Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Geelong Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Corio Bay and the western shore of Port Phillip: piers, the Bellarine, snapper in spring and whiting when the weather settles.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 4:00 pm model
Air / High
14 °C / 20 °C
Wind
E 8 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Geelong rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings a mixed sky, wind E around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 19 °C. Tides: high 12:50 am and 8:42 am and 10:06 pm, low 2:42 am and 4:00 pm and 11:10 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 11:30 PM-1:30 AM and 11:58 AM-1:58 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: 11:30 PM-1:30 AM, 11:58 AM-1:58 PM, 5:08 AM-6:08 AM. Warmer at 26 °C. 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 Geelong today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:07), sunset (20:06), 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 11:30 PM-1:30 AM and 11:58 AM-1:58 PM; minor 5:08 AM-6:08 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
HIGH12:50 am-0.08 m
LOW2:42 am-0.13 m
HIGH8:42 am0.10 m
LOW4:00 pm-0.33 m
HIGH10:06 pm-0.10 m
LOW11:10 pm-0.12 m
Tue
HIGH2:30 am0.03 m
HIGH9:30 am0.19 m
LOW7:00 pm-0.28 m
HIGH11:30 pm-0.06 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low20 °C / 9 °C
WindE 8 km/h, gusts 12 km/h
Pressure1017.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain55% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:07 / 20:06
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 Geelong
The best day on Geelong 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
- 11:30 PM-1:30 AM and 11:58 AM-1:58 PM
- Minor period
- 5:08 AM-6:08 AM
- Sun
- 06:07 to 20:06
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Geelong: 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 Geelong 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 Geelong 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 15 °C, wind to 16 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 23 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 20 °C, wind to 24 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 requires a Recreational Fishing Licence unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees and exemptions from the VFA.
About this water
Geelong is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Geelong: the full guide
Geelong and its water
Geelong sits at the head of Corio Bay, the deep western pocket of Port Phillip, and its fishing is the bay in front of it, the Bellarine Peninsula to the east and the surf coast to the south. The Corio Bay piers and the waterfront are the everyday fishery, the Bellarine towns of Portarlington, Indented Head, St Leonards and Queenscliff are the whiting and squid grounds, and Barwon Heads and the Barwon River give the city a surf and estuary fishery on the ocean side. The Geelong fishing report people ask for is usually about Corio Bay and the western arm of Port Phillip, and that is what this page scores.
Species and their months
Snapper come into Corio Bay and the western shore in spring, and the VFA’s guide calls the Portarlington area well placed for early-season fish, while the deeper channel edges under Point Henry hold them year-round. King George whiting are a Bellarine specialty from spring to autumn over the weed and sand off Portarlington and St Leonards, and southern calamari fish the same grounds and the pier lights in spring and autumn. Flathead lie on the sand off the piers in the warmer months, garfish and silver trevally are year-round pier fish, Australian salmon run the bay and the surf beaches in winter, gummy sharks bite on the tide changes in the deep water off Portarlington, and bream hold in the Barwon and around the wharves.
Reading this report for Geelong
Corio Bay is sheltered from most winds but not from a strong northerly, and the Bellarine grounds fish best on a calm morning; the wind row is the first thing to read. Pressure and sky build the score, and the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model; tides inside the bay are small, so it is the direction of the flow that helps, and the Bureau of Meteorology prediction has the times. The seven-day planner is the answer to which day to book the ramp.
Licence and access
Victoria requires a Recreational Fishing Licence unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees and exemptions from the VFA. Access is public and generous: Cunningham Pier, which the VFA describes as a lit, 350-metre structure dating to the 1850s, Rippleside Pier and the Wangim Walk on the Geelong waterfront, the St Helens and Limeburners Point ramps, the Clifton Springs ramp and jetty, the Portarlington and St Leonards piers, Queenscliff harbour and the Barwon Heads bluff, where the Barwon Bluff Marine Sanctuary is closed to all fishing. Species below are rated by the month and today’s conditions; limits are on the VFA page in the sources.
Common questions
Where can I fish from the shore in Geelong?
Cunningham Pier, Rippleside Pier and the Wangim Walk in Corio Bay, the Clifton Springs jetty, the Portarlington and St Leonards piers on the Bellarine, and Queenscliff harbour.
Do I need a fishing licence in Geelong?
Yes, unless exempt: Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies. Our Victoria licence page has the 2026/2027 fees.
Is fishing good at Geelong 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.