Best time to fish in Jackson Bay
Today, Thursday, October 29, 2026 · local time (GMT+13) · West Coast, New Zealand Today, Thu, Oct 29 · GMT+13- High tides
- 1:38 am and 1:56 pm
- Major periods
- 2:41–4:41 am and 3:13–5:13 pm
- Solunar activity
- High
- Sun
- 6:32 am–8:28 pm
Today, Thursday, October 29, the best time to fish in Jackson Bay is 6:50 am to 8:20 am, with the 7:48 am low tide, moonset, sunrise and falling pressure, though with rough seas. It's an average day (6/10). The best day this week is Wednesday, November 4, at 7/10.
Your day in Jackson Bay at a glance
The strip runs from midnight to midnight, local time. Night in gray, daylight in yellow; the blue curve is the tide; below, the solunar periods and the best windows.
Fishing forecast for the next 7 days
| Day | Rating | Best times | High tides | Moon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 6average day | 6:50–8:20 am7:50–9:00 pm | ▲ 1:38 am ▲ 1:56 pm | Waning gibbous |
| Fri 30 | 4fair day | 8:20–9:20 am | ▲ 2:30 am ▲ 2:48 pm | Waning gibbous |
| Sat 31 | 5average day | 9:30–10:30 am2:50–4:50 pm | ▲ 3:29 am ▲ 3:47 pm | Waning gibbous |
| Sun 1 | 5average day | 6:00–7:10 am10:50–11:40 am | ▲ 4:35 am ▲ 4:56 pm | Waning gibbous |
| Mon 2 | 5average day | 12:10–12:50 pm5:50–7:10 am | ▲ 5:46 am ▲ 6:10 pm | Last quarter |
| Tue 3 | 5average day | 7:50–9:10 pm6:00–7:00 am | ▲ 6:57 am ▲ 7:22 pm | Waning crescent |
| Wed 4 | 7good day | 8:00–9:30 pm1:10–3:10 pm | ▲ 8:02 am ▲ 8:26 pm | Waning crescent |
Each day's rating comes from the tide, the solunar periods, the light and, when we have the forecast, the weather.
What can you catch in Jackson Bay?
Sport fishing species with the most records within about 62 mi of Jackson Bay: tope shark, albacore and yellowtail amberjack.
- Tope shark Galeorhinus galeus · shark · 314 records Photo: Anonymous Unknown author · public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Albacore Thunnus alalunga · fish · 218 records Photo: Wikimedia Commons · public domain
- Yellowtail amberjack Seriola lalandi · fish · 3 records Photo: Nholtzha · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
There are too few sightings here to tell in which months each species is seen most.
These are sightings and catches recorded since 1970 (reports from divers and anglers, scientific surveys and museum collections), not a promise that you will catch them. The months come from sightings only, adjusted for how many there are each month; hatched months have too few to tell.
Source: GBIF.org, which also gathers OBIS data. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY 4.0, from 1,130 datasets (retrieved October 24, 2026). Where the data comes from
Photos: each species' image on Wikidata (Wikimedia Commons) or, if there isn't one, one from GBIF; only licences that allow this use, each with its author and licence.
How we work out the best time
We score every moment of the day, every 10 minutes, with simple rules anglers have used for decades:
- Tide: 2 to 3.5 points in the hour before and the hour after each high and low tide. Spring tides (high coefficient) score more, because the water moves faster.
- Solunar: 2.5 points in the major periods (moon overhead or underfoot) and 1.5 in the minor ones (moonrise and moonset).
- Light: 2 points at dawn and dusk, from first light to the end of the morning golden hour and from the evening golden hour to the end of twilight.
- Weather: falling pressure adds 1 point and rising pressure takes 1 away; wind takes points away from force 4 (about 12 mph), up to 5 points in a gale; waves of 1.6 ft to 4.9 ft add half a point (they stir up the water) and from 8.2 ft they take points away (up to 4).
- Best windows: the stretches of 40 minutes to 3 hours with the most points, at least an hour apart.
- Day's rating out of 10: the best window (up to 5), the moon (up to 2, near new or full moon), the tide coefficient (up to 2) and whether a solunar period lines up with sunrise or sunset (1). Without a tide, we score out of 8 and scale it to 10. Good weather adds up to 1 point and bad weather pulls it down.
Today: best window 3.4 of 5, moon 1 of 2, coefficient 2 of 2 and lineup 0 of 1; the weather multiplies the rating by 0.92.
It's a guide, not a guarantee: fish don't read tide tables. Always check the sea conditions and local fishing rules before you go.
Learn more
Fishing rules in Jackson Bay
Licenses, size limits, bag limits and closed seasons are set by the authorities and change often. We don't copy them here: check the official website before you go.
Questions about fishing in Jackson Bay
What's the best time to fish in Jackson Bay today?
6:50 am to 8:20 am, with the 7:48 am low tide, moonset, sunrise and falling pressure, though with rough seas. Also 7:50 pm to 9:00 pm. Today's rating: 6/10 (average day).
What about tomorrow? When's the best time to fish in Jackson Bay?
Tomorrow, Friday, October 30: 8:20 am to 9:20 am, with a rating of 4/10.
Which day this week is best for fishing in Jackson Bay?
Wednesday, November 4, at 7/10. Its best window is 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm.
What can you catch in Jackson Bay?
Sport fishing species with the most records within about 62 mi of Jackson Bay: tope shark, albacore and yellowtail amberjack. These are sightings and catches recorded in GBIF and OBIS, not a promise that you will catch them.
When are the solunar periods in Jackson Bay today?
Major: 2:41–4:41 am and 3:13–5:13 pm. Minor: 7:23–8:23 am. Solunar activity today: high.
Does the tide affect fishing in Jackson Bay?
Yes. Today high tide is at 1:38 am and 1:56 pm and low tide at 7:48 am and 8:14 pm, with a tide coefficient of 92 (spring tides). The hours around each tide change tend to fish best, because moving water carries food.
How is the rating worked out?
From the tide, the solunar periods, the light at dawn and dusk, the moon phase and, when we have the forecast, the pressure, the wind and the waves. Each factor gives a fixed number of points and the rating sums them up out of 10.
Does it take the weather into account?
Yes. During today's best window: falling pressure (−0.33 inHg in 24 h), light cross-shore wind (7 mph) and rough sea: 9.7 ft waves. Strong wind and big waves lower the rating; falling pressure raises it a little.
What are the fishing rules in Jackson Bay?
Recreational fishing rules in Jackson Bay (licenses, size limits, bag limits and closed seasons) are set by the authorities: Ministry for Primary Industries. They change often: check the official website before you go.
More about Jackson Bay today
Our own calculation: tide from Jackson Bay (LINZ), sun and moon with astronomy-engine and, when available, weather and sea from Open-Meteo (ECMWF, NOAA GFS and Copernicus Marine, CC BY 4.0). Slackwater database (https://github.com/openwatersio/slackwater-database). This work is based on Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand data which are licensed by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Modified: see https://github.com/openwatersio/slackwater-database#modifications-to-source-data