Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Stanley Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Nut and its harbour on the north-west coast: Stanley’s wharf and breakwater, Godfreys and Tatlows beaches, with flathead, salmon, squid and gummy shark.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 12:06 pm model
Air / High
12 °C / 14 °C
Wind
NE 19 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Stanley is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 19 km/h, steady pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 14 °C. Tides: high 12:06 pm, low 6:11 am and 6:36 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 17 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:26 PM-1:26 AM and 11:54 AM-1:54 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Flathead
Good
Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
Australian salmon
Slow
The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 11:26 PM-1:26 AM, 11:54 AM-1:54 PM, 4:57 AM-5:57 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 snapper here? Check the size and bag limits with IFS Tasmania before you keep anything; the Snapper page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Stanley today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:57), sunset (20:08), the moon and today's score, with the modelled tide changes in the panel below. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:26 PM-1:26 AM and 11:54 AM-1:54 PM; minor 4:57 AM-5:57 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
A modelled tide curve for these coordinates and the forecast for the day.
Tides (modelled)
Modelled sea level curve from Open-Meteo Marine for these coordinates, datum mean sea level. Fish the moving water either side of each change.
A model, not the official prediction: times can drift by tens of minutes inside bays and estuaries. Check the Bureau of Meteorology tide predictions for the exact times before you rely on them.
Mon
LOW6:11 am-0.89 m
HIGH12:06 pm1.00 m
LOW6:36 pm-1.27 m
Tue
HIGH12:53 am1.12 m
LOW7:03 am-0.87 m
HIGH12:56 pm1.01 m
LOW7:21 pm-1.33 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp12 °C
High / Low14 °C / 8 °C
WindNE 19 km/h, gusts 33 km/h
Pressure1019.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain18% cloud, 12%
Sunrise / Sunset05:57 / 20:08
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Stanley
The best day on Stanley 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
- 11:26 PM-1:26 AM and 11:54 AM-1:54 PM
- Minor period
- 4:57 AM-5:57 AM
- Sun
- 05:57 to 20:08
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 27 km/h
- Rain chance
- 12%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Stanley: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Snapper
Best: October to January in the southern bays
The southern headline fish. Runs into Port Phillip, Western Port, the gulfs and the WA sounds in spring to spawn; holds on reef and rubble the rest of the year. Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
King George whiting
Best: December to May in SA; spring and summer in Port Phillip
The table fish of the south. Feeds over sand patches between weed and reef in 2 to 10 metres, mostly by day, mostly on the moving tide. Deeper sand patches and the middle of the day; slower bites, bigger fish.
Southern calamari
Spring and autumn peaks in the southern bays
Open now Closes 1 Sept 2027. No taking or possessing calamari or squid, or squid jigs on a line, north of Cape Grim and Cape Naturaliste from 1 September to 31 October inclusive. Rule as read from NRE Tasmania on 2026-09-27.
Southern calamari over weed and sand in 2 to 10 metres of the bays and gulfs; a jig fishery at dawn, dusk and under the jetty lights. Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Australian salmon
Winter and spring on the southern beaches
Not a salmon at all: a hard-fighting schooling fish of the surf and the bays, from WA around to NSW. Great on light gear, poor on the plate. The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Flathead
Best: November to April
Dusky flathead in the eastern estuaries, sand flathead in the southern bays. An ambush predator lying on sand and mud edges waiting for whatever the tide brings. Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
When to come: the Stanley 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
Snapper
King George whiting
Southern calamari
Australian salmon
Flathead
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 17 °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 Stanley 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. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 12 °C, wind to 29 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 15 °C, wind to 27 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
Line fishing in the sea at Stanley needs no general licence in Tasmania; our Tasmania licence page covers the licensed fisheries.
About this water
Stanley is a coastal town in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Stanley: the full guide
Stanley and the Nut
Stanley is the historic town at the foot of the Nut, the 143-metre core of a long-extinct volcano that Parks Tasmania manages as a State Geological Monument, about 22 kilometres east of Smithton on the north-west coast. The town has its wharf and the breakwater that shelters the harbour ramps, Godfreys Beach to the north-west, Tatlows Beach and the shallow flats of the bay, and the fishing boats in the harbour. It is a peninsula town with water on two sides, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Burnie, further east along the coast, has its own page.
Species and seasons
Flathead fish the bay sand and the wharf all year and are the coast’s everyday fish; Australian salmon run the beaches in the cooler months; squid work the wharf lights and the weed; silver trevally and mullet fill the wharf; King George whiting are taken on the flats in the warmer months; gummy shark fish the sand at night; and striped trumpeter are the reef fish for the boats out of the harbour. Rock lobster need a sea fishing licence and their own season.
Where to fish it
Stanley wharf and the breakwater are the walk-on marks for flathead, squid and trevally, fished at night under the lights and on the change of the tide, and Tatlows Beach and the flats are the whiting and flathead water for wading and small boats on the rising tide. Godfreys Beach, north-west of the town, is the salmon sand; Parks Tasmania has a lit viewing platform there for the little penguins coming ashore at night, so give the birds room at dusk.
Reading this report here
With the Nut splitting the coast into two shores, one side is usually in the lee; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Stanley, labelled as a model, and the flats fill and drain on it. Pressure and sky build the score at Stanley; the planner shows the day. MAST describes the dual-lane ramp as protected by the breakwater, which makes the harbour a reasonable launch when the open coast is lumpy.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing in the sea at Stanley needs no general licence in Tasmania; our Tasmania licence page covers the licensed fisheries. The wharf, the breakwater and the beaches are public, and MAST lists a dual-lane ramp with a central walkway and a single-lane ramp in the harbour; the Parks page on the Nut and the sea fishing rules are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Stanley?
Flathead at the wharf and on the bay sand all year, salmon on the beaches in the cooler months, squid under the wharf lights, whiting on the flats in the warmer months, gummy shark at night.
Do I need a licence at Stanley?
Not for line fishing in the sea; rock lobster needs its own licence.
Is fishing good at Stanley 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
- Tide curve (modelled)
- Open-Meteo Marine, sea level height including tides
- 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.