Can you fish the Minnamurra River from the bank without a boat?

Yes — it is one of the more land-based-friendly estuaries on the Illawarra coast. The bridge pylons, the flats and the rock edges near Trevethan Reserve and Rangoon Reserve are all reachable on foot for bream, flathead, whiting and luderick. A paid NSW Recreational Fishing Fee is required to fish anywhere in NSW, salt or fresh, whether you are in a boat or on the bank.

What fish can you catch in the Minnamurra River?

Dusky flathead on the sand flats and channel edges, yellowfin bream around the bridge pylons and mangroves, sand whiting near the entrance, luderick through the cooler months, mullet and leatherjacket throughout, the occasional mulloway in the deeper water, and Australian bass up in the brackish and fresh reaches. Flathead and whiting peak through the warmer months while bream and luderick carry the winter.

What are the size and bag limits for flathead and bream at Minnamurra?

Under NSW rules, dusky flathead must be within a 36–70cm slot with a bag limit of 5 — release anything over 70cm. Yellowfin bream are 25cm minimum with a bag of 10 shared across bream and tarwhine; sand whiting 27cm, bag of 20; luderick 27cm, bag of 10; and mulloway 70cm with a bag of just 1 per person. Always check the current NSW DPIRD saltwater limits before you keep a fish, and remember the Recreational Fishing Fee is required.

When is the best time to fish the Minnamurra River?

Aim for the change of tide at first or last light, ideally over a run-out, with a westerly offshore wind keeping the river glassy. Spring and summer fish best for flathead, whiting and bass, autumn is the standout for bream, and winter narrows it to bream and float-fished luderick. Slack water and the glare of midday are the slow times.

Can you catch bass in the Minnamurra River?

Yes, in the brackish and freshwater reaches upstream, mostly from September to April on small hardbodies, spinnerbaits and surface lures fished tight to structure. From May to August inclusive there is a harvest closure on Australian bass in NSW rivers and estuaries — you may still fish for them, but it is catch and release only, and the season reopens in September. Bass have no minimum length, a bag of 2 shared with estuary perch, and only one of those may be over 35cm in a river. A NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies.

Bite Compass

Bite Forecast

Minnamurra River

Thu 17 Sep 2026 · Australia/Sydney

Save

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17 Sep

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Today Tomorrow Sat 19 Sep

📍 Minnamurra River

waxing crescent · 28%

Weather: Sunny Wind: S 165° · 9 km/h Swell: 1.4 m @ 7 s SE Water: 17.6 °C Pressure: 1030.8 hPa ↓ falling

★★★☆☆

Medium Fish Activity

▸ Why this score?

At the day's peak · 5:30 am

Solunar Between windows

Time of day Dawn

Tide Moving

Wind SW 14 km/h

Moon waxing crescent all day

Water temp 17.6 °C all day

Learn how the score works →

Activity Forecast

Day timeline

Major Minor Tide Twilight

First light 5:29 am Last light 6:13 pm

Low 4:57 am High 11:36 am Low 6:30 pm

Drag or use arrow keys to explore

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

4:00 pm → 7:00 pm

First light

5:29 am

Last light

6:13 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:49 pm

Moonrise

8:56 am

Moonset

12:04 am

Low tide

4:57 am

High tide

11:36 am

Low tide

6:30 pm

Hourly Wind

High Bite Hours Highlighted

12am

☀️

10°

↙︎

232°

19 km/h

1am

☀️

9°

↙︎

230°

20 km/h

2am

☀️

10°

↙︎

222°

20 km/h

3am

☀️

10°

↙︎

218°

18 km/h

4am

☁️

10°

↙︎

223°

19 km/h

5am

☀️

10°

↙︎

227°

14 km/h

6am

☀️

9°

↙︎

227°

16 km/h

7am

☀️

11°

↙︎

222°

16 km/h

8am

☀️

12°

↙︎

219°

15 km/h

9am

☀️

14°

↙︎

210°

15 km/h

10am

☀️

15°

↓︎

202°

13 km/h

11am

☀️

16°

↓︎

193°

10 km/h

12pm

☀️

17°

↓︎

165°

9 km/h

1pm

☀️

17°

↘︎

149°

12 km/h

2pm

☀️

16°

↘︎

140°

16 km/h

3pm

☀️

16°

↘︎

142°

14 km/h

4pm

☀️

15°

↘︎

145°

10 km/h

5pm

☀️

14°

↘︎

151°

6 km/h

6pm

☀️

13°

↙︎

225°

2 km/h

7pm

☀️

12°

←︎

267°

4 km/h

8pm

☀️

10°

←︎

279°

5 km/h

9pm

☀️

9°

←︎

282°

7 km/h

10pm

☀️

8°

←︎

277°

6 km/h

11pm

☀️

7°

←︎

278°

6 km/h

Hourly Swell

Easing 1.6 → 1.1 m S

12am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

1am

1.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

2am

1.7 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

3am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↓︎

Moderate

chop

4am

1.6 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

5am

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

6am

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

7am

1.5 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

8am

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

9am

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

10am

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

11am

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

12pm

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

1pm

1.4 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

2pm

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

3pm

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

4pm

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

5pm

1.3 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

6pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

7pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

8pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

9pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

10pm

1.2 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

11pm

1.1 m

@ 7 s

↘︎

Moderate

chop

Water Temp (°C)

→ steady around 17.6°

Mon

14 Sep

17.9°

Tue

15 Sep

17.9°

Wed

16 Sep

17.8°

Thu

17 Sep

17.6°

Fri

18 Sep

17.7°

Sat

19 Sep

17.8°

Sun

20 Sep

17.9°

Mon

21 Sep

18.0°

Tue

22 Sep

18.0°

Wed

23 Sep

18.0°

Wind Map

Wind data (text)

Now: 9 km/h S (165°).

Wind map data: ECMWF HRES (operational), updated every 6 hours. Not for navigation.

Feeding Windows

Best times to fish based on activity score.

Peak

5:00 am → 6:30 am

1h 30m

Good

4:00 pm → 7:00 pm

First light

5:29 am

Last light

6:13 pm

Sunrise

5:53 am

Sunset

5:49 pm

Moonrise

8:56 am

Moonset

12:04 am

Low tide

4:57 am

High tide

11:36 am

Low tide

6:30 pm

Nearby spots

Species at this spot

Dusky Flathead
Yellowfin Bream
Sand Whiting
Luderick
Mulloway (Jewfish)
Australian Bass
Leatherjacket