Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Dunalley Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 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
High 5:50 pm model
Air / High
12 °C / 21 °C
Wind
W 12 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Dunalley has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings cloud cover, wind W around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Tides: high 6:52 am and 5:50 pm, low 12:00 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 11 °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 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 (05:53), sunset (18:08), 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
HIGH6:52 am0.16 m
LOW12:00 pm-0.15 m
HIGH5:50 pm0.31 m
Sat
LOW1:00 am-0.41 m
HIGH7:06 am0.18 m
LOW1:04 pm-0.29 m
HIGH7:00 pm0.15 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp12 °C
High / Low21 °C / 12 °C
WindW 12 km/h, gusts 21 km/h
Pressure1022.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain94% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset05:53 / 18:08
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 Dunalley
The best day on Dunalley 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
- 05:53 to 18:08
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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
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 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 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 Dunalley 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 24 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 18 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 14 °C, wind to 24 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 has the fees for 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 swing bridge, the fishing fleet and the wharf, 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. It is a canal village between two bays, and the report on this page is scored for the village’s coordinates. Hobart has its own page.
Species and seasons
Flathead fish the sand of both bays all year and are the coast’s everyday fish; squid work the canal and the wharf lights; Australian salmon run Marion Bay beach and the canal in the cooler months; bream fish the canal and the Blackman Bay creeks; silver trevally and mullet fill the wharf; King George whiting fish the Blackman Bay flats in summer; gummy shark fish the bays at night; and the reef off the peninsula gives striped trumpeter for the boats. The canal runs hard and the fishing is on the slack.
Where to fish it
The Denison Canal banks and the wharf beside the swing bridge are the walk-on marks for squid, flathead and bream, fished at night under the lights and on the slack of the tide, and the Blackman Bay flats east of the canal are the whiting and 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. The ramps are on both bays at the village.
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 any wind. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Dunalley, labelled as a model, and the canal runs hard on it, with the two bays out of phase. 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 has the fees for the licensed fisheries. The canal banks, the wharf and the beaches are public, with ramps on both bays; the sea fishing rules from NRE Tasmania are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Dunalley?
Flathead on both bays all year, squid in the canal and under the wharf lights, salmon on Marion Bay beach in the cooler months, bream in the canal, whiting on the Blackman Bay flats in summer.
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
- 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.