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.
Forth River below the Wilmot Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The lower Forth below the Wilmot junction: wild browns and sea-run trout between the hydro lakes and the Bass Strait coast, with a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
1.79 m
Air / High
9 °C / 19 °C
Wind
WSW 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 665.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Forth River below the Wilmot is a cold-water proposition today: bait on the bottom and a long soak. The gauge reads 1.79 m, up 0.11 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind WSW around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 19 °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 15 °C. 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 Forth River below the Wilmot today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:00), sunset (18:14), 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 665.1 (FORTH RIVER - B/L WILMOT RIVER).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 665.1. Latest reading 2026-09-23 17:45.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp9 °C
High / Low19 °C / 9 °C
WindWSW 8 km/h, gusts 14 km/h
Pressure1023.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain99% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset06:00 / 18:14
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Forth River below the Wilmot
The best day on Forth River below the Wilmot this week looks like Saturday 26 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: Saturday, 26 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
- 06:00 to 18:14
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Forth River below the Wilmot: 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 Forth River below the Wilmot 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 Forth River below the Wilmot 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 18 °C, wind to 10 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 14 °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 16 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
A Tasmanian inland angling licence is needed on the Forth from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees.
About this water
Forth River below the Wilmot is a river in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Forth River below the Wilmot: the full guide
The Forth below the Wilmot
The Forth River runs from the Cradle Mountain country through the Mersey-Forth hydro lakes to the sea at the village of Forth on the Bass Strait coast between Devonport and Ulverstone; the gauging site below its junction with the Wilmot sits on the lower river a few kilometres inland, among farmland and forested banks. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge there supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. Lake Paloona upstream and Devonport have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Wild brown trout are the fish of the lower Forth, with sea-run trout pushing up from the estuary in spring, taken on the fly, lures and bait. The lower Forth is not listed separately in the Inland Fishing Code, so it follows the general river rules, 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. The Forth is also one of the rivers opened to whitebait fishing for a short spring season under the Code.
Where to fish it
The crossings and reserves on the lower Forth give access to the river, and anglers walk the banks between them. The estuary at Forth is a separate water under the sea fishing rules.
Planning a visit
The lower Forth is a short drive inland from Devonport and Ulverstone, which have tackle and supplies, and Lake Paloona is just upstream. Bring light trout gear for the runs, and check the Code for the whitebait season if you plan to fish the estuary in spring.
Reading this report here
The lower Forth’s flow depends on releases from the hydro lakes above and on rain in the catchment, which the chart shows. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cool for most of the season; pressure and sky build the score on the lower Forth.
Licence, access and rules
A Tasmanian inland angling licence is needed on the Forth from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees. The general river rules, the season and the whitebait rules are in the Inland Fishing Code in the sources.
Common questions
When is the lower Forth open for trout?
From the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, under the general river rules.
Are there sea-run trout in the Forth?
Yes, they push up from the estuary in spring.
Do I need a licence on the Forth?
Yes: the Tasmanian inland angling licence, from age 14.
Is fishing good at Forth River below the Wilmot 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 665.1 — FORTH RIVER - B/L WILMOT RIVER
- 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.