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.
Macquarie River near Ross Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Macquarie through the midlands near Ross: the classic Tasmanian mayfly river of wild browns, with the Bureau’s gauge at Trefusis.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
0.54 m
Air / High
10 °C / 10 °C
Wind
SW 21 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 18217.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Macquarie River near Ross has cold water and fish that move for very little; fish the sunniest hours. The gauge reads 0.54 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind SW around 21 km/h, rising pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 11 °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 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 Macquarie River near Ross today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:52), sunset (18:10), 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 18217.1 (MACQUARIE RIVER AT TREFUSIS).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 18217.1. Latest reading 2026-09-25 08:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp10 °C
High / Low10 °C / 3 °C
WindSW 21 km/h, gusts 40 km/h
Pressure1029.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain10% cloud, 29%
Sunrise / Sunset05:52 / 18:10
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Macquarie River near Ross
The best day on Macquarie River near Ross this week looks like Sunday 27 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 2 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 — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:52 to 18:10
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 29%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Macquarie River near Ross: 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 Macquarie River near Ross 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 Macquarie River near Ross 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 19 °C, wind to 21 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 15 °C, wind to 19 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 from age 14, one rod or two; our Tasmania licence page has the fees.
About this water
Macquarie River near Ross is a river in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Macquarie River near Ross: the full guide
The reach
The Macquarie of Tasmania is the slow midlands river that winds from the eastern tiers through Ross, Campbell Town and the plains to join the South Esk at Longford, a river of deep pools, weed beds and willows famous for the red spinner mayfly hatches that bring its wild browns to the surface in spring and summer. This page covers the reach around Ross, with the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Trefusis, south of the town, supplying the river level and the 30-day chart. It is not the Macquarie of New South Wales, which has its own pages.
Species and seasons
Brown trout are wild and are the fishery, in the pools and along the weed edges on the fly above all, with the spring and summer mayfly hatches the reason anglers travel here, and on bait and lures in the runs; and the river follows the brown trout season the Inland Fisheries Service publishes, first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, computed on the species card, with the lowest section on the IFS list of waters open to the end of May. Redfin are in the slow water.
Where to fish it
The Ross bridge and the reserves give bank access to the town pools, the Campbell Town and Trefusis reaches are reached from the road crossings, and a kayak covers the pools between; the weed edges and the pool tails are the mayfly water, fished on foot from the bank or waded on a low river. The Anglers Access Program brochure for the Macquarie lists the access points.
Reading the report
The chart shows a slow midlands river that rises after rain and falls through summer, when it can run low and warm and the hatches thin; a settled, warm morning after the river drops is the mayfly morning. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cool for most of the season; the open midlands let the wind cross the river, and the wind row matters for a dry fly; pressure and sky fill the score.
Licence, access and rules
The Tasmanian inland angling licence applies from age 14, one rod or two; our Tasmania licence page has the fees. The bridge, the reserves and the Anglers Access points are public; the Inland Fishing Code and the access brochure are in the sources.
Common questions
Is this the Macquarie River in New South Wales?
No. This is the Tasmanian Macquarie, the midlands mayfly river through Ross and Campbell Town; the New South Wales Macquarie at Dubbo and Wellington has its own pages.
When are the mayfly hatches on the Macquarie?
In spring and summer, on settled, warm mornings when the river has dropped; the season runs from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, computed on the species card.
Is fishing good at Macquarie River near Ross right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 18217.1 — MACQUARIE RIVER AT TREFUSIS
- 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.