Rainbow trout
Excellent
Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Lake Augusta Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
A Western Lakes storage at the gateway to the Nineteen Lagoons: wild browns and some rainbows in shallow, rocky water, bait on one handheld rod only, with a Bureau gauge at the intake.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
1148.60 m2,994 ML
Air / High
4 °C / 11 °C
Wind
N 11 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 155.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Augusta has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 1148.60 m, holding steady. Today brings a mixed sky, wind N around 11 km/h, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 11 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:20 PM-1:20 AM and 11:49 AM-1:49 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: 11:20 PM-1:20 AM, 11:49 AM-1:49 PM, 4:49 AM-5:49 AM. Warmer at 13 °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 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 Lake Augusta today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:50), sunset (20:05), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:20 PM-1:20 AM and 11:49 AM-1:49 PM; minor 4:49 AM-5:49 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 155.1 (AUGUSTA LAKE - AT INTAKE).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 155.1. Latest reading 2026-11-08 00:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp4 °C
High / Low11 °C / 1 °C
WindN 11 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure1020.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain47% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:50 / 20:05
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Augusta
The best day on Lake Augusta 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
- 11:20 PM-1:20 AM and 11:49 AM-1:49 PM
- Minor period
- 4:49 AM-5:49 AM
- Sun
- 05:50 to 20:05
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Augusta: 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 Lake Augusta 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 Lake Augusta 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 9 °C, wind to 23 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 3 °C, wind to 27 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 9 °C, wind to 31 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
The Tasmanian inland angling licence applies at Lake Augusta from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees.
Storage levels
Compare it with every other storage in the state on Tasmania dam levels today.
About this water
Lake Augusta is a lake in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Augusta: the full guide
Lake Augusta
Lake Augusta is a natural lake on the upper Ouse River, filled by the James and Ouse rivers, that Hydro Tasmania’s Augusta Dam enlarged by flooding the country around it; the Inland Fisheries Service notes that the water recedes each year to expose much of the new lake bed while the old lake stays mostly under water. It lies north-west of Liawenee at the start of the Western Lakes, a broad, shallow lake of rocks, tussock and bare shore, and it is the jumping-off point for the Nineteen Lagoons. The level and the 30-day chart on this page come from the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the Lake Augusta intake.
Species and seasons
Brown trout dominate Lake Augusta, with rainbow trout also present, and IFS manages it as a wild trout fishery under the Western Lakes Fishery Management Plan. The Inland Fishing Code lists the lake with the general season, 1 August 2026 to 2 May 2027, which is the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, computed on the species card. It is one of only two Western Lakes waters, with Lake Mackenzie, where bait is allowed at all, and then on one rod held in the hand: set-rod bait fishing is prohibited. The bag is five fish over 300 mm with no more than two over 500 mm.
Where to fish it
IFS notes a boat ramp on the old Lake Augusta near the dam wall and warns boating anglers to watch for the large submerged rocks scattered through the lake. From the shore, the rocky shallows and the grassy margins are waded and polaroided on bright days for cruising browns. The Nineteen Lagoons, a walk from the lake, carry their own rules in the Code, many of them fly-only.
Planning a visit
Lake Augusta is reached from the Highland Lakes Road at Liawenee, and for current vehicle track conditions in the Western Lakes IFS points anglers to the Parks and Wildlife Service field centre at the Great Western Tiers. Carry food, fuel and warm, waterproof clothing, because the plateau is remote. Polarised glasses and a quiet approach are the keys to fishing the rocky shallows for cruising browns.
Reading this report here
Augusta sits high and bare, and the wind row is the number to read before the drive: a westerly across the plateau makes the shallows unfishable and the air bitter. Snow can fall at Lake Augusta in any month. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cold for most of the season; the chart shows the hydro storage filling and drawing down, and IFS warns that frequent fluctuations in level may occur. Pressure and sky build the score at Lake Augusta.
Licence, access and rules
The Tasmanian inland angling licence applies at Lake Augusta from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees. Augusta is one of the few waters in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area where the Code allows motorised boating. The Inland Fishing Code, with Augusta’s one-rod bait rule, the bag and the season, and the IFS page for the lake are in the sources.
Common questions
When is Lake Augusta open?
In the general Tasmanian season, 1 August 2026 to 2 May 2027 this year: the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April.
Can I use bait at Lake Augusta?
Yes, but only on one rod held in the hand: the Code makes that exception for Augusta and Lake Mackenzie, and set-rod bait fishing is prohibited.
Do I need a licence at Lake Augusta?
Yes: anyone 14 or older needs the Tasmanian inland angling licence to fish Lake Augusta.
Is fishing good at Lake Augusta 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 155.1 — AUGUSTA LAKE - AT INTAKE
- 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.