Hong Kong General

General fishing in Hong Kong: the species usually targeted here, when they are in season, and the basic tackle direction.

General fishing in Hong Kong: what it covers

Hong Kong general fishing is the option that does not commit you to shore or boat. Pick it when you have not decided which way to fish, or when the same mark can be worked either way. The species list below is filtered from the database's method records: it shows the species commonly targeted in this region, and it is not a catch guarantee.

The season column is the angling season — when the fish are in and worth targeting — not the spawning period; the two can be far apart. Where we cannot find a citable source, the season is marked “unverified” rather than filled in with a guess.

Getting started: your first session

Tackle direction: an 8–10 ft general rod with a 3000–4000 size reel and #2–4 main line; floats, sinkers and single-hook rigs all work. That is a starting point only — depth and wind decide the details.

Timing: check the day's tide window first and fish the moving water between high and low; move to a sheltered mark when wind and rain pick up. For any mark you pick, SwellAngler combines tide, water temperature, wind, wave, pressure and moon phase into a 0–100 fishing score. The marine model runs about 10 days out and coastal accuracy is limited, so it must not be used for navigation or safety decisions.

Safety and limits: general covers a wide range of ground, from beach to boat, and the tackle and safety requirements differ — check official forecasts before you go and judge the conditions on site. We do not promise catches: the list and the seasons are reference only. To filter by water type or season, use the species browser tab in the app.

Commonly targeted species

• Common carp — All year
• Goldfish (crucian carp) — All year
• Nile tilapia — All year
• Golden-spotted rabbitfish
• Barramundi — All year
• Flathead grey mullet — Spring, Summer, Autumn
• Red sea bream — Autumn, Winter
• Humpback grouper — Summer, Autumn
• Giant grouper — All year
• Brown-marbled grouper — All year
• Areolate grouper
• Leopard coral grouper — All year
• Hong Kong grouper — Spring, Summer, Autumn
• Yellow grouper — Spring, Summer, Autumn
• Longtooth grouper — All year
• Longfin grouper
• Tomato grouper — All year
• Blue-and-yellow grouper
• Chocolate hind — Summer
• Star snapper — All year
• Emperor red snapper — All year
• Barred morwong
• Blackspot tuskfish
• Threadfin bream — Spring, Autumn
• Dotted sweetlips — Spring, Autumn, Winter
• Marbled rockfish — All year
• Stone scorpionfish — Spring, Summer
• Skipjack tuna — Spring
• African pompano — All year
• Indo-Pacific sergeant — All year
• Chinese wrasse
• Bluehead wrasse
• Banjos
• Spotted sweetlips — All year
• Japanese jack mackerel — All year
• Japanese scad — Summer, Winter
• Snubnose pompano — Spring, Summer, Autumn
• Chinese filefish
• Variegated lizardfish — Summer
• Glass perchlet
• Sabre squirrelfish
• Wiebel's butterflyfish
• Hong Kong catfish — All year
• Bighead carp — All year
• Silver carp — All year
• Grass carp — All year
• Mud carp — All year
• Largemouth bass — Spring, Autumn
• Asian swamp eel — All year
• Pond loach — Summer
• Black carp — Autumn
• Japanese eel — All year
• Okinawa seabream — Winter
• Red drum — All year
• Javelin grunter
• Spotted sicklefish — Summer
• Scalpel sawtail — Summer
• Needlefish
• Lunar-tailed grouper — All year
• Chinese icefish
• Milkfish — Summer, Autumn
• Stingray
• Sharpbelly
• Goldsilk seabream — All year
• Sabah grouper（hybrid）
• Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel — Spring, Autumn, Winter
• Barracuda
• Razorfish
• Unidentified threadfin bream
• Reticulated moray
• Pufferfish
• Bluespine unicornfish — All year
• Ocellated eagle ray
• Roundjaw bonefish
• Flat needlefish
• Hound needlefish
• Shrimp scad — All year
• Brownback trevally
• Mackerel scad — Summer, Winter
• Amberstripe scad
• Pilotfish — All year
• Doublespotted queenfish — All year
• Blackbanded trevally — All year
• Small spotted dart — Spring, Winter
• Dorab wolf-herring — All year
• Round ribbontail ray
• Birdbeak burrfish
• Longspined porcupinefish
• Live sharksucker
• Tenpounder
• Longfin batfish — All year
• Slender grouper — All year
• Peacock hind — All year
• Blacktip grouper — All year
• Starspotted grouper — All year
• Comet grouper
• Potato grouper — All year
• Convict grouper
• Greasy grouper
• Yellow-wing flyingfish
• Red cornetfish — All year
• Harry hotlips — All year
• Black-barred halfbeak — Spring, Summer
• Indo-Pacific sailfish — Summer
• Blue sea chub — All year
• Tarry hogfish — All year
• Blackeye thicklip
• Peacock wrasse — All year
• Parajulis poecilepterus
• Waigieu seaperch
• Spotnape ponyfish — All year
• Grey large-eye bream — All year
• Humpnose big-eye bream — All year
• Tripletail — All year
• Deepwater red snapper — All year
• Two-spot red snapper — All year
• Dory snapper — All year
• Humpback red snapper — All year
• Common bluestripe snapper — All year
• Blacktail snapper — All year
• Blubberlip snapper — Summer
• Five-lined snapper — All year
• Black and white snapper
• Crimson jobfish — All year
• Chinamanfish — All year
• Indo-Pacific tarpon
• Unicorn leatherjacket filefish — Summer, Autumn
• Scrawled Filefish
• Threadsail filefish
• Largescale mullet
• Yellowfin goatfish — All year
• Dotdash goatfish — All year
• Blacksaddle goatfish — All year
• Indian goatfish — All year
• Sidespot goatfish — All year
• Manybar goatfish — Summer
• Blackspot goatfish — All year
• Daggertooth pike conger — Summer, Autumn
• Kidako moray — All year
• Slender giant moray
• Bastard halibut — All year
• Largetooth flounder — All year
• Blackspot threadfin — All year
• Longfinned bullseye — Spring, Summer
• Flapnose ray — All year
• Silver croaker — Spring, Summer
• Tigertooth croaker — All year
• Wahoo — All year
• Frigate tuna
• Island mackerel
• Indian mackerel — All year
• Indo-Pacific king mackerel — Autumn, Winter
• Japanese Spanish mackerel — Spring, Summer
• Chinese seerfish
• Scorpaena neglecta
• Sebastiscus tertius
• Great barracuda — Summer
• Pickhandle barracuda
• Sawtooth barracuda
• White-spotted puffer
• Takifugu porphyreus
• John dory — Summer, Autumn
• Korean seerfish — Autumn, Winter
• Striped snakehead — All year
• Snakehead
• Taiwan snakehead

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