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Hilo Bay Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Hilo Bay: a Big Island harbor and two river mouths under their own state fishing rules, with a shared limit on ulua, moi and mullet.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
High 1:58 AM
Air / High
79 / 80 F
Wind
NE 3 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 1617760, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Hilo Bay lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings cloud cover, wind NE around 3 mph, rising pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 80. Tides: high 1:21 AM and 1:10 PM, low 7:13 AM and 7:25 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 79 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:06 AM-11:06 AM and 9:31 PM-11:31 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Giant trevally (ulua)Excellent

This band covers Hawaii's water for most of the year. Work rocky shorelines and outer reef drop-offs with bait at night or surface lures at first light; tracking shows ulua keep to small home ranges.

Tomorrow: Similar at 80 F with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Hawaii requires a fishing licence from age 9, from $5.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Hawaii licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing giant trevally (ulua) here? Check the size and bag limits with DAR before you keep anything. The season dates for Hawaii, read off the agency, are on the Hawaii seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 1617760 (Hilo). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
HIGH1:21 AM2.2 ft
LOW7:13 AM0.6 ft
HIGH1:10 PM2.2 ft
LOW7:25 PM0.0 ft
Sat
HIGH1:58 AM2.5 ft
LOW7:59 AM0.6 ft
HIGH1:40 PM2.1 ft
LOW7:52 PM-0.1 ft

Hilo tide chart: the week and the month →

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp79 F
High / Low80 / 67 F
WindNE 3-10 mph
Pressure1016.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain97% cloud, 69%
Sunrise / Sunset06:17 / 17:51
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~79 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Hilo Bay this week

Today is the pick of the week on Hilo Bay, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 — good at 4/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 — Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:06 AM-11:06 AM and 9:31 PM-11:31 PM
Minor period
3:28 AM-4:28 AM
Sun
06:17 to 17:51
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 7 mph
Rain chance
69%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Hilo Bay: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Giant trevally (ulua) illustration

Giant trevally (ulua)

Best: night and low light (IGFA)

Giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis), ulua in Hawaii, is the largest of the Indo-Pacific Caranx jacks, a reef predator that in US waters is fished mainly around the Hawaiian Islands, from shore and from boats. This band covers Hawaii's water for most of the year. Work rocky shorelines and outer reef drop-offs with bait at night or surface lures at first light; tracking shows ulua keep to small home ranges.

When to come: the Hilo Bay calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Giant trevally (ulua)
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 79 F (estimated, not a reading).

7080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~79 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Hilo Bay today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at excellent. High of 80 F, wind to 8 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at excellent. High of 78 F, wind to 8 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at excellent. High of 81 F, wind to 9 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Hawaii requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

DAR requires nonresidents to hold a Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License. Hilo Bay, Wailoa River and Wailuku River (HAR 13-47): 2 poles or handlines, 2 hooks per line; 20 mullet, moi and ulua combined, no more than 15 moi; closed seasons for mullet and moi; no snagging or traps. Waiākea Public Fishing Area (HAR 13-63) has separate limits.

Access

Waiākea Public Fishing Area and launch ramp in Wailoa River State Park (fishing boats only, no fossil-fuel motors, no boating 7:30 p.m.-6:30 a.m.).

About this water

A bay on the east coast of Hawaii Island at Hilo, Hawaii County; NOAA tide station 1617760 (Hilo, Hilo Bay, Kuhio Bay).

Fishing Hilo Bay: the full guide

Rules written for Hilo

Hawaii's Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) manages Hilo Harbor, the Wailoa River and the lower Wailuku River as one regulated fishing area. Hilo Harbor is the part of the bay inside the breakwater, bounded by a line from the breakwater tip southwest to ʻĀleʻaleʻa Point; the Wailoa area runs from the river mouth to the footbridge at Waiākea Pond and includes Waiolama Canal, and the Wailuku area lies between the Māmalahoa Highway and Wainaku Avenue bridges.

What the area rules allow

Anglers may fish with no more than two poles with one line each, or two handlines, and no more than two hooks or lures per line. The combined bag is 20 mullet, moi and ulua (pāpio and ʻōmilu included), no more than 15 of them moi, and mullet and moi may not be taken in their closed seasons. Nets are banned except throw nets, small ʻōpae nets and nehu nets for bait; traps and snagging are prohibited, and throw nets and spears may not be used or carried in the Wailoa River.

Waiākea Public Fishing Area

Inside Wailoa River State Park, the Waiākea fishpond, the flood control channel and Mahohuli fishpond form a public fishing area with its own rules: one line with one lure or two single hooks in tandem, and a 20-fish total of āholehole, ulua and mullet with no more than 10 mullet. Introduced freshwater game fish there require a Freshwater Game Fishing License. The park has a launch ramp, but boats may be used only for fishing, may not use fossil-fuel motors and may not run between 7:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.

Common questions

How many ulua and pāpio can I keep in Hilo Harbor?

They count toward a combined limit of 20 mullet, moi and ulua, including pāpio and ʻōmilu, of which no more than 15 may be moi.

Do I need a fishing license?

Nonresidents need DAR's Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License, and anyone taking introduced freshwater game fish at Waiākea needs a Freshwater Game Fishing License.

Can I throw a net in the Wailoa River?

Not there: throw nets and spears may not be used or carried in the Wailoa River area, though throw nets are allowed in Hilo Harbor.

Is fishing good at Hilo Bay right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Kona61 miMaalaea Bay119 miKahului Harbor121 miKaunakakai158 miKailua Bay208 miKewalo Basin211 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 1617760 — Hilo
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 12 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 19.7400, -155.0600 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

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.