Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Flinders Island Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The largest of the Furneaux Group in Bass Strait: granite headlands, white beaches, the lagoons and a flathead, salmon and squid coast reached by air or the ferry.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 2:53 pm model
Air / High
13 °C / 18 °C
Wind
W 17 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Flinders Island rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings a mixed sky, wind W around 18 km/h, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 18 °C. Tides: high 8:37 am and 8:51 pm, low 2:23 am and 2:53 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 14 °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 Flinders Island today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:53), sunset (18:07), 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
LOW2:23 am-1.00 m
HIGH8:37 am0.68 m
LOW2:53 pm-0.75 m
HIGH8:51 pm0.72 m
Sat
LOW3:20 am-0.96 m
HIGH9:26 am0.66 m
LOW3:50 pm-0.94 m
HIGH9:54 pm0.65 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low18 °C / 12 °C
WindW 17 km/h, gusts 35 km/h
Pressure1024.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain27% cloud, 43%
Sunrise / Sunset05:53 / 18:07
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 Flinders Island
The best day on Flinders Island this week looks like Sunday 27 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 2 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 — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- 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 18:07
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 43%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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
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 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 Flinders Island 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 21 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
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 17 °C, wind to 8 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 13 °C, wind to 21 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 needs no general licence in Tasmania; the inland angling licence covers the freshwater lagoons and creeks from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees and the split.
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 is the largest of 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 from Launceston and Melbourne or by the freight ferry from Bridport. It is a Bass Strait fishery of the cleanest kind: flathead over sand, Australian salmon on the beaches, squid over the weed, and the reef and the offshore grounds for the boats, with almost nobody on the water. 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 the fish most people catch first; flathead lie on the sand of the bays and the channels from spring to autumn; squid work the weed off the jetties and the points in spring and autumn; and garfish, silver trevally and whiting fish the sheltered bays and the lagoons. The reef gives wrasse, morwong and the Bass Strait species for the boats, snapper have reached the Furneaux waters in recent summers, gummy shark fish the sand at night, and the island’s lagoons and creeks hold bream and the odd trout.
Reading this report here
Bass Strait makes its own weather and the wind row is the number to respect, because the west coast of the island faces the westerlies and the east coast is the lee; a westerly means the east coast beaches and the sheltered bays, an easterly means the west. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the window; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the Furneaux tides run hard through the channels, so use the Bureau of Meteorology for the times.
Licences, access and rules
Line fishing in the sea needs no general licence in Tasmania; the inland angling 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, with ramps at Whitemark, Lady Barron and the bays; the sea fishing rules from NRE Tasmania and the marine reserves of the Furneaux Group are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
Do I need a licence to fish on Flinders Island?
Not in the sea; the inland angling licence covers freshwater lagoons and creeks. See our Tasmania licence page.
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 the 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: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
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.