Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Bicheno Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The east coast fishing village under the granite: the Gulch and the blowhole rocks, Waubs Bay and the Apsley estuary, with flathead, salmon, squid and bream, and a no-fishing reserve off Governor Island.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
Low 3:00 pm model
Air / High
11 °C / 14 °C
Wind
NE 8 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bicheno rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NE around 8 km/h, falling pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 14 °C. Tides: high 8:06 am and 9:23 pm, low 1:45 am and 3:00 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 17 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:13 PM-1:13 AM and 11:42 AM-1:42 PM: the windows to build the day around.
King George whiting
Excellent
Deeper sand patches and the middle of the day; slower bites, bigger fish.
Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Flathead
Excellent
Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
Australian salmon
Fair
The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 11:13 PM-1:13 AM, 11:42 AM-1:42 PM, 4:42 AM-5:42 AM. Similar at 17 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Tasmania requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$29.00. Tasmania fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing snapper here? Check the size and bag limits with IFS Tasmania before you keep anything; the Snapper page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Bicheno today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:43), sunset (19:58), the moon and today's score, with the modelled tide changes in the panel below. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:13 PM-1:13 AM and 11:42 AM-1:42 PM; minor 4:42 AM-5:42 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
A modelled tide curve for these coordinates and the forecast for the day.
Tides (modelled)
Modelled sea level curve from Open-Meteo Marine for these coordinates, datum mean sea level. Fish the moving water either side of each change.
A model, not the official prediction: times can drift by tens of minutes inside bays and estuaries. Check the Bureau of Meteorology tide predictions for the exact times before you rely on them.
Mon
LOW1:45 am-0.37 m
HIGH8:06 am0.36 m
LOW3:00 pm-0.64 m
HIGH9:23 pm0.08 m
Tue
LOW2:13 am-0.24 m
HIGH8:46 am0.46 m
LOW3:43 pm-0.53 m
HIGH10:20 pm0.17 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low14 °C / 10 °C
WindNE 8 km/h, gusts 17 km/h
Pressure1021.3 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain39% cloud, 11%
Sunrise / Sunset05:43 / 19:58
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Bicheno
Today is the pick of the week on Bicheno, at 4 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, 9 Nov — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 11:13 PM-1:13 AM and 11:42 AM-1:42 PM
- Minor period
- 4:42 AM-5:42 AM
- Sun
- 05:43 to 19:58
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 11%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Bicheno: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Snapper
Best: October to January in the southern bays
The southern headline fish. Runs into Port Phillip, Western Port, the gulfs and the WA sounds in spring to spawn; holds on reef and rubble the rest of the year. Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
King George whiting
Best: December to May in SA; spring and summer in Port Phillip
The table fish of the south. Feeds over sand patches between weed and reef in 2 to 10 metres, mostly by day, mostly on the moving tide. Deeper sand patches and the middle of the day; slower bites, bigger fish.
Southern calamari
Spring and autumn peaks in the southern bays
Southern calamari over weed and sand in 2 to 10 metres of the bays and gulfs; a jig fishery at dawn, dusk and under the jetty lights. Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Australian salmon
Winter and spring on the southern beaches
Not a salmon at all: a hard-fighting schooling fish of the surf and the bays, from WA around to NSW. Great on light gear, poor on the plate. The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Flathead
Best: November to April
Dusky flathead in the eastern estuaries, sand flathead in the southern bays. An ambush predator lying on sand and mud edges waiting for whatever the tide brings. Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
When to come: the Bicheno calendar
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Snapper
King George whiting
Southern calamari
Australian salmon
Flathead
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 17 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Bicheno today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 31 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Tasmanian Inland Angling Licence, from A$29.00, the same for residents and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by IFS Tasmania and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Tasmania licence page before you keep anything.
Access
Line fishing in the sea at Bicheno needs no general licence in Tasmania.
About this water
Bicheno is a coastal town in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Bicheno: the full guide
Bicheno and the Gulch
Bicheno is the fishing village on Tasmania’s east coast between St Helens and Freycinet, with the Gulch and its boats between the granite and Governor Island, the blowhole and the rock platforms of the foreshore, Waubs Bay and Redbill Beach, Diamond Island to the north and the estuary of the Apsley River at the town’s edge. It is a granite-and-bay village, and the report on this page is scored for the village’s coordinates. St Helens has its own page.
Species and seasons
Flathead fish the sand of the bays all year and are the coast’s everyday fish; Australian salmon run the beaches and the platforms in the cooler months; squid work the Gulch and the weed beds; black bream fish the Apsley estuary; silver trevally and wrasse fill the granite; and striped trumpeter and morwong are the reef fish for boats out of the Gulch. The Governor Island Marine Nature Reserve, 50 hectares running 400 metres east from the island’s shore and taking in Alligator Rock, is closed to all fishing and to setting any gear.
Where to fish it
The Gulch, on the town side of Governor Island, is the walk-on mark for squid, wrasse and trevally, fished from the rocks at night and at dawn, and the blowhole platforms and the foreshore rocks are the salmon and trevally rocks on a westerly; Waubs Bay and Redbill Beach in front of the town are the flathead and salmon sand, and the Apsley estuary is the bream water. MAST lists a dual-lane ramp in the Gulch, usable at all tides but exposed in a hard south-easterly.
Reading this report here
The coast faces east, and a south-easterly or an easterly swell washes the platforms and closes the bays, while a westerly off the land flattens the sea; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Bicheno, labelled as a model, and the platforms fish best on the rising tide. Pressure and sky build the score at Bicheno; the planner shows the day. The granite is exposed to every swell, so wear a life jacket on the rocks and fish them only when the sea is down.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing in the sea at Bicheno needs no general licence in Tasmania. Bream in the Apsley below the Tasman Highway bridge can be fished without an inland licence, because the Inland Fisheries Regulations list that reach for native fish, while trout upstream need the inland angling licence; our Tasmania licence page has the fees and the split. Rock lobster, abalone and nets need NRE Tasmania sea fishing licences, and the reserve boundary and the Code are in the sources.
Common questions
Can I fish around Governor Island at Bicheno?
Not inside the Governor Island Marine Nature Reserve, which runs 400 metres east from the island and includes Alligator Rock: no fishing or setting of gear is allowed there. The Gulch on the town side is outside it.
Do I need a licence at Bicheno?
Not for line fishing in the sea or for bream in the Apsley estuary; trout need the inland licence and rock lobster a sea fishing licence.
Is fishing good at Bicheno 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
Where this page's numbers come from
- Tide curve (modelled)
- Open-Meteo Marine, sea level height including tides
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
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.