Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Dunalley Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The canal between Frederick Henry Bay and Blackman Bay: Dunalley’s flathead, squid, salmon and bream, the Marion Bay beach and the Tasman Peninsula beyond.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 3:17 pm model
Air / High
11 °C / 16 °C
Wind
NE 18 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Dunalley is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 18 km/h, steady pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 16 °C. Tides: high 8:00 am and 10:18 pm, low 1:30 am and 3:17 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 11:15 PM-1:15 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Southern calamari
Closed today
Reopens 15 Nov 2026. No taking or possessing calamari or squid, or squid jigs on a line, from Lemon Rock (south of Wineglass Bay) to Whale Head, including Coles Bay and Great Oyster Bay, from 15 October to 14 November inclusive.
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: 11:15 PM-1:15 AM, 11:44 AM-1:44 PM, 4:41 AM-5:41 AM. Similar at 18 °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 Dunalley today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:43), sunset (20:03), 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 11:15 PM-1:15 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM; minor 4:41 AM-5:41 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
LOW1:30 am-0.23 m
HIGH8:00 am0.28 m
LOW3:17 pm-0.61 m
HIGH10:18 pm-0.03 m
Tue
LOW12:30 am-0.05 m
HIGH8:45 am0.44 m
LOW4:15 pm-0.46 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low16 °C / 9 °C
WindNE 18 km/h, gusts 39 km/h
Pressure1020.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain7% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:43 / 20:03
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 Dunalley
The best day on Dunalley 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
- 11:15 PM-1:15 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM
- Minor period
- 4:41 AM-5:41 AM
- Sun
- 05:43 to 20:03
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Dunalley: 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
Closed now Reopens 15 Nov 2026. No taking or possessing calamari or squid, or squid jigs on a line, from Lemon Rock (south of Wineglass Bay) to Whale Head, including Coles Bay and Great Oyster Bay, from 15 October to 14 November 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.
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.
Closed parts of this water today: Sand flathead closed south of the Dunalley Canal. Sand flathead may not be taken or possessed south and west of the southern end of the Dunalley (Denison) Canal, in Dunalley Bay and Frederick Henry and Norfolk bays, since 1 March 2026 until the notice is revoked. Blackman Bay, north-east of the canal, is outside the south-eastern zone. NRE Tasmania.
When to come: the Dunalley 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 Dunalley 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 24 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 11 °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 18 °C, wind to 26 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 Dunalley needs no general licence in Tasmania; our Tasmania licence page covers the licensed fisheries.
About this water
Dunalley is a coastal town in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Dunalley: the full guide
Dunalley and the canal
Dunalley is the village on the Denison Canal that cuts the isthmus between Frederick Henry Bay and Blackman Bay south-east of Hobart, with the canal and its bridge, the Blackman Bay flats and the Marion Bay beach on the eastern side, the sheltered water of Frederick Henry Bay on the west and the Tasman Peninsula beyond. MAST lists a boat ramp on the Denison Canal and another at Boomer Bay, a two-lane ramp for trailer boats where parking runs short at peak times. It is a canal village between two bays, and the report on this page is scored for the village’s coordinates. The Hobart page covers the city’s own waters.
Species and seasons
Sand flathead are closed south and west of the Dunalley Canal since 1 March 2026, and Blackman Bay, north-east of it, has the Eastern Zone’s own flathead rules, so check NRE Tasmania before keeping one; squid work the canal and the weed beds; Australian salmon run Marion Bay beach and the canal in the cooler months; black bream fish the canal and the Blackman Bay creeks; silver trevally and mullet gather around the canal structures; gummy shark fish the bays at night; and striped trumpeter are the reef fish off the peninsula for the boats. The canal runs hard and the fishing is on the slack.
Where to fish it
The Denison Canal banks are the walk-on marks for squid, flathead and bream, fished at night and on the slack of the tide, and the Blackman Bay flats east of the canal are flathead water for wading and small boats on the rising tide; Marion Bay beach on the ocean side is the salmon sand, and Frederick Henry Bay west of the canal is the sheltered flathead water. A paternoster rig with a light sinker holds bottom in the canal only near the slack; outside it, the current sweeps everything away.
Reading this report here
Frederick Henry Bay is sheltered from the south-easterly that closes Marion Bay, so the wind row decides which bay; the canal fishes in most winds. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Dunalley, labelled as a model, and the canal runs hard on it. Pressure and sky build the score at Dunalley; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing in the sea at Dunalley needs no general licence in Tasmania; our Tasmania licence page covers the licensed fisheries. The canal banks and the beaches are public, with the MAST-listed ramps at the canal and at Boomer Bay; the sea fishing rules from NRE Tasmania apply.
Common questions
What can I catch at Dunalley?
Flathead on both bays all year, squid in the canal, salmon on Marion Bay beach in the cooler months, bream in the canal and the Blackman Bay creeks, gummy shark at night.
Do I need a licence at Dunalley?
Not for line fishing in the sea; the licensed fisheries are on the Tasmania page.
Is fishing good at Dunalley 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.