Australian bass
Excellent
Prime. Cast spinnerbaits, small hardbodies and surface lures tight to structure in the rivers; sound up the schools in the dams.
Lake Glenmaggie Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Southern Rural Water’s Macalister storage above Heyfield, which fills and empties most years: stocked Australian bass and trout, two recreation areas and camping at a private caravan park.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
76.53 m167,671 ML
Air / High
11 °C / 18 °C
Wind
ENE 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 225225A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Glenmaggie sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 76.53 m, up 0.08 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 18 °C. Water sits around 21 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:20 PM-1:20 AM and 11:48 AM-1:48 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Tie on: Soft plastic on a 1/4 oz jighead · Small hardbody, shallow diver · Squid jig, size 3.0 · Fresh pipi or worm on a small hook. Prime windows: 11:20 PM-1:20 AM, 11:48 AM-1:48 PM, 4:58 AM-5:58 AM. Warmer at 22 °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 australian bass here? Check the size and bag limits with VFA before you keep anything; the Australian bass page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Lake Glenmaggie today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:57), sunset (19:56), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:20 PM-1:20 AM and 11:48 AM-1:48 PM; minor 4:58 AM-5:58 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Glenmaggie Water Level today, and the weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 225225A (MACALISTER @ GLENMAG).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 225225A. Latest reading 2026-11-08 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low18 °C / 8 °C
WindENE 8 km/h, gusts 18 km/h
Pressure1020.1 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:57 / 19:56
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~21 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Glenmaggie
The best day on Lake Glenmaggie this week looks like Thursday 12 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Thursday, 12 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:20 PM-1:20 AM and 11:48 AM-1:48 PM
- Minor period
- 4:58 AM-5:58 AM
- Sun
- 05:57 to 19:56
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Glenmaggie: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Australian bass
September to April in the rivers; closed 1 May to 31 August in NSW rivers, and dams stay open
The native sportfish of the east-coast rivers and the stocked dams. Surface lures in summer, deep in winter, and a river closed season for spawning. Prime. Cast spinnerbaits, small hardbodies and surface lures tight to structure in the rivers; sound up the schools in the dams.
When to come: the Lake Glenmaggie 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
Australian bass
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 21 °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 Lake Glenmaggie today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 16 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 13 °C, wind to 27 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Australian bass led the card at excellent. High of 23 °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
You need a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence unless exempt; licence options are on our Victoria page.
Storage levels
Compare it with every other storage in the state on Victoria dam levels today.
About this water
Lake Glenmaggie is a lake in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Glenmaggie: the full guide
The lake
Lake Glenmaggie holds the Macalister River in Gippsland. Southern Rural Water describes it as an annual storage supplying the Macalister Irrigation District, which means it fills and empties most years. The VFA angling guide notes that the level fluctuates widely and that the lake is drawn down to very low levels in most years, with a mainly muddy bottom and little aquatic vegetation. It is south of the Great Dividing Range. The Bureau of Meteorology’s station at the dam, 225225A, supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
The VFA database shows Australian bass released more than twenty times since 2010, most recently in November 2025, along with rainbow trout most years and brown trout occasionally. The species card rates bass, the native fish in the stocking record; golden perch are not in it. Carp and redfin are common according to the angling guide, which rates spring and early summer as the best time for redfin. Victoria has no closed season on bass, and trout can be fished in the lake all year.
Where to fish it
Southern Rural Water runs two main recreation areas, at the dam wall and at Sandy Point, and there is no public access beyond the barrier near the weir wall. Bass relate to steep banks, snags and inflows in the warmer months; surface lures at dusk and small spinnerbaits worked along cover are reliable. Trout feed near inflows after rain in cooler weather. The angling guide notes bank fishing succeeds when levels are adequate.
Reading the report
Few storages swing as much: the chart shows the summer draw-down for irrigation and the refill from the mountains. Southern Rural Water changes the boating areas at 44 per cent and 25 per cent of capacity, so the level also tells you where you can boat. The estimated water temperature row shows the move from trout weather to bass weather.
Licence, access and rules
You need a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence unless exempt; licence options are on our Victoria page. The dam wall area is open from 8 am to 8 pm. Southern Rural Water does not allow camping, overnight stays or fires at its sites; camping is at the privately operated Lake Glenmaggie Caravan Park. The VFA bass and trout rules are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Lake Glenmaggie?
Stocked Australian bass and rainbow and brown trout, plus redfin and carp; golden perch are not in the recent VFA stocking record.
Why does Glenmaggie empty so much?
Southern Rural Water runs it as an annual storage for the Macalister Irrigation District, so it fills and empties most years; boating zones change as it falls.
Is fishing good at Lake Glenmaggie 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 225225A — MACALISTER @ GLENMAG
- 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.