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.
Lake William Hovell Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The King River storage above Cheshunt: a small, cold alpine-fringe lake of trout and redfin in the King Valley, with a Bureau gauge at the dam.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
408.06 m13,627 ML
Air / High
15 °C / 26 °C
Wind
W 4 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge sp-o11590, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake William Hovell has cold water and fish that move for very little; fish the sunniest hours. The gauge reads 408.06 m, easing 0.11 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind W around 5 km/h, rising pressure near 1025 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 22 °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 Lake William Hovell today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:00), sunset (18:13), 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 sp-o11590 (Lake William Hovell).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station sp-o11590. Latest reading 2026-09-24 15:25.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low26 °C / 13 °C
WindW 4 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1024.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain53% cloud, 76%
Sunrise / Sunset06:00 / 18:13
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake William Hovell
The best day on Lake William Hovell 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
- 06:00 to 18:13
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 76%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake William Hovell: 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 all year No closed season in lakes and reservoirs; the winter closure applies to rivers and streams. 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 all year No closed season in lakes and reservoirs; the winter closure applies to rivers and streams. 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 Lake William Hovell 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 Lake William Hovell 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 22 °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 8 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 10 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 lists the fees.
About this water
Lake William Hovell is a lake in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake William Hovell: the full guide
The lake
Lake William Hovell is a Goulburn-Murray Water storage on the King River at the top of the King Valley, south of Cheshunt and below the Alpine National Park, a small, deep lake between forested ridges with a picnic area, a ramp and camping at the dam and no other development. It is trout water at the edge of the mountains, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge on the lake supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Brown and rainbow trout are stocked and fish the edges, the creek mouths and the drop-offs from autumn to spring, trolled from small boats and cast from the bank, with the summer fish deep; redfin are the numbers fish; golden perch and Murray cod have been stocked in some years and hold in the timber in the warm months, the cod under the Victorian closure computed on the species card; and carp are present. The King River above and below is trout stream water under the stream closure.
Where to fish it
The dam end has the picnic area, the ramp and the camping and gives bank access to the deep water near the wall; the arms upstream toward the river inflow are the spring and autumn trout water, fished from a small boat or a kayak, and the creek mouths on the eastern shore fish on the fly. The lake is small enough to troll in a morning.
Reading the report
Cold water off the mountains keeps the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, in the trout bands for most of the year; the chart shows the irrigation draw-down and the winter refill. The valley shelters the lake and wind is rarely the problem; rain in the mountains colours the inflow and the rain row is worth a look. Pressure and sky fill the score.
Licence, access and rules
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless exempt; our Victoria page lists the fees. The ramp, picnic area and camping are managed by the water authority; the VFA trout rules and the cod closure are in the sources.
Common questions
What fish are in Lake William Hovell?
Stocked brown and rainbow trout, redfin, and some golden perch and cod in the timber in the warm months.
Is there camping at Lake William Hovell?
Yes, at the dam end beside the picnic area and the ramp.
Is fishing good at Lake William Hovell 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 sp-o11590 — Lake William Hovell
- 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.