Spanish mackerel
Excellent
Prime. Trolled baits and hardbodies over structure on the tide change, or high-speed metals cast at surface schools.
Port Hedland Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The iron ore port and its creeks: the Hedland spoil bank and the harbour, the Pretty Pool and Cooke Point rocks, with mackerel, trevally, mangrove jack and the biggest tides in the state.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 4:35 pm model
Air / High
26 °C / 35 °C
Wind
NW 9 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Port Hedland sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 10 km/h, steady pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 36 °C. Tides: high 10:27 am and 10:39 pm, low 4:23 am and 4:35 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: 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: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Similar at 33 °C. 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 Port Hedland today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:52), sunset (18:02), 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% 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.
Sat
LOW4:23 am-1.77 m
HIGH10:27 am2.77 m
LOW4:35 pm-1.92 m
HIGH10:39 pm3.10 m
Sun
LOW4:52 am-2.30 m
HIGH10:55 am3.18 m
LOW5:03 pm-2.26 m
HIGH11:03 pm3.46 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp26 °C
High / Low35 °C / 25 °C
WindNW 9 km/h, gusts 17 km/h
Pressure1015.3 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:52 / 18:02
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~26 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Port Hedland
The best day on Port Hedland this week looks like Monday 28 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: Monday, 28 Sept — good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:52 to 18:02
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Port Hedland: 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. 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 Port Hedland 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 Port Hedland today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
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 35 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Thu, Sep 24
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 36 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
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 32 °C, wind to 14 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 Port Hedland is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities; fishing from a boat needs the boat licence and the crab rules apply; our Western Australia page has the fees.
About this water
Port Hedland is a coastal town in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Port Hedland: the full guide
Port Hedland and the creeks
Port Hedland is the iron ore port on the Pilbara coast, with the harbour and its ship channel, the spoil bank and the Pretty Pool inlet on the town side, Cooke Point and its rocks, the mangrove creeks east and west of the town, the beaches toward Cape Keraudren and the reef offshore. It is a harbour-and-creeks town on a coast of huge tides, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Broome and Dampier have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Spanish mackerel run the reef and the harbour entrance from winter into spring and are the town’s fish; giant trevally and queenfish work the harbour, the spoil bank and Cooke Point; mangrove jack fish the creek snags in the warm season; barramundi are taken in the creeks in the warm season; mud crabs work the creeks under the pot rules; threadfin salmon fish the creek mouths on the flats; bream fish the harbour walls; and the reef gives coral trout and red emperor for the boats. Pretty Pool is a family fishery on the flats.
Where to fish it
The spoil bank at the harbour entrance and the walls of the harbour are the walk-on marks for trevally, queenfish and bream, fished at night and on the change of the tide, and Pretty Pool and the Cooke Point rocks on the town’s eastern side are the whiting and trevally water for wading and the family spots on the rising tide; the creeks east of the town toward Cape Keraudren and west toward Finucane Island are the barra, jack and crab water for small boats. The ramps are at the harbour.
Reading this report here
The coast faces north and the afternoon south-westerly chops the open water while the creeks and the harbour stay fishable; the winter easterlies are the calm season at Port Hedland. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Port Hedland, labelled as a model, and it rules everything here, with the largest range in the state emptying the creeks and the pool. Pressure and sky build the score at Port Hedland, and the cyclone season from November to April is the thing to watch; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing from the shore at Port Hedland is not among Western Australia’s licensed activities; fishing from a boat needs the boat licence and the crab rules apply; our Western Australia page has the fees. The spoil bank, Pretty Pool and Cooke Point are public, with ramps at the harbour; the port’s exclusion zones, the Pilbara demersal rules, the DPIRD limits and the crocodile warnings are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Port Hedland?
Mackerel off the reef from winter into spring, trevally and queenfish at the spoil bank and Cooke Point, mangrove jack and mud crabs in the creeks, threadfin salmon on the flats.
Do I need a licence at Port Hedland?
Not for line fishing from the shore; fishing from a boat needs the Western Australian boat licence.
Is fishing good at Port Hedland 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.