Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Burnie Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The north-west port on Bass Strait: the breakwater and the wharves, the Emu and Cam river mouths, and a coast of beaches and reef towards Wynyard.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 11:43 am model
Air / High
11 °C / 14 °C
Wind
NE 10 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Burnie has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NE around 10 km/h, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 14 °C. Tides: high 11:43 am, low 5:49 am and 6:13 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 11:23 PM-1:23 AM and 11:52 AM-1:52 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Flathead
Good
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
Slow
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: 11:23 PM-1:23 AM, 11:52 AM-1:52 PM, 4:54 AM-5:54 AM. Similar at 15 °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 Burnie today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:54), sunset (20:06), 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 11:23 PM-1:23 AM and 11:52 AM-1:52 PM; minor 4:54 AM-5:54 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
LOW5:49 am-0.90 m
HIGH11:43 am0.95 m
LOW6:13 pm-1.31 m
Tue
HIGH12:32 am1.02 m
LOW6:44 am-0.83 m
HIGH12:34 pm0.96 m
LOW7:03 pm-1.35 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low14 °C / 6 °C
WindNE 10 km/h, gusts 17 km/h
Pressure1020.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain28% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:54 / 20:06
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 Burnie
The best day on Burnie this week looks like Thursday 12 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Thursday, 12 Nov — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:23 PM-1:23 AM and 11:52 AM-1:52 PM
- Minor period
- 4:54 AM-5:54 AM
- Sun
- 05:54 to 20:06
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Burnie: 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
Open now Closes 1 Sept 2027. No taking or possessing calamari or squid, or squid jigs on a line, north of Cape Grim and Cape Naturaliste from 1 September to 31 October inclusive. Rule as read from NRE Tasmania on 2026-09-27.
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 Burnie 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 Burnie 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 13 °C, wind to 18 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 13 °C, wind to 26 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 16 °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
Burnie anglers need no licence to fish the sea with rod and line; NRE Tasmania licenses pots, nets, set lines, abalone and scallops.
About this water
Burnie is a coastal town in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Burnie: the full guide
Burnie and its coast
Burnie is the port city of Tasmania’s north-west coast, on Emu Bay facing Bass Strait, with the port and its breakwater, the wharves and the foreshore in the city, West Beach and the beaches running west towards Wynyard, the Emu and Cam river mouths, and the rocky points and reef between them. It is a Bass Strait coast, exposed to the north and west, fished from the breakwater, the beaches and the rocks, and from boats over the reef and the sand of the bay. This page is scored for Burnie’s coordinates on Emu Bay.
Species and seasons
Australian salmon run the beaches, the river mouths and the breakwater in the cooler months and are the everyday fish of the coast; flathead lie on the sand of the bay from spring to autumn, and under the 2026 rules a sand flathead on this coast must measure 35 to 40 centimetres, with a bag of ten in the Northern and Western zone, landed whole or with its frame intact. Squid hunt the weed off the breakwater and the points in spring and autumn, and silver trevally, garfish and whiting feed along the wharves and the beaches. Snapper, which NRE Tasmania calls an emerging species in Tasmania, turn up in summer, with a 30-centimetre minimum and a bag of five; gummy shark feed over the sand and the reef edges, and the Emu and Cam give bream near their mouths and trout upstream under the inland licence.
Reading this report here
The coast faces north and west into Bass Strait, so a north-westerly or a westerly closes the beaches and the rocks, and a southerly flattens the bay and makes the breakwater and the beaches fishable; the wind row tells you which. Around Burnie, pressure and cloud cover complete the score and the planner looks for the southerly days. The tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, so use it for the direction and the Bureau of Meteorology for the times.
Licences, access and rules
Burnie anglers need no licence to fish the sea with rod and line; NRE Tasmania licenses pots, nets, set lines, abalone and scallops. The Inland Fisheries Service licence covers the rivers and lakes from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees and the split. The breakwater, the wharves, the beaches and the river mouths are public, with boat ramps in the city; the sea fishing rules from NRE Tasmania are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
What flathead can I keep at Burnie?
Sand flathead from 35 to 40 centimetres, ten a day in the Northern and Western zone, landed whole or as fillets with the frame attached.
What can I catch from the Burnie breakwater?
Salmon in the cooler months, squid in spring and autumn, silver trevally, garfish and flathead, and the odd snapper in summer.
Is fishing good at Burnie 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
- 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.