Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Stanley Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Nut and its harbour on the north-west coast: Stanley’s wharf and breakwater, the Godfreys and Tatlows beaches, with flathead, salmon, squid and the crayfish fleet.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 4:08 pm model
Air / High
10 °C / 16 °C
Wind
SW 17 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Stanley has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings cloud cover, wind SW around 18 km/h, rising pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 16 °C. Tides: high 9:56 am and 10:08 pm, low 3:40 am and 4:08 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 13 °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.
Australian salmon
Good
The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Snapper
Fair
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Flathead
Fair
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.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 13 °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 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 (06:04), sunset (18:18), 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 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
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.
Fri
LOW3:40 am-1.03 m
HIGH9:56 am0.75 m
LOW4:08 pm-0.83 m
HIGH10:08 pm0.69 m
Sat
LOW4:35 am-1.07 m
HIGH10:47 am0.70 m
LOW5:01 pm-1.11 m
HIGH11:10 pm0.73 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp10 °C
High / Low16 °C / 10 °C
WindSW 17 km/h, gusts 29 km/h
Pressure1024.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain96% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset06:04 / 18:18
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °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 Saturday 26 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: Saturday, 26 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
- 06:04 to 18:18
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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
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 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 Stanley 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. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 13 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 14 °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
Line fishing in the sea at Stanley needs no general licence in Tasmania; our Tasmania licence page has the fees for 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 under the Nut, the volcanic plug on the north-west coast between Burnie and Smithton, with the wharf and the breakwater on the eastern side of the peninsula, Godfreys Beach on the western side, Tatlows Beach and the Sawyer Bay flats to the south, the Highfield cliffs and the crayfish fleet. It is a peninsula town of two shores, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Burnie 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; snapper come into the bay in summer; King George whiting fish the flats in summer; gummy shark fish the sand at night; and the reef off the Nut gives striped trumpeter for the boats out of the harbour. The crayfish are the town’s trade, licensed.
Where to fish it
Stanley wharf and the breakwater on the eastern side of the Nut 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 Sawyer Bay flats south of the town are the whiting and flathead water for wading and small boats on the rising tide; Godfreys Beach on the western side of the Nut is the salmon sand on an easterly. The ramp is at the harbour.
Reading this report here
The peninsula has a shore for every wind: a westerly closes Godfreys Beach and leaves the wharf and Tatlows fishable, and an easterly the reverse; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Stanley, labelled as a model, and the Sawyer Bay flats fill and drain on it. Pressure and sky build the score at Stanley; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Line fishing in the sea at Stanley needs no general licence in Tasmania; our Tasmania licence page has the fees for the licensed fisheries. The wharf, the breakwater and the beaches are public, with a ramp at the harbour; the sea fishing rules from NRE Tasmania and the rock lobster licence 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 summer, gummy shark at night.
Do I need a licence at Stanley?
Not for line fishing in the sea; rock lobster needs its own.
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
- 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.