Wind, gusts, swell, swell period and water temperature computed at the device itself — not at a land station kilometres inshore. Free, no login.
Right now at the Shellharbour FAD: 3 kt E, gusting 9 kt, 1.1 m swell on a 7s period. Conditions look manageable for a 6 m+ boat.
RetrievedCalm5 of 6 models agree
Conditions computed at the device's anchor point — the model grid cell sits 13.9 km away.
3kt
E · GUSTS 9 kt
SWELL 1.1 m · 7s
WATER 18.0°C yesterday
What the Shellharbour FAD is
A fish aggregating device: a yellow buoy marked with a cross and a navigation light, moored to the sea floor in about 105 m of water. It holds bait, and bait holds pelagics — which is why a device fishes better than the open water either side of it. DPIRD's own monitoring puts mahi mahi at about 95% of the catch around NSW FADs.
Status
Retrieved
Depth
105 m
Mainly holds
Mahi mahi, Yellowtail kingfish
Peak run
December–March
Is it in the water? NSW DPIRD lists this device as Retrieved for winter maintenance as of 2026-08-23. Every NSW FAD is pulled over winter for cleaning, GPS checks and new anchors, chains and ropes, then redeployed for the warmer months — the run at the FADs is a summer game. The conditions below are real, but there is no buoy out there to fish right now.
Bar = daily rangePeak gustColour = Fishare wind band
Swell height by day
Day
Wind (kt)
Gust
From
Swell
Band
Sun, 23 Aug
1–9
16
NNW
1.2 m
Light
Mon, 24 Aug
2–9
15
NNW
0.9 m
Light
Tue, 25 Aug
1–6
10
NNW
0.9 m
Calm
Wed, 26 Aug
1–11
16
SSW
1.3 m
Light
Thu, 27 Aug
0–6
12
SSW
1.5 m
Calm
Fri, 28 Aug
1–5
13
W
1.0 m
Calm
Sat, 29 Aug
1–5
19
WSW
1.0 m
Calm
Six global models (ECMWF, GFS, ICON, GEM, Météo-France, UKMO) are run at this point and combined into one consensus per hour, outliers rejected. Swell and sea-surface temperature are open-ocean model values at the same point. None of it captures a squall line, or what the bar looks like on the way home.
Sea temperature at Shellharbour FAD
18.0°C
Yesterday · Saturday 22 Aug
Wind decides whether you can go; water temperature decides what is worth going for — mahi, kings and tuna hold on the warm edges, not the calendar. This is an open-ocean model value at this point: an estuary or a shallow bay reads warmer or cooler.
N
14°C · 19°C · 25°C+Sunday 23 Aug · yesterday
Water around Sydney and the Central Coast ranged 17.5–18.5°C across this box. Grey is land or outside the model.
Today's map, the edges marked, and 7 days of movement
You can see the warm and cold water here. What you cannot see is where the edge sits today, which way it is tracking, or which of your spots sits on it — Fishare finds the breaks automatically and scores every spot against them.
Getting there. This is a genuine offshore run — full safety kit, log on and off with Marine Rescue, and check the NSW DPIRD position before you leave. Wider picture: wind forecasts by place and tide times.
Decision-support only — not a safety guarantee. Conditions change fast and local knowledge beats any forecast. You are responsible for your own safety.
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GET PINGED WHEN THE BITE TURNS ON.
Fishare reads the tide, weather, light and moon for your spot and pings you when the next 3-hour peak window opens. The forecast, saved spots and catch log stay free, forever.
