Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Apollo Bay Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
A harbour on the Great Ocean Road: salmon on the beaches, snapper and gummies in the bay, and the Otways behind it.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 11:20 am model
Air / High
11 °C / 19 °C
Wind
NE 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Apollo Bay rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NE around 11 km/h, steady pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 19 °C. Tides: high 11:20 am, low 6:30 am and 5:19 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 11:33 PM-1:33 AM and 12:01 PM-2:01 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: 11:33 PM-1:33 AM, 12:01 PM-2:01 PM, 5:09 AM-6:09 AM. Warmer at 24 °C with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Victoria requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$10.00. Victoria fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing snapper here? Check the size and bag limits with VFA before you keep anything; the Snapper page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Apollo Bay today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:09), sunset (20:10), 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 11:33 PM-1:33 AM and 12:01 PM-2:01 PM; minor 5:09 AM-6:09 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
LOW6:30 am-0.32 m
HIGH11:20 am0.14 m
LOW5:19 pm-0.72 m
Tue
HIGH12:30 am0.63 m
LOW6:54 am-0.25 m
HIGH12:00 pm0.27 m
LOW6:04 pm-0.75 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low19 °C / 7 °C
WindNE 11 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure1016.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain40% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:09 / 20:10
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 Apollo Bay
The best day on Apollo Bay 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
- 11:33 PM-1:33 AM and 12:01 PM-2:01 PM
- Minor period
- 5:09 AM-6:09 AM
- Sun
- 06:09 to 20:10
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Apollo Bay: 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 Apollo Bay 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 Apollo Bay 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 12 °C, wind to 14 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 11 °C, wind to 21 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 16 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence (RFL), from A$10.00, 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 VFA and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Victoria licence page before you keep anything.
Access
The Victorian licence rules apply, A$10 for three days up to A$111.20 for three years online, unless an exemption covers you; see our Victoria licence page.
About this water
Apollo Bay is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Apollo Bay: the full guide
Apollo Bay and its harbour
Apollo Bay is a harbour town on the Great Ocean Road, on a curved bay below the Otway Ranges with a harbour and a breakwater, a long beach, rocky points at either end and the Barham River running in behind the town. The harbour is the town’s shore mark and its boat ramp, the beach and the points fish for the Southern Ocean species, and the reefs and the deep water outside are for the boats on the days the swell allows; the coast west toward Cape Otway is rock platforms and surf. Just south-west of the town, the Marengo Reefs Marine Sanctuary is closed to all fishing.
Species by season
Australian salmon run the beach and the points in the cooler months, often in big schools within casting distance; snapper come into the bay in spring and summer; gummy shark and flathead fish the sand of the bay through the warmer months; and squid work the weed off the harbour walls in spring and autumn. Whiting fish the bay sand in summer, silver trevally and garfish the harbour, bream the Barham River, and the reefs outside give snapper, gummies and the occasional kingfish in summer for the boats. When salmon schools are about in winter, the beach in front of the town and the Barham mouth are worth a walk with a metal lure.
Reading this report here
This is Southern Ocean coast and the wind and swell decide the day: a south-westerly brings swell into the bay and closes the points, a northerly flattens the bay and makes the beach and the harbour fishable. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the window; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, with small tides, so it is the direction that helps, and the Bureau of Meteorology has the times.
Licence and access
The Victorian licence rules apply, A$10 for three days up to A$111.20 for three years online, unless an exemption covers you; see our Victoria licence page. The harbour walls, the beach and the points are public, and the Boating Vic list has the ramp on Breakwater Road in the harbour; the VFA limits and the marine sanctuary boundary are on the pages in the sources, and rock fishing here has its own safety rules.
Common questions
What can I catch from the Apollo Bay harbour?
Squid, silver trevally and garfish through the year, salmon in the cooler months and the odd snapper in spring and summer.
Do I need a licence to fish in Apollo Bay?
Yes. Apollo Bay is Victorian water, so a Recreational Fishing Licence is needed unless you are exempt.
Is fishing good at Apollo Bay 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.