Rainbow trout
Slow
Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Coal River at Richmond Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Coal River at Richmond, under Australia’s oldest bridge: brown trout in the Coal valley below Craigbourne, with a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
0.04 m
Air / High
11 °C / 21 °C
Wind
W 10 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 3208.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Coal River at Richmond is in its winter rhythm: deep, slow and around the middle of the day. The gauge reads 0.04 m, holding steady. Today brings cloud cover, wind W around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Water sits around 8 °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.
Brown trout
Slow
The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
Tie on: Bait on the bottom, running sinker · Heavy blade, deep · Slow-rolled swimbait · Live bait, deepest hole. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 12 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with IFS Tasmania before you keep anything; the Rainbow trout page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Coal River at Richmond today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:55), sunset (18:09), the moon and today's score. 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
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 3208.1 (COAL RIVER AT RICHMOND).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 3208.1. Latest reading 2026-09-24 08:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low21 °C / 10 °C
WindW 10 km/h, gusts 20 km/h
Pressure1022.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain98% cloud, 84%
Sunrise / Sunset05:55 / 18:09
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Coal River at Richmond
The best day on Coal River at Richmond this week looks like Sunday 27 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: Sunday, 27 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
- 05:55 to 18:09
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 84%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Coal River at Richmond: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open now Closes 3 May 2027. Most waters open from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April; designated rainbow trout waters run from the Saturday nearest 1 October to the Sunday nearest 31 May. Rule as read from Inland Fisheries Service Tasmania on 2026-09-23.
The stocked lakes of the Snowy Mountains, the Victorian highlands and the Tasmanian central plateau. Closed seasons apply on the rivers: check the state rules. Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Brown trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open now Closes 3 May 2027. Most waters open from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April; designated rainbow trout waters run from the Saturday nearest 1 October to the Sunday nearest 31 May. Rule as read from Inland Fisheries Service Tasmania on 2026-09-23.
The wild trout of the highland rivers and Tasmania's lakes. Spawns in autumn, hence the closed rivers through winter in NSW and Victoria. The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
When to come: the Coal River at Richmond 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 8 °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 Coal River at Richmond 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. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 22 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 18 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. 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
The Tasmanian inland angling licence is needed on the Coal River from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees.
About this water
Coal River at Richmond is a river in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Coal River at Richmond: the full guide
The Coal River at Richmond
Richmond is the Georgian village north-east of Hobart where the Coal River runs under the sandstone Richmond Bridge, built by convicts in the 1820s and the oldest bridge still in use in Australia, on its way from Craigbourne Dam to Pitt Water. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Richmond supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. Hobart has its own page.
Species and seasons
Brown trout are the fish of the Coal River around Richmond, in the runs and weedy pools on the fly, small lures and bait. The Coal is not listed separately in the Inland Fishing Code, so it follows the general river rules: open from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, computed on the species card, with a bag of five fish over 220 mm. Craigbourne Lake upstream is open all year, under its own rules.
Where to fish it
The reserve by the Richmond Bridge and the river walk through the village give bank access, and the reaches upstream toward Campania are reached from the road crossings.
Planning a visit
Richmond is half an hour from Hobart, with cafes, accommodation and the historic gaol. Bring light trout gear and fish the quieter mornings, before the visitors arrive.
The river through the year
The Coal runs through a dry valley, and Craigbourne Dam upstream stores water for irrigation, so its level at Richmond follows releases as well as rain. The trout feed in the weedy pools in spring and on summer evenings, and the river runs low in late summer.
Reading this report here
The Coal’s flow is regulated by releases from Craigbourne Dam for irrigation, which the chart shows. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cool in spring and autumn; pressure and sky build the score at Richmond.
Licence, access and rules
The Tasmanian inland angling licence is needed on the Coal River from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees. The general river rules are in the Inland Fishing Code in the sources.
Common questions
When is the Coal River open for trout?
From the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April.
What can I catch at Richmond?
Brown trout.
Do I need a licence here?
Yes: the Tasmanian inland angling licence, from age 14.
Is fishing good at Coal River at Richmond 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
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 3208.1 — COAL RIVER AT RICHMOND
- 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.