Rainbow trout
Excellent
Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Woods Lake Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The eastern plateau lake below Arthurs Lake: naturally recruiting brown trout, all methods allowed, a steep gravel road in, and a Bureau gauge at the dam.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
736.71 m30,273 ML
Air / High
8 °C / 14 °C
Wind
NE 14 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 462.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Woods Lake has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 736.71 m, up 0.06 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 14 km/h, steady pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 14 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:18 PM-1:18 AM and 11:47 AM-1:47 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: 11:18 PM-1:18 AM, 11:47 AM-1:47 PM, 4:46 AM-5:46 AM. Warmer at 17 °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 Woods Lake today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:47), sunset (20:04), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:18 PM-1:18 AM and 11:47 AM-1:47 PM; minor 4:46 AM-5:46 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 462.1 (WOODS LAKE - AT DAM).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 462.1. Latest reading 2026-11-07 17:45.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp8 °C
High / Low14 °C / 3 °C
WindNE 14 km/h, gusts 28 km/h
Pressure1019.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:47 / 20:04
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Woods Lake
The best day on Woods Lake 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
- 11:18 PM-1:18 AM and 11:47 AM-1:47 PM
- Minor period
- 4:46 AM-5:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:47 to 20:04
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Woods Lake: 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 Woods 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 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 Woods Lake 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 10 °C, wind to 19 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 7 °C, wind to 27 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 13 °C, wind to 29 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
Anglers 14 and up need the Tasmanian inland angling licence issued by the Inland Fisheries Service; our Tasmania licence page has this season’s fees.
Storage levels
Compare it with every other storage in the state on Tasmania dam levels today.
About this water
Woods Lake is a lake in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Woods Lake: the full guide
The lake
Woods Lake was created by damming the Lake River to provide riparian flows downstream in summer and autumn, the Inland Fisheries Service records. Low levels in the warmer months leave large areas very shallow and weedy, and the water is generally milky and can turn turbid after persistent strong winds. To get there, turn off the B51 to the Arthurs Lake dam and follow the road past it for about 15 km; it is gravel and steep in sections, and the service recommends a four-wheel drive for towing boats. The Bureau of Meteorology gauge at the Woods Lake dam is the source of the level and 30-day chart here.
Species and seasons
The service manages Woods as a Premium Wild Trout Fishery whose brown trout population is maintained by natural recruitment. Bait, lure and fly are all allowed, with a bag of five, only two over 500 mm, and a 300 mm minimum; the season runs from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, computed on the species card.
Where to fish it
The service calls Woods a good all-round water, with consistent fly fishing, bait fishing, trolling and lure casting from both the shore and a boat. Early and late season give the best sport; in summer, low water and emergent weed limit the options. There is one boat launching area, and at low water the lake may be extremely shallow, with extensive weed and submerged hazards, so move slowly.
Reading the report
Woods is generally more sheltered than the exposed highland lakes, the service notes, though it can still become very rough in extreme weather. The level chart tells you whether the lake is in its low, weedy summer state or back up for the productive early and late season. On the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, the lake reads cold for much of the season; pressure and cloud cover finish the score.
Licence, access and rules
Anglers 14 and up need the Tasmanian inland angling licence issued by the Inland Fisheries Service; our Tasmania licence page has this season’s fees. Informal lakeshore camping is permitted on the Permanent Timber Production Zone and Crown land between the boat ramp and the dam wall and on the eastern shore, with no facilities. The service’s Woods Lake page and the Inland Fishing Code are listed in the sources.
Native fish found nowhere else
Two small native fish live only in Woods Lake and nearby Arthurs Lake: the saddled galaxias and the Arthurs paragalaxias, which grow to about 120 mm and 70 mm respectively. Both are listed as endangered under Tasmania’s Threatened Species Protection Act and are wholly protected. Using fish or fish products as bait, or moving fish between waters, is an offence, and on a lake holding species this rare the rule is worth taking seriously.
Common questions
When is Woods Lake open?
Through the Tasmanian brown trout season, first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, computed on the species card.
How do I get to Woods Lake?
Turn off the B51 to the Arthurs Lake dam and follow the gravel road past it for about 15 km; the Inland Fisheries Service notes it is steep in sections and recommends a four-wheel drive for towing boats.
Is fishing good at Woods 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 462.1 — WOODS LAKE - AT DAM
- 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.