Rainbow trout
Excellent
Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Montagu River at Stuarts Road Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Montagu River at Stuarts Road in the far north-west: brown trout and whitebait water near Smithton, with a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
0.88 m
Air / High
12 °C / 15 °C
Wind
ENE 16 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 14200.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Montagu River at Stuarts Road has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 0.88 m, easing 0.12 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ENE around 16 km/h, steady pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 15 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:27 PM-1:27 AM and 11:56 AM-1:56 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: 11:27 PM-1:27 AM, 11:56 AM-1:56 PM, 4:58 AM-5:58 AM. Similar at 16 °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 Montagu River at Stuarts Road today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:58), sunset (20:09), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:27 PM-1:27 AM and 11:56 AM-1:56 PM; minor 4:58 AM-5:58 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 14200.1 (MONTAGU RIVER AT STUARTS ROAD).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 14200.1. Latest reading 2026-11-08 08:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp12 °C
High / Low15 °C / 7 °C
WindENE 16 km/h, gusts 30 km/h
Pressure1019.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain36% cloud, 8%
Sunrise / Sunset05:58 / 20:09
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Montagu River at Stuarts Road
The best day on Montagu River at Stuarts Road 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
- 11:27 PM-1:27 AM and 11:56 AM-1:56 PM
- Minor period
- 4:58 AM-5:58 AM
- Sun
- 05:58 to 20:09
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 26 km/h
- Rain chance
- 8%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Montagu River at Stuarts Road: 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 Montagu River at Stuarts Road 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 Montagu River at Stuarts Road 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 16 °C, wind to 14 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 13 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 21 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
On the Montagu River at Stuarts Road a Tasmanian inland angling licence is needed from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees.
About this water
Montagu River at Stuarts Road is a river in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Montagu River at Stuarts Road: the full guide
The Montagu at Stuarts Road
The Montagu River runs through the dairy and forest country of the far north-west, west of Smithton, to the sea west of Smithton; Stuarts Road is a crossing on its lower reaches. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Stuarts Road supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. The Duck River and Stanley have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Brown trout are the fish of the Montagu, on the fly, lures and bait, with river blackfish in the snags; the Code sets a bag of 12 blackfish over 220 mm. The general river rules apply to the trout: open from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, computed on the species card, with a bag of five over 220 mm. The Montagu is also on the 2026-27 list of whitebait rivers, open from 1 October to 11 November 2026 under a separate whitebait licence.
Where to fish it
The road crossings west of Smithton give access to the river; much of the land is farmland.
Planning a visit
Smithton has supplies and accommodation, and Stanley is close. Bring light trout gear and a bait rod for blackfish.
The river through the year
The Montagu runs through the far north-west, where the rain comes in from the Southern Ocean through the winter and the river runs full and brown from autumn to spring. The trout season opens in August with the river high; the fish keep to the edges and the slower water. The whitebait season, when the Code opens it, brings the whitebait runs up from the sea in spring, and the trout follow them. Summer brings lower water and the best of the trout fishing on still evenings. The pools under the tea tree hold the trout in the low water of February and March.
Reading this report here
The chart shows the Montagu rising after rain across the north-west. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cool for much of the season; pressure and sky build the score at Stuarts Road.
Licence, access and rules
On the Montagu River at Stuarts Road a Tasmanian inland angling licence is needed from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees. The Code’s river and whitebait rules for the Montagu River at Stuarts Road are in the sources.
Common questions
When is the Montagu open for trout?
The Montagu River at Stuarts Road opens on the first Saturday of August and closes on the Sunday nearest 30 April.
Can I catch whitebait in the Montagu?
Yes, in the short spring season the Inland Fishing Code sets for listed rivers, under its rules.
Do I need a licence here?
Yes: anyone aged 14 or over needs a Tasmanian inland angling licence on the Montagu River at Stuarts Road.
Is fishing good at Montagu River at Stuarts Road 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 14200.1 — MONTAGU RIVER AT STUARTS ROAD
- 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.