Rainbow trout
Excellent
Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Lake Sorell Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The 53 km² Interlaken lake reopened in 2020 after the carp program: lure-and-fly brown trout in shallow, turbid water.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~13 °C est.
Air / High
6 °C / 13 °C
Wind
NE 13 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 4206.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Sorell has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 803.58 m. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NE around 13 km/h, steady pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 13 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:18 PM-1:18 AM and 11:47 AM-1:47 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: 11:18 PM-1:18 AM, 11:47 AM-1:47 PM, 4:46 AM-5:46 AM. Similar at 15 °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 Sorell today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:47), sunset (20:04), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:18 PM-1:18 AM and 11:47 AM-1:47 PM; minor 4:46 AM-5:46 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 4206.1 (LAKE SORELL AT CHILLON POINT LAKE LEVEL).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 4206.1.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp6 °C
High / Low13 °C / 3 °C
WindNE 13 km/h, gusts 23 km/h
Pressure1020.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain37% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:47 / 20:04
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Sorell
The best day on Lake Sorell 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
- 11:18 PM-1:18 AM and 11:47 AM-1:47 PM
- Minor period
- 4:46 AM-5:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:47 to 20:04
- 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 Sorell: 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 Sorell 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 Sorell 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 8 °C, wind to 19 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 6 °C, wind to 27 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 12 °C, wind to 29 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 from the Inland Fisheries Service applies from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the 2026-27 fees.
Storage levels
Compare it with every other storage in the state on Tasmania dam levels today.
About this water
Lake Sorell is a lake in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Sorell: the full guide
The lake
Lake Sorell is a large, shallow lake of 53 square kilometres at about 800 metres above sea level, ringed by grassy woodland with marshes along its northern and western shores, the Inland Fisheries Service records. It was closed to fishing in 1995 after European carp were discovered and reopened in 2020. Roads reach it from Bothwell and Oatlands on the C527 and from Tunbridge and The Steppes on the C526. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Chillon Point has not reported since 2021, so this page carries no live level.
Species and seasons
The fishery is mainly brown trout with a small number of rainbows, and the service describes typical fish of 500 grams to 2 kilograms in excellent condition. Trout numbers were low at the reopening because of the carp program and are expected to recover naturally over several seasons. The rules are artificial lures and flies only, with bait prohibited, a bag of five with only two over 500 mm and a 300 mm minimum; the season runs from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, computed on the species card.
Where to fish it
Because the lake is shallow, the service recommends casting lures and trolling around the rocky shores and reefs, and wet flies in spring and early summer. Access to the marshes has been limited by the carp program’s barrier nets, which are to be removed when the program ends. Dogs Head, Silver Plains and Mountain creeks, and the water within 50 metres of where they enter, are closed, as is the canal to Crescent between the Sorell outlet gates and Interlaken Road. Campgrounds are at Dago Point.
Reading the report
Sorell is exposed to extreme changes in weather and can become very rough, with many submerged hazards and reefs in the shallows, so the wind row decides whether a boat goes out. The water is naturally turbid, though it can run clear in the marshes in spring. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, stays low for most of the season, and pressure and sky fill in the rest of the score.
Licence, access and rules
The Tasmanian inland angling licence from the Inland Fisheries Service applies from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the 2026-27 fees. Carp remain a controlled fish: the service estimated the population as very low after no spawning was recorded in spring 2019, and asks for any sighting or capture to be reported straight away on 0438 338 530. The golden galaxias, found only in Sorell and Crescent, is listed as rare. The service’s page and the Inland Fishing Code are in the sources.
Common questions
Is Lake Sorell open for fishing?
Yes. The Inland Fisheries Service reopened Lake Sorell in 2020 after closing it in 1995 for the carp program; it follows the brown trout season computed on the species card.
Do I need a licence at Lake Sorell?
Yes, from age 14: the Tasmanian inland angling licence. Only artificial lures and flies may be used.
Is fishing good at Lake Sorell 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
- 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.