Rainbow trout
Excellent
Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Forth River below the Wilmot Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The lower Forth below the Wilmot junction: wild browns between the hydro lakes and the Bass Strait coast, a spring whitebait river, with a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
0.83 m
Air / High
10 °C / 16 °C
Wind
ENE 3 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 has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 0.83 m, easing 1.11 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind ENE around 3 km/h, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 16 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 11:50 AM-1:50 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Brown trout
Excellent
Prime. Nymphs and streamers on the rivers, and the lake edges on the overcast days.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 11:22 PM-1:22 AM, 11:50 AM-1:50 PM, 4:52 AM-5:52 AM. Similar at 17 °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 (05:53), sunset (20:05), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 11:50 AM-1:50 PM; minor 4:52 AM-5:52 AM. New Moon, 0% 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 2026-11-07 17:45.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp10 °C
High / Low16 °C / 7 °C
WindENE 3 km/h, gusts 5 km/h
Pressure1020.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain62% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:53 / 20:05
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °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 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
- 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 11:50 AM-1:50 PM
- Minor period
- 4:52 AM-5:52 AM
- Sun
- 05:53 to 20:05
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 11 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
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
Streams from October to June in NSW and from September to June in Victoria; lakes open all year; Tasmania from the first Saturday of 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. Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Brown trout
Streams from October to June in NSW and from September to June in Victoria; lakes open all year; Tasmania from the first Saturday of 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. Prime. Nymphs and streamers on the rivers, and the lake edges on the overcast days.
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 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 Forth River below the Wilmot 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. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 16 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 23 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. That Bureau of Meteorology station feeds 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, taken on the fly, lures and bait. The lower Forth is not listed separately in the Inland Fishing Code, so it follows the river fisheries 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 one of the rivers the Code opens to whitebait fishing, from 1 October to 11 November in 2026, with a separate whitebait licence, a 2 kg daily limit and a 10 kg season limit.
Where to fish it
The crossings and reserves on the lower Forth give access to the river, and anglers walk the banks between them. Below the B19 Forth Road bridge the river is listed in the Inland Fisheries Regulations as water where indigenous fish, bream included, may be taken without an angling licence.
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?
The lower Forth follows the river fisheries season, the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April.
Can I fish for whitebait in the Forth?
Yes, in the season the Code sets (1 October to 11 November in 2026), with a separate whitebait licence.
Do I need a licence on the Forth?
Yes, from age 14: the Tasmanian inland angling licence is needed on the Forth.
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
- 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.