Barramundi
Closed today
Reopens 1 Feb 2027. Closed 7 October to 31 January in the Gulf of Carpentaria, tidal and fresh. No catch and release in the closure.
Weipa Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The mining town on the western Cape: the Embley and Mission rivers, the Gulf beaches and creeks, and barramundi, queenfish and salmon in remote tropical water.
3/5
Fair. Fish early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.
Next tide
High 3:10 pm model
Air / High
27 °C / 36 °C
Wind
E 5 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Weipa is a dawn-and-dusk fishery today, with the middle of the day for moving spots. Today brings cloud cover, wind E around 5 km/h, steady pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 36 °C. Tides: high 5:18 am and 3:10 pm, low 9:54 am and 11:08 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 29 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:31 PM-1:31 AM and 11:07 AM-1:07 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.
Spanish mackerel
Fair
Troll rigged garfish or lures over the reef edges and shoals at first light; float-line a live bait through the middle of the day.
Tie on: Soft plastic, 3 to 5 inch paddle tail · Pilchard on ganged hooks · Metal slug, 20 to 40 g · Surface walker at first light. Prime windows: 11:31 PM-1:31 AM, 11:07 AM-1:07 PM, 5:06 AM-6:06 AM. Similar at 38 °C with a rain chance. 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 Weipa today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:57), sunset (18:35), 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 11:31 PM-1:31 AM and 11:07 AM-1:07 PM; minor 5:06 AM-6:06 AM. New Moon, 0% 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.
Mon
HIGH5:18 am0.64 m
LOW9:54 am0.50 m
HIGH3:10 pm1.28 m
LOW11:08 pm-0.38 m
Tue
HIGH6:30 am0.71 m
LOW10:10 am0.67 m
HIGH3:30 pm1.35 m
LOW11:52 pm-0.53 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp27 °C
High / Low36 °C / 25 °C
WindE 5 km/h, gusts 10 km/h
Pressure1011.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain92% cloud, 98%
Sunrise / Sunset05:57 / 18:35
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~29 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Weipa
Today is the pick of the week on Weipa, at 3 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, 9 Nov — fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.
- Solunar majors
- 11:31 PM-1:31 AM and 11:07 AM-1:07 PM
- Minor period
- 5:06 AM-6:06 AM
- Sun
- 05:57 to 18:35
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 98%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Weipa: 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
Closed now Reopens 1 Feb 2027. Closed 7 October to 31 January in the Gulf of Carpentaria, tidal and fresh. 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.
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. Troll rigged garfish or lures over the reef edges and shoals at first light; float-line a live bait through the middle of the day.
When to come: the Weipa 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 29 °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 Weipa today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 36 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 38 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Barramundi led the card at excellent. High of 37 °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 sells no general fishing licence, and at Weipa the rules that matter are the Gulf barramundi closed season and the size and bag limits, on the pages linked below.
About this water
Weipa is a coastal town in Queensland, Australia, covered from the Queensland reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Weipa: the full guide
Weipa and its rivers
Weipa is the bauxite mining town on the western coast of Cape York, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, where the Embley and Mission rivers meet the sea, with the wharves in the town, the mangrove creeks and the sand flats of the rivers, the beaches and the headlands north and south, and the Gulf in front. It is reached by air from Cairns or by road in the dry season, and it has a reputation as a fishing town: barramundi, queenfish and the tropical species in remote water. The report on this page is calculated for Weipa’s own coordinates.
Species and seasons
Barramundi fish the creeks, the river snags and the flats on the run-off after the wet and through the dry, closed from 7 October to 31 January under the Gulf rule; queenfish and giant trevally fish the headlands, the flats and the river mouths on the tide; king and blue threadfin salmon fish the beaches and the flats; and fingermark, mangrove jack and grunter fish the snags, the rocks and the reefs. Mud crabs are a pot fishery in the creeks, and Spanish mackerel and other pelagics fish the headlands and the shoals in the dry. Most of this water is fished from a boat, and a sounder that shows the bottom of the creek bends pays for itself.
Reading this report for Weipa
The tide decides the flats and the creeks, and the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model; Gulf tides do not follow the east coast pattern, so check the modelled curve against the Bureau of Meteorology’s official table before planning a session on the flats. The south-easterly blows through the dry and the afternoon sea breeze roughs the Gulf, so the wind row shows the morning window; barramundi respond to the barometer and the rain row shows the wet. Estuarine crocodiles live in the rivers, the creeks and the sea, and use the sand flats as well.
Rules and access
Queensland sells no general fishing licence, and at Weipa the rules that matter are the Gulf barramundi closed season and the size and bag limits, on the pages linked below. The wharves and the town beaches are public; much of the country beyond the town is Aboriginal land with its own access rules, so check before driving to a remote creek or beach.
Common questions
When is barramundi season in Weipa?
Weipa is Gulf water, so barramundi are closed from 7 October to 31 January, with no targeting allowed in that period.
Do I need a fishing licence in Weipa?
No. Queensland has no recreational fishing licence; the closures, the limits and the land access rules of the western Cape apply.
Is fishing good at Weipa 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 early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.
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
- Pages checked
- 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.