Barramundi
Excellent
Dawn, dusk and the run-off drains and creek mouths on the falling tide; hardbodies and soft vibes cast tight to snags and rock bars.
Onslow Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Pilbara coast between Exmouth and Karratha: Onslow’s beach, Beadon Creek, the Ashburton delta creeks and the Mackerel Islands, with mackerel, trevally, mangrove jack, mud crabs and the reef.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 3:58 pm model
Air / High
32 °C / 37 °C
Wind
WSW 15 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Onslow is in full summer mode: early starts, shade at midday, and the evening change. Today brings a mixed sky, wind WSW around 16 km/h, rising pressure near 1010 hPa and a high of 37 °C. Tides: high 10:27 am and 9:59 pm, low 4:13 am and 3:58 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 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 10:58 AM-12:58 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: 11:22 PM-1:22 AM, 10:58 AM-12:58 PM, 4:41 AM-5:41 AM. Cooler at 32 °C with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Western Australia requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$40.00. Western Australia fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing barramundi here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD WA before you keep anything; the Barramundi page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Onslow today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:32), 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 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 10:58 AM-12:58 PM; minor 4:41 AM-5:41 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
LOW4:13 am-0.64 m
HIGH10:27 am0.95 m
LOW3:58 pm-0.03 m
HIGH9:59 pm1.35 m
Tue
LOW4:43 am-0.72 m
HIGH11:05 am1.00 m
LOW4:30 pm-0.03 m
HIGH10:35 pm1.35 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp32 °C
High / Low37 °C / 22 °C
WindWSW 15 km/h, gusts 31 km/h
Pressure1009.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain50% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset05:32 / 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 Onslow
The best day on Onslow this week looks like Tuesday 10 Nov, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, 10 Nov — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, 9 Nov — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 10:58 AM-12:58 PM
- Minor period
- 4:41 AM-5:41 AM
- Sun
- 05:32 to 18:35
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Onslow: 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
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. Dawn, dusk and the run-off drains and creek mouths on the falling tide; hardbodies and soft vibes cast tight to snags and rock bars.
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 Onslow 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 Onslow today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
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 23 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 37 °C, wind to 21 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 39 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Western Australian recreational fishing licences, from A$40.00, the same for residents and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by DPIRD WA and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Western Australia licence page before you keep anything.
Access
Line fishing from the shore at Onslow is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities; fishing from a powered boat needs the Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence, one per boat held by someone on board, and our Western Australia page has the fees.
About this water
Onslow is a coastal town in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Onslow: the full guide
Onslow and the Mackerel Islands
Onslow is the small town on the Pilbara coast between Exmouth and Karratha, with Beadon Creek and its small-boat harbour on the edge of town, the town beach, the mangrove creeks of the Ashburton delta to the south-west and the Mackerel Islands and their reefs offshore. DPIRD puts it in the North Coast bioregion, the Pilbara and Kimberley zone of the state’s marine rules, and that zone’s demersal limits are the ones that apply to the reef fish here. It is a creek-and-islands town on a hot coast, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Exmouth, down the coast, has its own page on this site.
Species and seasons
Spanish mackerel are the fish most Onslow boats chase, around the Mackerel Islands and the reef, usually from winter into spring; giant trevally and queenfish work the island edges and the creek mouths; mangrove jack hold on the creek snags when the water is warm; mud crabs are taken in the creeks under the DPIRD crab rules; whiting fish the beach sand; bream patrol the harbour walls; and coral trout and red emperor are the reef fish for the boats. The tide range here is big enough to drain the smaller creeks at low water, so the fish move with it.
Where to fish it
The Beadon Creek harbour walls are the walk-on marks for bream, mangrove jack and trevally, fished at night and on the run-in, and the creeks of the Ashburton delta are small-boat water for jacks and crabs on the run-out; the town beach is the whiting sand, and the Mackerel Islands are a boat run from the harbour for the mackerel crews. On a coast of big tides, plan the trip home before the bottom of the ebb: a boat caught on the flats can sit there for hours.
Reading this report here
The coast faces north-west and a fresh afternoon sea breeze chops the open water while the creeks stay fishable; the wind row shows when it arrives. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Onslow, labelled as a model, and the creeks and the flats depend on it. Pressure and sky build the score at Onslow; in the wet-season months, check the Bureau of Meteorology’s tropical cyclone warnings before any run offshore, and the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing from the shore at Onslow is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities; fishing from a powered boat needs the Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence, one per boat held by someone on board, and our Western Australia page has the fees. Mud crabs, mackerel and the reef fish carry bag and size limits, with the North Coast bioregion’s demersal bag on top; the DPIRD rules pages and the current recreational fishing guide are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Onslow?
Spanish mackerel around the Mackerel Islands from winter into spring, trevally and queenfish at the islands and the creek mouths, mangrove jack and mud crabs in the creeks, reef fish for the boats.
Do I need a licence at Onslow?
Not for line fishing from the shore; fishing from a powered boat needs the Western Australian Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence.
Is fishing good at Onslow right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
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.