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.
Swan River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The river through Perth: bream and flathead from the Narrows to Fremantle, mulloway at night, and the blue swimmer crabs of the lower reaches.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~18 °C est.
Air / High
15 °C / 21 °C
Wind
SE 19 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Swan River rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SE around 19 km/h, steady pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 21 °C. 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 18 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 bream here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD WA before you keep anything; the Bream page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Swan River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:03), sunset (18:14), the moon and today's score. 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
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low21 °C / 13 °C
WindSE 19 km/h, gusts 40 km/h
Pressure1025.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain42% cloud, 61%
Sunrise / Sunset06:03 / 18:14
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Swan River
The best day on Swan River this week looks like Thursday 1 Oct, at 5 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 — excellent at 5/5, 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
- 06:03 to 18:14
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 27 km/h
- Rain chance
- 61%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Swan River: 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 Swan River 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 Swan River 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 19 °C, wind to 16 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 19 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 16 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 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
Swan River is a river in Western Australia, Australia, covered from the Western Australia reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Swan River: the full guide
The river
The Swan River is the estuary that runs through the middle of Perth, from the Swan Valley down through the wide reaches of Perth Water and Melville Water, past the Canning junction, to the harbour at Fremantle where it meets the sea. It is a working city river and a fishery from end to end: the walls and jetties of the city foreshores, the flats of Melville Water and the Canning, the bridges, the deep holes of Blackwall Reach and the harbour mouth, fished from the banks, the jetties and boats and kayaks. Canning Bridge is the single most searched mark on the river. The report on this page is scored for the river’s coordinates near the city.
Species and seasons
Bream are the river’s fish, all year around the bridges, the walls and the snags, with the biggest in the cooler months; flathead lie on the sand of the lower reaches and Melville Water in the warmer months; tailor push up the river in summer; and mulloway are the night fish of Blackwall Reach, the bridges and the harbour, especially after rain. Blue swimmer crabs are the summer and autumn fishery of the lower river with the DPIRD rules to check, herring and whiting fish the lower reaches and the harbour, and squid work the weed near Fremantle. Cobbler and the occasional kingfish appear in the lower river in warm years.
Reading this report for the river
The river is sheltered from most weather and the sea breeze matters mainly on the open reaches of Melville Water; the tide is small but the run through the bridges and the harbour is what the bream and the mulloway follow, so the tide panel, a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model, is for the direction, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the times. Rain matters, because a fresh from the Avon colours the river and moves the fish. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day.
Licences and access
Line fishing from the shore 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 foreshores, the jetties and the bridges are public, with ramps along both shores from the city to Fremantle; the DPIRD rules for the river, including the crab season, are on the page in the sources.
Common questions
Do I need a licence to fish the Swan River?
Not for line fishing from the shore; fishing from a boat needs the boat licence. See our Western Australia page.
What can I catch at Canning Bridge?
Bream around the pylons all year, flathead on the sand in the warmer months, tailor in summer and mulloway at night; the crab rules apply in the lower river.
Is fishing good at Swan River 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
- 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.