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.
Gippsland Lakes Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Lakes Victoria, King and Wellington and the rivers that feed them: the largest inland waterway in the country and Victoria’s bream water without equal.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 1:19 pm model
Air / High
12 °C / 14 °C
Wind
SW 10 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Gippsland Lakes rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings cloud cover, wind SW around 10 km/h, falling pressure near 1031 hPa and a high of 14 °C. Tides: high 7:25 am and 7:25 pm, low 1:13 am and 1:19 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 18 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: 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: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Similar at 14 °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 Gippsland Lakes today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:53), sunset (18:09), 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 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% 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.
Sat
LOW1:13 am-0.55 m
HIGH7:25 am0.26 m
LOW1:19 pm-0.41 m
HIGH7:25 pm0.32 m
Sun
LOW1:50 am-0.59 m
HIGH7:55 am0.16 m
LOW2:06 pm-0.62 m
HIGH8:14 pm0.09 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp12 °C
High / Low14 °C / 10 °C
WindSW 10 km/h, gusts 21 km/h
Pressure1030.5 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain93% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset05:53 / 18:09
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Gippsland Lakes
Today is the pick of the week on Gippsland Lakes, at 3 out of 5. 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: today, 26 Sept — fair at 3/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 05:53 to 18:09
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Gippsland Lakes: 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 Gippsland Lakes 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 Gippsland Lakes today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Thu, 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 20 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 18 °C, wind to 11 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
This is Victorian water: the Recreational Fishing Licence applies to everyone not exempt, from A$10 for three days, with the schedule on our Victoria licence page.
About this water
Gippsland Lakes is a bay or coastal water in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Gippsland Lakes: the full guide
The lakes
The Gippsland Lakes are a chain of large, shallow coastal lagoons behind the Ninety Mile Beach in East Gippsland, Lake Wellington in the west, Lake Victoria in the middle and Lake King in the east, joined to the sea by the entrance at Lakes Entrance and fed by the Mitchell, Nicholson, Tambo, Avon and Latrobe rivers. Metung, Paynesville, Loch Sport and Hollands Landing are the lakeside towns, and the lakes fish from jetties, banks and boats along hundreds of kilometres of shoreline, with the river mouths and the silt jetties of the Mitchell the classic grounds. The report on this page is scored for Lake Victoria’s coordinates; Lakes Entrance has its own page.
Species by season
Bream are the lakes’ fish, all year around the jetties, the river mouths and the snags, with the biggest in the cooler months and a run into the rivers in winter; flathead lie on the sand of Lake King and the eastern shores in the warmer months; tailor push into the lakes through the entrance in the cooler months; and estuary perch and bass hold in the rivers. Mulloway are taken in the lakes and the river mouths by the persistent, luderick fish the rock walls near the entrance in winter, and whiting and garfish fish the eastern lakes in summer.
Reading this report for the lakes
The lakes are shallow and wide open to the wind, and the wind row is the first thing to read: a westerly or a south-westerly makes the open water rough and the river mouths and the lee shores the places to be, a still morning fishes everywhere. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the lakes are barely tidal away from the entrance, so it is only the direction that helps.
Licence and access
This is Victorian water: the Recreational Fishing Licence applies to everyone not exempt, from A$10 for three days, with the schedule on our Victoria licence page. The town jetties at Metung, Paynesville and Loch Sport, the foreshore reserves and the river banks are public, with ramps in every town; the VFA limits are on the page in the sources, and parts of the lakes are inside a national park with its own rules.
Common questions
What are the Gippsland Lakes known for?
Bream, all year around the jetties, the river mouths and the snags, with flathead on the eastern sand in summer and tailor in the cooler months.
Do I need a licence on the Gippsland Lakes?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies.
Is fishing good at Gippsland Lakes 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
- 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.