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.
Meadowbank Lake Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The lowland Derwent lake above New Norfolk: browns, rainbows and the odd Atlantic salmon, open all year by IFS rule, with a Bureau gauge at the dam.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
72.58 m24,967 ML
Air / High
11 °C / 20 °C
Wind
WNW 9 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 565.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Meadowbank Lake has cold water and fish that move for very little; fish the sunniest hours. The gauge reads 72.58 m, holding steady. Today brings cloud cover, wind WNW around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 19 °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 11 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 Meadowbank Lake today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:57), sunset (18:12), 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 565.1 (MEADOWBANK LAKE - AT DAM).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 565.1. Latest reading 2026-09-23 17:45.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low20 °C / 11 °C
WindWNW 9 km/h, gusts 21 km/h
Pressure1023.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 98%
Sunrise / Sunset05:57 / 18:12
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Meadowbank Lake
The best day on Meadowbank Lake 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, 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
- 05:57 to 18:12
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 98%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Meadowbank Lake: 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 all year Meadowbank Lake is open all year 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 all year Meadowbank Lake is open all year 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 Meadowbank Lake 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 Meadowbank Lake 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 19 °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 18 °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 15 °C, wind to 14 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
Meadowbank Lake is a lake in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Meadowbank Lake: the full guide
The lake
Meadowbank Lake is the Hydro Tasmania storage on the Derwent below Ouse and above New Norfolk, a long river lake in the farmland of the Derwent Valley an hour from Hobart, with the Dunrobin Bridge across its middle, ramps, camping and shore access along its length. It is one of the waters the Inland Fisheries Service lists as open all year and the closest big trout lake to the capital; the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Brown trout are wild and fish the edges, the drop-offs and the river inflow on bait, lures and flies through the year; rainbow trout are stocked; Atlantic salmon escape from the farms upstream from time to time and are taken; and redfin are present. Meadowbank is on the Inland Fisheries Service’s list of waters open all year, so the chip on the species card reads open all year with the rule linked; the Derwent above and below has its own rules in the code.
Where to fish it
The Dunrobin Bridge, the ramps and the camping areas along the eastern shore are the access, and the fishing is a boat fishery along the drop-offs and the river channel, trolling and casting, with the shore at the bridge and the camps fishing at dawn and dusk. The lake is long and sheltered by the valley and a small boat covers it in a day.
Reading the report
The lowland valley is warmer than the plateau and the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, gives the trout their edge seasons in autumn and spring with deep summer fish; the chart shows the hydro operation. The valley funnels the wind along the lake; pressure and sky fill the score and the planner picks the morning.
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 ramps, camping and bridge access are open under Hydro Tasmania’s and the council’s rules; the Inland Fishing Code and the all-year listing are in the sources.
Common questions
Is Meadowbank Lake open all year?
Yes. The Inland Fisheries Service lists it among the waters open all year; the species card shows it with the rule linked.
How far is Meadowbank Lake from Hobart?
About an hour up the Derwent Valley through New Norfolk; it is the closest big trout lake to the capital.
Is fishing good at Meadowbank Lake 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 565.1 — MEADOWBANK 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.