Rainbow trout
Slow
Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Howqua River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Howqua from the high country to Lake Eildon: wild trout in a clear, rocky river with the camps of Sheepyard Flat, and the Bureau’s gauge at Glen Esk.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
1.70 m
Air / High
14 °C / 25 °C
Wind
SE 3 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 405215, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Howqua River has cold water and fish that move for very little; fish the sunniest hours. The gauge reads 1.70 m, holding steady. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SE around 3 km/h, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Water sits around 8 °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.
Brown trout
Slow
The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
Tie on: Bait on the bottom, running sinker · Heavy blade, deep · Slow-rolled swimbait · Live bait, deepest hole. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 21 °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 rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with VFA before you keep anything; the Rainbow trout page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Howqua River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:01), sunset (18:14), 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
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 405215 (HOWQUA @ GLEN ESK).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 405215. Latest reading 2026-09-24 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low25 °C / 13 °C
WindSE 3 km/h, gusts 6 km/h
Pressure1024.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain56% cloud, 49%
Sunrise / Sunset06:01 / 18:14
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Howqua River
The best day on Howqua 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
- 06:01 to 18:14
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 49%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Howqua River: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open now Closes 15 June 2027. Rivers and streams close from the Tuesday after the King’s Birthday weekend to the Friday before the first Saturday in September. Lakes and reservoirs stay open all year. Rule as read from Victorian Fisheries Authority on 2026-09-23.
The stocked lakes of the Snowy Mountains, the Victorian highlands and the Tasmanian central plateau. Closed seasons apply on the rivers: check the state rules. Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Brown trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open now Closes 15 June 2027. Rivers and streams close from the Tuesday after the King’s Birthday weekend to the Friday before the first Saturday in September. Lakes and reservoirs stay open all year. Rule as read from Victorian Fisheries Authority on 2026-09-23.
The wild trout of the highland rivers and Tasmania's lakes. Spawns in autumn, hence the closed rivers through winter in NSW and Victoria. The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
When to come: the Howqua 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 8 °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 Howqua 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. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 23 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 21 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 17 °C, wind to 19 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 Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless exempt; our Victoria page has the fees.
About this water
Howqua River is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Howqua River: the full guide
The reach
The Howqua runs off the Bluff and the Howqua Hills through a forested valley south of Mansfield to the Howqua arm of Lake Eildon, clear and rocky with long pools between rapids, the camps of Sheepyard Flat, Frys Flat and Pickerings Flat along its banks and the Howqua track that follows it into the hills. It is one of the state’s best-known wild trout rivers, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Glen Esk supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Brown and rainbow trout are the fish, wild, in the pools and the runs on the fly and on spinners, under the Victorian stream closure from the Tuesday after the King’s Birthday weekend to the Friday before the first Saturday of September, computed on the species card; blackfish are in the deeper pools under their own rules; and the lake’s natives reach the lower river in summer. The river is fished on foot and the walk is part of it.
Where to fish it
Sheepyard Flat and the camps along the Howqua track give access to the middle river, the Glen Esk and Running Creek reaches are the road-accessible water, and the upper river toward the Bluff is a walk-in fishery of pools and rapids; the pool heads and the runs are the trout water. Dawn and dusk under the wattles are the hours.
Reading the report
The chart shows a mountain river that rises with the snowmelt and after rain and falls to its rocky bed through summer; a fresh moves the trout and a low, clear river makes them wary. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cold for most of the year; the valley shelters the water; pressure and sky fill the score.
Licence, access and rules
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless exempt; our Victoria page has the fees. The camps and the track are public under Parks’ rules; the VFA trout stream rules and the blackfish rules are in the sources.
The Howqua track
The track that follows the river from Sheepyard Flat up toward the Bluff is the way into the best of the Howqua, a walk of pools and rapids with camps along it, and the further the walk the fewer the anglers; a day’s walk up and back covers water that sees a rod a few times a season.
Common questions
Is there camping on the Howqua?
Yes, at Sheepyard Flat, Frys Flat and the other camps along the Howqua track, under Parks’ rules.
When is the Howqua open for trout?
From the first Saturday of September to the King’s Birthday weekend in June, under the Victorian stream rule computed on the species card.
Is fishing good at Howqua 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
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 405215 — HOWQUA @ GLEN ESK
- 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.