Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Flinders Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Western Port entrance village on the Mornington Peninsula: Flinders pier’s squid and whiting, the reefs offshore, and the Mushroom Reef sanctuary closed to fishing.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 11:39 am model
Air / High
14 °C / 19 °C
Wind
ENE 19 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Flinders rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ENE around 19 km/h, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 19 °C. Tides: high 11:39 am, low 5:38 am and 5:34 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 11:27 PM-1:27 AM and 11:55 AM-1:55 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: 11:27 PM-1:27 AM, 11:55 AM-1:55 PM, 5:04 AM-6:04 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 Flinders today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:04), sunset (20:04), 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 11:27 PM-1:27 AM and 11:55 AM-1:55 PM; minor 5:04 AM-6:04 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
LOW5:38 am-0.55 m
HIGH11:39 am0.40 m
LOW5:34 pm-1.03 m
Tue
HIGH12:43 am0.87 m
LOW6:30 am-0.45 m
HIGH12:21 pm0.55 m
LOW6:25 pm-1.04 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low19 °C / 10 °C
WindENE 19 km/h, gusts 33 km/h
Pressure1017.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain31% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:04 / 20:04
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 Flinders
The best day on Flinders 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
- 11:27 PM-1:27 AM and 11:55 AM-1:55 PM
- Minor period
- 5:04 AM-6:04 AM
- Sun
- 06:04 to 20:04
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Flinders: 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 Flinders 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 Flinders 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 24 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 13 °C, wind to 32 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 19 °C, wind to 27 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 at Flinders unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the 2026/27 fees.
About this water
Flinders is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Flinders: the full guide
Flinders and the pier
Flinders is the village on the Bass Strait side of the Mornington Peninsula near the entrance to Western Port, with a pier in the lee of West Head, ocean beaches and cliffs, and Cape Schanck and its lighthouse further west. Mushroom Reef Marine Sanctuary, reached via West Head along Golf Links Road, is closed to all fishing from the shore or at sea. The village’s own coordinates set both the score and the modelled tide curve. Western Port has its own page.
Species and seasons
At Flinders the pier’s bread-and-butter fish are squid, over the weed and beneath the lights at night; King George whiting feed on sand and weed from spring to autumn; Australian salmon run the beaches and rocks in the cooler months; and snapper come to the reefs offshore in spring and summer for boats. Flathead, silver trevally and garfish are regular pier fish, and gummy sharks are taken on the sand at night.
Where to fish it
Flinders pier is the land-based spot for squid, whiting and salmon, fished at night under the lights and at dawn from the outer end. The reef flats around West Head include Mushroom Reef Marine Sanctuary, so fish outside its shore markers. Offshore reefs are boat water for snapper in settled weather, and the entrance to Western Port runs hard on the tide. Squid jigs in natural colours over the weed on a clear, calm evening are the simplest way to fill a bucket from the pier.
Reading this report here
The village faces Bass Strait, and a south-westerly closes the pier’s outer end and the rocks while a northerly flattens the water; the forecast wind direction is the first thing to read. The tide panel is a modelled curve for Flinders, labelled as a model, and the Bureau of Meteorology has the official times.
Licence, access and rules
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies at Flinders unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the 2026/27 fees. VFA limits apply, and Mushroom Reef Marine Sanctuary is closed to every form of fishing, with heavy penalties under the National Parks Act; the VFA’s app shows when you are inside it.
Common questions
What can I catch from Flinders pier?
Squid under the lights and over the weed, whiting from spring to autumn, salmon in the cooler months, and silver trevally and garfish through the year.
Can I fish at Mushroom Reef?
No. Mushroom Reef Marine Sanctuary at Flinders is closed to all fishing, from the shore or a boat.
Do I need a licence at Flinders?
Yes; the pier and the beaches are covered by Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence, unless you hold an exemption.
Is fishing good at Flinders 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.