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.
Lake Margaret Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The small high lake above Queenstown that has fed a power station since 1914: brown trout in West Coast rainforest, with a Bureau gauge at the dam.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
662.40 m15,289 ML
Air / High
3 °C / 7 °C
Wind
SSW 11 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 370.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Margaret has cold water and fish that move for very little; fish the sunniest hours. The gauge reads 662.40 m, easing 0.10 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSW around 11 km/h, steady pressure near 1034 hPa and a high of 7 °C. Water sits around 8 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: 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: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Similar at 7 °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 Lake Margaret today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:00), sunset (18:18), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 370.1 (MARGARET LAKE - AT DAM).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 370.1. Latest reading 2026-09-24 17:45.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp3 °C
High / Low7 °C / 1 °C
WindSSW 11 km/h, gusts 41 km/h
Pressure1033.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain33% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset06:00 / 18:18
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Margaret
The best day on Lake Margaret 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, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 06:00 to 18:18
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Margaret: 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 Lake Margaret 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 Lake Margaret today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 14 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Thu, 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 17 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 12 °C, wind to 10 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 required at Lake Margaret from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees.
About this water
Lake Margaret is a lake in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Margaret: the full guide
Lake Margaret
Lake Margaret is the small, high storage in the mountains north of Queenstown on Tasmania’s West Coast, the lake that has fed the historic Lake Margaret hydro-electric station since 1914, surrounded by button grass and rainforest under the West Coast Range. It is reached by the road off the Murchison Highway toward the power station, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page. Lake Burbury, south of Queenstown, has its own page.
Species and seasons
Brown trout are the fish of Lake Margaret, along the edges and at the creek inflows, taken on lures and the fly. The lake 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; the Code’s rules for waters inside national parks and the World Heritage Area apply wherever a water falls inside them.
Where to fish it
The dam and the shore near the access road are where Lake Margaret is fished, casting along the edges and into the inflows. It is a small lake in rough country, and a morning on the bank is the usual visit, combined with the heritage power station below.
Planning a visit
Queenstown, a short drive south, has supplies and accommodation, and the road to Lake Margaret leaves the Murchison Highway north of the town. The power station below the lake is a heritage site. Pack wet-weather gear: rain is the West Coast’s normal.
Reading this report here
The West Coast gets rain on most days of the year, and the rain row at Lake Margaret is the first number to read, with the wind next because the lake sits high and exposed. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cold for most of the season; the chart shows the storage feeding the station. Pressure and sky build the score at Lake Margaret.
Licence, access and rules
A Tasmanian inland angling licence is required at Lake Margaret from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees. Access is under Hydro Tasmania’s rules, and the Inland Fishing Code, with the season and the rules for park waters, is in the sources.
Common questions
What season applies at Lake Margaret?
The general lake season, the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April.
Where is Lake Margaret?
In the mountains north of Queenstown on the West Coast, above the Lake Margaret power station.
Do I need a licence at Lake Margaret?
Yes: the Tasmanian inland angling licence, from age 14.
Is fishing good at Lake Margaret 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 370.1 — MARGARET LAKE - AT DAM
- 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.