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 Parangana Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Mersey River storage below Lake Rowallan: brown trout in a narrow forest lake of the Mersey-Forth scheme, with a Bureau gauge at the dam.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
379.29 m746 ML
Air / High
7 °C / 19 °C
Wind
SSW 10 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 594.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Parangana is in its winter rhythm: deep, slow and around the middle of the day. The gauge reads 379.29 m, easing 1.55 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSW around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 18 °C. Water sits around 8 °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.
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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 12 °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 Parangana today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:00), sunset (18:14), the moon and today's score. 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
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 594.1 (PARANGANA LAKE - AT DAM).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 594.1. Latest reading 2026-09-23 00:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp7 °C
High / Low19 °C / 7 °C
WindSSW 10 km/h, gusts 25 km/h
Pressure1023.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain96% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset06:00 / 18:14
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Parangana
The best day on Lake Parangana this week looks like Saturday 26 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: Saturday, 26 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
- 06:00 to 18:14
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 13 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 Parangana: 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 Parangana 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 Parangana 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. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 17 °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. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 14 °C, wind to 8 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 14 °C, wind to 18 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 Parangana from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees.
About this water
Lake Parangana is a lake in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Parangana: the full guide
Lake Parangana
Lake Parangana is the narrow storage on the Mersey River below Lake Rowallan in the Mersey-Forth hydro scheme, in the forested valley of the upper Mersey south-west of Mole Creek, reached by the Mersey Forest Road. From Parangana the water is diverted through to the Forth. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page. Lake Rowallan upstream and the Mersey at Liena downstream have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Brown trout are the fish of Lake Parangana, along the steep forest edges and at the Mersey inflow, taken on lures, the fly and bait under the general lake rules. Parangana 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; Lake Rowallan upstream opens later, as a rainbow-season water.
Where to fish it
The Mersey Forest Road runs along Lake Parangana, and the pull-offs and the dam give bank access to the steep edges; a kayak covers the narrow lake. The inflow from Rowallan is the moving water where the trout feed, especially when water is being released.
Planning a visit
Lake Parangana is on the Mersey Forest Road beyond Mole Creek, and Mole Creek and Deloraine are the nearest towns with supplies. The same road leads on to Lake Rowallan, which opens later, in October. Carry food and fuel, as there are no services along the lakes.
Reading this report here
Parangana sits in a deep, forested valley that shelters it from wind, and its level follows the hydro releases, which the chart shows. The rain row matters because the upper Mersey is wet country. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cold to cool; pressure and sky build the score at Lake Parangana.
Licence, access and rules
The Tasmanian inland angling licence applies at Lake Parangana from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees. The Mersey Forest Road and the shore are open under Hydro Tasmania’s and the forestry rules, and the Inland Fishing Code is in the sources.
Common questions
What season applies at Lake Parangana?
The general lake season, the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April.
Is Lake Parangana on the same season as Lake Rowallan?
No. Rowallan upstream opens on the Saturday nearest 1 October; Parangana follows the general lake season from August.
Do I need a licence at Lake Parangana?
Yes: the Tasmanian inland angling licence, from age 14.
Is fishing good at Lake Parangana 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 594.1 — PARANGANA 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.