Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Hobart Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Derwent estuary through the middle of a capital: bream and salmon off the city wharves, flathead on the sand, and the trout lakes an hour away.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 5:40 pm model
Air / High
11 °C / 21 °C
Wind
WNW 8 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Hobart rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings cloud cover, wind WNW around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Tides: high 6:30 am and 5:40 pm, low 11:30 am: 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 12 °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 Hobart today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:55), sunset (18:10), 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
HIGH6:30 am0.12 m
LOW11:30 am-0.13 m
HIGH5:40 pm0.30 m
Sat
LOW12:40 am-0.39 m
HIGH6:47 am0.13 m
LOW12:54 pm-0.30 m
HIGH6:40 pm0.10 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low21 °C / 10 °C
WindWNW 8 km/h, gusts 23 km/h
Pressure1022.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain99% cloud, 96%
Sunrise / Sunset05:55 / 18:10
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 Hobart
The best day on Hobart 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
- 05:55 to 18:10
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 96%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Hobart: 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 Hobart 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 Hobart 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 20 °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 11 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 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
Line fishing in the sea and the estuary needs no general licence in Tasmania; the inland angling licence covers the rivers and lakes from 14 upwards.
About this water
Hobart is a coastal town in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Hobart: the full guide
Hobart and the Derwent
Hobart sits on the Derwent estuary, a deep, tidal arm of the sea that runs from the city wharves and the Tasman Bridge down past Kingston and Sandy Bay to the Iron Pot and Storm Bay. It fishes from the middle of town: the waterfront and the marinas, the bridges, the rocks at Sandy Bay and Taroona, the beaches at Kingston and Blackmans Bay, and the boat grounds toward the mouth. Behind the city is the trout country of the Central Plateau, which the inland licence covers; this page is scored for the city’s coordinates and reads the estuary first.
Species and seasons
Bream are the Derwent’s surprise: a big population of black bream in the upper estuary around the bridges, the pylons and the rock walls, best from spring to autumn; Australian salmon run the estuary and the beaches in the cooler months and are the everyday fish of the wharves; flathead lie on the sand of the lower estuary through summer and autumn; and squid work the weed and the lights. Trout enter the estuary from the river and are caught in the upper reaches; kingfish have become a summer visitor to the lower Derwent in warm years; and the offshore grounds give the reef species for the boats. The Derwent’s sediment carries a heavy-metal warning from the Tasmanian government on eating fish from parts of the estuary, linked from the sources.
Reading this report here
The estuary is sheltered from most weather but a south-westerly funnels up it; the wind row tells you whether the open reaches are comfortable. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, useful for the direction of the run through the bridges, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the times.
Licences, access and rules
Line fishing in the sea and the estuary needs no general licence in Tasmania; the inland angling licence covers the rivers and lakes from 14 upwards. Our Tasmania licence page has the fees and the split. The wharves, the beaches and the rocks are public, with ramps at Sandy Bay, Lindisfarne and Kingston; the sea fishing rules from NRE Tasmania and the Derwent eating advice are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
Do I need a licence to fish in Hobart?
Not in the estuary or the sea; the inland angling licence covers the rivers and lakes from age 14. See our Tasmania licence page.
What can I catch in the Derwent?
Black bream in the upper estuary, Australian salmon and flathead lower down, squid under the lights, trout near the river and kingfish in warm summers; check the government’s advice on eating fish from parts of the estuary.
Is fishing good at Hobart 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.