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.
Goolwa Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Where the Murray meets the sea: the barrages, the Coorong mouth, Hindmarsh Island and the Goolwa beach, a fishery of two waters in one town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 7:00 pm model
Air / High
14 °C / 22 °C
Wind
SSW 5 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Goolwa rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSW around 5 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 22 °C. Tides: high 10:55 am and 11:05 pm, low 3:30 am and 6:00 am and 7:00 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. Cooler at 14 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
South Australia has no general fishing licence, but rules and permits apply. South Australia fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing bream here? Check the size and bag limits with PIRSA before you keep anything; the Bream page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Goolwa today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:00), sunset (18:13), 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
LOW3:30 am-0.21 m
LOW6:00 am-0.27 m
HIGH10:55 am0.44 m
LOW7:00 pm-0.37 m
HIGH11:05 pm0.24 m
Sat
LOW6:54 am-0.40 m
HIGH11:26 am0.24 m
LOW7:08 pm-0.56 m
HIGH11:34 pm0.06 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low22 °C / 14 °C
WindSSW 5 km/h, gusts 8 km/h
Pressure1025.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain69% cloud, 47%
Sunrise / Sunset06:00 / 18:13
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 Goolwa
The best day on Goolwa 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, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
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
- 06:00 to 18:13
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 47%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Goolwa: 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 Goolwa 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 Goolwa 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 25 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 21 °C, wind to 14 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 17 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
South Australia has no general recreational fishing licence; the limits and closures do. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by PIRSA and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the South Australia licence page before you keep anything.
Access
South Australia needs no fishing licence; the size, bag and boat limits, the cockle season, the mulloway rules and the Encounter Marine Park zones apply, published by PIRSA and linked from this page.
About this water
Goolwa is a coastal town in South Australia, Australia, covered from the South Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Goolwa: the full guide
Goolwa and the mouth
Goolwa is the river port at the end of the Murray, on the Fleurieu Peninsula south of Adelaide, where the river’s lakes drain through the barrages into the Coorong and out to the sea at the Murray Mouth. The town fishes the fresh water above the barrages, the salt water of the channel and the Coorong below them, the beach that runs east from the mouth along the Sir Richard Peninsula, and Hindmarsh Island across the bridge. It is a place of two fisheries and two rule books a few metres apart, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates.
Species and seasons
Above the barrages, the fresh water gives golden perch (callop), redfin and Murray cod, which in the lakes and the river are catch and release only from January to July and never kept; below them, the channel and the Coorong give bream around the barrages and the rock walls, mulloway in the channel and off the beach at night, and flathead and salmon trout in the salt. Australian salmon run the Goolwa beach in the cooler months and are the beach’s fish, with the surf gutters worked at dawn and dusk; the mouth itself is a mulloway mark of national reputation when the river runs; and cockles are gathered on the beach under a PIRSA season and limit.
Reading this report here
The Southern Ocean beach and the sheltered channel behave differently: a south-westerly brings swell onto the beach and leaves the channel fishable, a northerly flattens the beach. The river’s flow through the barrages decides the mouth’s fishing more than the weather, and that is a number PIRSA and the river authority publish, not one this page has. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, useful for the direction in the channel and at the mouth, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the times.
Rules and access
South Australia needs no fishing licence; the size, bag and boat limits, the cockle season, the mulloway rules and the Encounter Marine Park zones apply, published by PIRSA and linked from this page. The wharves, the barrages, the channel foreshore and the beach are public, with ramps at Goolwa, Hindmarsh Island and the Coorong side; the beach is driven under the council’s rules.
Common questions
Do I need a fishing licence in Goolwa?
No. South Australia has no recreational fishing licence; PIRSA’s limits, the cockle season and the marine park zones apply.
What can I catch at Goolwa?
Mulloway in the channel and off the beach at night, bream around the barrages, salmon on the beach in the cooler months, and golden perch (callop) above the barrages, with Murray cod there for release only.
Is fishing good at Goolwa 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.