoalwater coast: Stanage Bay’s creeks, flats and islands, with barra, grunter, mud crabs and the reef, and a ramp that dries on the tide.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 4:00 pm model
Air / High
21 °C / 23 °C
Wind
ESE 24 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Stanage Bay sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings clear skies, wind ESE around 24 km/h, steady pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Tides: high 10:00 am and 10:11 pm, low 3:53 am and 4:00 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 25 °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 Stanage Bay today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:46), sunset (17:56), 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
LOW3:53 am-2.23 m
HIGH10:00 am3.00 m
LOW4:00 pm-2.06 m
HIGH10:11 pm3.52 m
Sat
LOW4:24 am-2.35 m
HIGH10:33 am3.11 m
LOW4:36 pm-2.14 m
HIGH10:44 pm3.39 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp21 °C
High / Low23 °C / 18 °C
WindESE 24 km/h, gusts 48 km/h
Pressure1025.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset05:46 / 17:56
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 Stanage Bay
The best day on Stanage Bay this week looks like Sunday 27 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: Sunday, 27 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
- 05:46 to 17:56
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 31 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Stanage Bay: 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 Stanage Bay 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 Stanage Bay 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 25 °C, wind to 31 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 27 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 24 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 Stanage Bay needs no Queensland licence; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits, the crab rules and the marine park zoning apply, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Stanage Bay is a bay or coastal water in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Stanage Bay: the full guide
Stanage Bay and the Shoalwater coast
Stanage Bay is the tiny fishing settlement at the end of a long gravel road on the Shoalwater coast north of Rockhampton, with the bay and its creeks, the mud and sand flats that empty on the big tides, the islands of Thirsty Sound and the Broad Sound offshore and the military training area of Shoalwater Bay all around. It is a remote creek-and-flats fishery, and the report on this page is scored for the settlement’s coordinates. Rockhampton has its own page.
Species and seasons
Barramundi fish the creeks and the drains in the warm season and are the bay’s fish, under the east coast closed season; grunter fish the holes and the bay and are the everyday catch; king threadfin salmon fish the creek mouths on the flats; mangrove jack fish the snags in summer; mud crabs work the creeks under the pot rules and are the other reason people come; Spanish mackerel run the islands in the cooler months; and the reef gives coral trout and red emperor for the boats. The tides here are among the largest in Australia.
Where to fish it
The ramp at the settlement and the creeks either side of it, Alligator and Stanage creeks and the drains of the bay, are the barra, grunter and crab water for small boats on the run-out, with the flats off the settlement the threadfin salmon water on the rise; the islands of Thirsty Sound are the mackerel and reef run for the bigger boats. The ramp dries on the low tide and the trip is planned around it.
Reading this report here
The bay is sheltered by the islands and the creeks fish in most weather; the wind row matters for the run to the islands. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Stanage Bay, labelled as a model, and it matters more here than anywhere on the east coast, because the range is huge and the ramp and the creeks dry at low water. Pressure and sky build the score at Stanage Bay; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing at Stanage Bay needs no Queensland licence; the barramundi closed season, the coral reef fin fish rules, the size and bag limits, the crab rules and the marine park zoning apply, on the pages linked below. The settlement, the ramp and the creeks are public, with the Shoalwater Bay training area closed around them and the road unsealed; the crocodile warnings are the other rule to read.
Common questions
What can I catch at Stanage Bay?
Barramundi in the creeks in the warm season, grunter in the holes, threadfin salmon on the flats, mud crabs under the pot rules, mackerel and reef fish off the islands for the boats.
Do I need a licence at Stanage Bay?
No. Queensland has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and the closed seasons still apply.
Is fishing good at Stanage Bay 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.