Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Flinders Island Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The main island of the Furneaux Group in eastern Bass Strait: granite headlands, white beaches and lagoons, with flathead, salmon and squid and almost nobody on the water.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 10:53 am model
Air / High
10 °C / 16 °C
Wind
E 6 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Flinders Island has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 6 km/h, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 16 °C. Tides: high 10:53 am, low 5:04 am and 5:33 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 11:14 PM-1:14 AM and 11:43 AM-1:43 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: 11:14 PM-1:14 AM, 11:43 AM-1:43 PM, 4:48 AM-5:48 AM. Similar at 17 °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 Flinders Island today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:48), sunset (19:55), 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 11:14 PM-1:14 AM and 11:43 AM-1:43 PM; minor 4:48 AM-5:48 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
LOW5:04 am-0.71 m
HIGH10:53 am0.82 m
LOW5:33 pm-1.13 m
Tue
HIGH12:02 am0.81 m
LOW6:03 am-0.60 m
HIGH11:41 am0.82 m
LOW6:22 pm-1.14 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp10 °C
High / Low16 °C / 10 °C
WindE 6 km/h, gusts 13 km/h
Pressure1020.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain23% cloud, 22%
Sunrise / Sunset05:48 / 19:55
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 Flinders Island
The best day on Flinders Island 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
- 11:14 PM-1:14 AM and 11:43 AM-1:43 PM
- Minor period
- 4:48 AM-5:48 AM
- Sun
- 05:48 to 19:55
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 22%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Flinders Island: 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 Flinders Island 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 Flinders Island 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 14 °C, wind to 16 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 34 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
Sea fishing with rod and line needs no licence in Tasmania; NRE Tasmania licenses only pots, nets, set lines, abalone and scallops.
About this water
Flinders Island is a bay or coastal water in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Flinders Island: the full guide
The island
Flinders Island lies in the Furneaux Group in eastern Bass Strait, between Tasmania and Victoria: an island of granite mountains, long white beaches, lagoons and rocky points, with Whitemark and Lady Barron its two towns, reached by air or by sea. It is a quiet Bass Strait fishery: flathead over sand, Australian salmon on the beaches, squid over the weed, and the reef and the offshore grounds for the boats. The report on this page is scored for the island’s coordinates near Whitemark.
Species and seasons
Australian salmon run the beaches and the points in the cooler months and are usually the first fish a visitor catches; flathead lie on the sand of the bays and the channels from spring to autumn; squid hunt the weed off the jetties and the points in spring and autumn; and garfish, silver trevally and whiting feed in the sheltered bays and the lagoons. King and Flinders islands have their own sand flathead rules under the 2026 changes: a 35-centimetre minimum with no maximum, a bag of ten, and every flathead landed whole or with its frame intact. The reef gives wrasse, morwong and other Bass Strait species to the boats, gummy shark feed over the sand at night, and snapper, an emerging species in Tasmanian waters, are kept from 30 centimetres, five a day.
Reading this report here
Bass Strait makes its own weather, and the wind row is the number to respect: the western side of the island faces the westerlies and the eastern side is the lee, so a westerly means the east coast beaches and the sheltered bays and an easterly means the west. On Flinders, the barometer and the sky finish the score and the planner shows when the wind will ease. The tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and tides run hard through the channels between the islands, so take the times from the Bureau of Meteorology.
Licences, access and rules
Sea fishing with rod and line needs no licence in Tasmania; NRE Tasmania licenses only pots, nets, set lines, abalone and scallops. The Inland Fisheries Service licence covers the freshwater lagoons and creeks from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees and the split. The beaches, the jetties and the points are public, and boats launch from ramps near the two towns; the NRE Tasmania rules for King and Flinders islands are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
What are the flathead rules on Flinders Island?
Sand flathead from 35 centimetres with no upper limit, ten a day, landed whole or as fillets with the frame attached; King and Flinders islands have their own zone.
What can I catch on Flinders Island?
Salmon on the beaches in the cooler months, flathead over the sand, squid over the weed in spring and autumn, garfish and whiting in the bays, and reef species for the boats.
Is fishing good at Flinders Island 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.