Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Bicheno Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 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 Diamond Island reef, with flathead, salmon, squid and the crayfish fleet.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 12:17 pm model
Air / High
13 °C / 21 °C
Wind
SSW 9 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bicheno is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSW around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 22 °C. Tides: high 6:37 am and 6:24 pm, low 12:17 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Australian salmon
Good
The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Snapper
Fair
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Flathead
Fair
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.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 13 °C with a rain chance. 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 (05:51), sunset (18:06), 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 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% 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.
Fri
HIGH6:37 am0.23 m
LOW12:17 pm-0.33 m
HIGH6:24 pm0.39 m
Sat
LOW12:55 am-0.52 m
HIGH7:10 am0.29 m
LOW1:03 pm-0.41 m
HIGH7:10 pm0.31 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low21 °C / 13 °C
WindSSW 9 km/h, gusts 25 km/h
Pressure1022.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain95% cloud, 94%
Sunrise / Sunset05:51 / 18:06
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Bicheno
The best day on Bicheno this week looks like Saturday 26 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Saturday, 26 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:51 to 18:06
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 94%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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 13 °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 dataThu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 15 °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; the inland angling licence covers the rivers; our Tasmania licence page has the fees and the split.
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 crayfish boats between the granite and the island, the blowhole and the rock platforms of the foreshore, Waubs Bay and Redbill Beach, Diamond Island and its reef to the north and the Douglas-Apsley river behind. 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 and are the village’s catch; bream fish the Denison and the small creeks; silver trevally and wrasse fill the granite; striped trumpeter and morwong fish the reef for the boats out of the Gulch; and the tuna of the east coast run offshore in autumn for the charters. The crayfish are the village’s trade, licensed.
Where to fish it
The Gulch between the granite and the island is the walk-on mark for squid, wrasse and trevally, fished from the rocks beside the crayfish boats at night and at dawn, and the blowhole platforms and the rocks of the foreshore 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 Denison River mouth south of the town is the bream water. The ramp is at the Gulch.
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 on the rising tide. Pressure and sky build the score at Bicheno; the planner shows the day. The granite is exposed and rock fishing off Bicheno has its own safety rules.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing in the sea at Bicheno needs no general licence in Tasmania; the inland angling licence covers the rivers; our Tasmania licence page has the fees and the split. The Gulch, the platforms and the beaches are public, with a ramp at the Gulch; the sea fishing rules from NRE Tasmania and the rock lobster licence are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Bicheno?
Flathead on the bay sand all year, salmon on the beaches in the cooler months, squid in the Gulch, silver trevally and wrasse on the granite, trumpeter on the reef for the boats.
Do I need a licence at Bicheno?
Not for line fishing in the sea; the inland licence covers the rivers and rock lobster needs its own.
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: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
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
- 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.