Tailor
Excellent
The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
Sunshine Coast Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
From Caloundra to Noosa: surf beaches, the Maroochy and Mooloolah rivers, the Pumicestone Passage and the reefs off Mooloolaba.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 12:16 pm model
Air / High
19 °C / 22 °C
Wind
ESE 12 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Sunshine Coast has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ESE around 13 km/h, steady pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 22 °C. Tides: high 6:19 am and 6:36 pm, low 12:16 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 18 °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.
Bream
Fair
Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
Flathead
Fair
Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
Mulloway
Fair
The estuary fish move to the deeper reaches. Long, quiet sessions on the bottom with fresh bait across the top of the tide.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 22 °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 bream here? Check the size and bag limits with Queensland DPI before you keep anything; the Bream page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Sunshine Coast today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:34), sunset (17:44), 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
HIGH6:19 am0.80 m
LOW12:16 pm-0.41 m
HIGH6:36 pm1.09 m
Sat
LOW12:55 am-0.50 m
HIGH6:57 am0.90 m
LOW12:57 pm-0.46 m
HIGH7:06 pm1.06 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low22 °C / 17 °C
WindESE 12 km/h, gusts 25 km/h
Pressure1029.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain27% cloud, 81%
Sunrise / Sunset05:34 / 17:44
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Sunshine Coast
The best day on Sunshine Coast this week looks like Thursday 1 Oct, 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: Thursday, 1 Oct — 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
- 05:34 to 17:44
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 81%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Sunshine Coast: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Bream
Year-round; summer and autumn in the estuaries, winter at the mouths
Yellowfin bream on the east coast, black bream in the southern estuaries. Structure fish: rock walls, jetty piles, oyster racks, snags and pontoons. Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
Flathead
Best: November to April
Dusky flathead in the eastern estuaries, sand flathead in the southern bays. An ambush predator lying on sand and mud edges waiting for whatever the tide brings. Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
Mulloway
Best: summer and autumn, especially after rain
Jewfish. The big silver prize of the estuaries, breakwalls and surf beaches: nocturnal, tide-driven and unforgiving of noise. The estuary fish move to the deeper reaches. Long, quiet sessions on the bottom with fresh bait across the top of the tide.
Tailor
Autumn and winter on the east coast; August to September on Fraser Island
The surf and rock fish of the east coast, running north in autumn and winter. Fast, toothy and best at dawn, dusk and into the dark. The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
When to come: the Sunshine Coast 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
Bream
Flathead
Mulloway
Tailor
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 18 °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 Sunshine Coast 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. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 23 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 23 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 21 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
No general licence in Queensland; the rules that apply are the size and bag limits, the closed seasons and, at the southern end, the Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning, all on the Queensland Government pages linked below.
About this water
Sunshine Coast is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Sunshine Coast: the full guide
The coast and its waters
The Sunshine Coast is a run of surf beaches broken by rocky headlands at Caloundra, Point Cartwright, Alexandra Headland, Coolum and Noosa, and threaded by rivers that fish as well as the beaches do: the Mooloolah with its harbour, the Maroochy with its long sandy estuary, and the Pumicestone Passage behind Bribie Island at the southern end. Mooloolaba is the boat harbour and the launching point for the reefs and the shelf. The report on this page is scored for Mooloolaba’s coordinates, which is where most of the coast’s fishing radiates from.
Species by season
Whiting and dart are the summer beach fish and tailor the winter one, working the gutters at first light and into the evening. Bream fish the river walls, the harbour and the rocks all year, flathead lie on the edges of the Maroochy and the Passage in the warmer months, and mangrove jack push into the river snags through summer. Mulloway are the night fish of the river mouths and the headlands, and the Mooloolaba reefs give snapper in winter and pearl perch, cobia and the pelagics through the warmer months when the seas allow. Mud crabs and sand crabs are a pot fishery in the rivers and the Passage.
Reading this report here
Wind and swell run this coast. A south-easterly builds the surf and makes the beaches hard work while it flattens the lee of the headlands; a westerly cleans the beaches up. The score uses the wind, the pressure trend and the sky over these coordinates, the seven-day planner picks the best of them, and the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, useful for the run of the rivers and the Passage rather than for exact minutes, which the Bureau of Meteorology publishes.
Rules and access
No general licence in Queensland; the rules that apply are the size and bag limits, the closed seasons and, at the southern end, the Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning, all on the Queensland Government pages linked below. Beaches, headlands and river walls are public, and the ramps at Mooloolaba, Maroochydore, Caloundra and Noosaville serve the rivers and the sea.
Common questions
Do I need a fishing licence on the Sunshine Coast?
No; Queensland has none. Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones apply, and our Queensland licence page explains the one permit that does exist.
Where can I fish from the shore on the Sunshine Coast?
The surf beaches, the headlands at Caloundra, Point Cartwright, Alexandra Headland, Coolum and Noosa, the Mooloolaba harbour walls and the Maroochy and Pumicestone Passage foreshores.
Is fishing good at Sunshine Coast 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.