Tailor
Excellent
The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
Fitzroy River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The estuary west of Portland: a small, quiet river of bream and estuary perch that opens to the Southern Ocean beaches when it fills.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~18 °C est.
Air / High
13 °C / 20 °C
Wind
SSE 7 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Fitzroy River is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSE around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 20 °C. Water sits around 18 °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.
Bream
Fair
Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
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.
Mulloway
Fair
The estuary fish move to the deeper reaches. Long, quiet sessions on the bottom with fresh bait across the top of the tide.
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. Cooler at 13 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 bream here? Check the size and bag limits with VFA before you keep anything; the Bream page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Fitzroy River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:19), sunset (18:32), the moon and today's score. 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
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low20 °C / 13 °C
WindSSE 7 km/h, gusts 17 km/h
Pressure1026.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 82%
Sunrise / Sunset06:19 / 18:32
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Fitzroy River
The best day on Fitzroy River this week looks like Sunday 27 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: Sunday, 27 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
- 06:19 to 18:32
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 82%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Fitzroy River: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Bream
Year-round; summer and autumn in the estuaries, winter at the mouths
Yellowfin bream on the east coast, black bream in the southern estuaries. Structure fish: rock walls, jetty piles, oyster racks, snags and pontoons. Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
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.
Mulloway
Best: summer and autumn, especially after rain
Jewfish. The big silver prize of the estuaries, breakwalls and surf beaches: nocturnal, tide-driven and unforgiving of noise. The estuary fish move to the deeper reaches. Long, quiet sessions on the bottom with fresh bait across the top of the tide.
Tailor
Autumn and winter on the east coast; August to September on Fraser Island
The surf and rock fish of the east coast, running north in autumn and winter. Fast, toothy and best at dawn, dusk and into the dark. The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
When to come: the Fitzroy River 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
Bream
Flathead
Mulloway
Tailor
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 18 °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 Fitzroy River 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. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 14 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
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees.
About this water
Fitzroy River is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Fitzroy River: the full guide
The river
The Fitzroy River of Victoria is a small river of the far south-west that runs through Heywood to reach the sea at Tyrendarra, between Portland and the Glenelg, on the coast of the Discovery Bay beaches; it is not to be confused with the big Fitzroy of Queensland or the one of the Kimberley. Its lower reaches are a narrow, tannin-stained estuary through reeds and farmland, tidal when the mouth is open and a still lagoon when it is closed, and it is a bream and estuary perch water fished from the banks at the bridges and the reserves and from kayaks and small boats. The report on this page is scored for the estuary’s coordinates.
Species and seasons
Black bream are the river’s fish, all year around the snags, the reed edges and the deeper bends, with the biggest in the cooler months and a spring run up the estuary; estuary perch hold in the same water and feed at dusk and after dark; and when the mouth is open, mullet, salmon trout and the odd flathead push in from the sea in summer. The beach at the mouth gives Australian salmon in the cooler months and is worked from the sand at dawn and dusk. Redfin and carp are present in the fresh reaches, with the VFA rules on carp.
Reading this report for the Fitzroy
The estuary is sheltered and the wind matters little; whether the mouth is open decides the tide, and the tide panel, a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model, is for the direction when it is; the river’s level after rain matters most, because a fresh colours the water and moves the bream. The beach at the mouth is Southern Ocean and the swell decides it. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day.
Licence and access
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees. The bridges, the reserves and the mouth are public, with a small ramp near the mouth; the VFA limits are on the page in the sources.
Common questions
Is this the same Fitzroy as Queensland’s?
No. This is the small Fitzroy of Victoria’s south-west, near Portland; the Queensland Fitzroy at Rockhampton has its own page.
Do I need a licence on the Fitzroy River?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies.
Is fishing good at Fitzroy River 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
- 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.