Rainbow trout
Excellent
Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Lake Gairdner Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The headwater storage of the Wilmot River in the Mersey-Forth scheme: small browns in a fluctuating north-west lake, a boat ramp on the north-east shore, and a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
468.98 m5,433 ML
Air / High
6 °C / 14 °C
Wind
NNE 4 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 613.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Gairdner is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. The gauge reads 468.98 m, up 1.56 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind NNE around 5 km/h, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 14 °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 11:51 AM-1:51 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, 11:51 AM-1:51 PM, 4:52 AM-5:52 AM. Similar at 16 °C with a rain chance. 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 Gairdner today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:53), sunset (20:06), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 11:51 AM-1:51 PM; minor 4:52 AM-5:52 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 613.1 (GAIRDNER LAKE - AT DAM).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 613.1. Latest reading 2026-11-07 00:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp6 °C
High / Low14 °C / 3 °C
WindNNE 4 km/h, gusts 9 km/h
Pressure1021.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain62% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:53 / 20:06
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Gairdner
The best day on Lake Gairdner 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 11:51 AM-1:51 PM
- Minor period
- 4:52 AM-5:52 AM
- Sun
- 05:53 to 20:06
- 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 Lake Gairdner: 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 Gairdner 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 Gairdner 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 18 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 9 °C, wind to 24 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 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
The Tasmanian inland angling licence applies at Lake Gairdner 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 Gairdner is a lake in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Gairdner: the full guide
Lake Gairdner
Lake Gairdner is a small Hydro Tasmania storage formed by damming the Lea and Iris rivers at the headwaters of the Wilmot River, in the hill country of the north-west. Hydro Tasmania stores the Wilmot’s water there and sends it by tunnel, pipeline and penstock to the Wilmot Power Station and on to Lake Cethana, and the Inland Fisheries Service warns that the level fluctuates heavily. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the Lake Gairdner dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page. Lake Cethana and Lake Paloona on the Forth have their own pages.
Species and seasons
IFS describes a large population of small brown trout at Gairdner and good fly fishing and spinning, and bait is allowed too under the general lake rules. Gairdner is not listed separately in the Inland Fishing Code, so it follows the general lake season, the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, computed on the species card, with the general bag of 12 fish over 300 mm.
Where to fish it
From the C132, the Lake Gairdner Road runs west to the dam wall and the boat ramp on the north-east shore, and further south the Moina Road leads to the southern end, where the Iris River flows in. The inflows fish best after rain, and with a lake full of small fish, a light spinning outfit and small lures keep the day busy.
Planning a visit
Lake Gairdner is reached off the C132, and Sheffield and Devonport have supplies. Bring a kayak or small boat and light gear; the north-west is wet, so waterproof clothing is part of the kit.
Reading this report here
The north-west is wet, and the rain row matters at Gairdner because the creeks colour the water and lift the level, which the chart shows; with a heavily fluctuating storage, the chart also tells you how much bank is exposed. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cool through the season; pressure and sky build the score at Lake Gairdner, and the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
The Tasmanian inland angling licence applies at Lake Gairdner from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees. Access is under Hydro Tasmania’s rules; IFS reminds boaters that fishing from a boat within 100 metres of a shore angler is prohibited unless the boat is moored. The Code and the IFS page for the lake are in the sources.
Common questions
What season applies at Lake Gairdner?
Lake Gairdner keeps the general lake season, from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April.
What river is Lake Gairdner on?
It is the headwater storage of the Wilmot River, formed by damming the Lea and Iris rivers; its water is sent to the Wilmot Power Station and on to Lake Cethana.
Do I need a licence at Lake Gairdner?
Yes: anyone 14 or older needs the Tasmanian inland angling licence to fish Lake Gairdner.
Is fishing good at Lake Gairdner 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 613.1 — GAIRDNER LAKE - AT DAM
- 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.