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.
Lakes Entrance Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Where the Gippsland Lakes meet the sea: the entrance, the lakes behind it, the Ninety Mile Beach in front and a fishing town built around all three.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 12:35 pm model
Air / High
15 °C / 24 °C
Wind
SSE 4 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lakes Entrance is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSE around 3 km/h, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 6:48 am and 6:46 pm, low 12:40 am and 12:35 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 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: 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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler 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 Lakes Entrance today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:53), sunset (18:06), 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 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
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.
Fri
LOW12:40 am-0.59 m
HIGH6:48 am0.24 m
LOW12:35 pm-0.40 m
HIGH6:46 pm0.47 m
Sat
LOW1:09 am-0.58 m
HIGH7:16 am0.31 m
LOW1:12 pm-0.46 m
HIGH7:20 pm0.39 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low24 °C / 13 °C
WindSSE 4 km/h, gusts 7 km/h
Pressure1024.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain39% cloud, 61%
Sunrise / Sunset05:53 / 18:06
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lakes Entrance
Today is the pick of the week on Lakes Entrance, 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, 25 Sept — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
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
- 05:53 to 18:06
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 61%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lakes Entrance: 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 Lakes Entrance 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 Lakes Entrance 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. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 16 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 14 °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
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence is required unless exempt; our Victoria page has the 2026/2027 fees.
About this water
Lakes Entrance is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lakes Entrance: the full guide
The entrance and the lakes
Lakes Entrance is the man-made opening between the Gippsland Lakes, the largest inland waterway in Australia, and Bass Strait, and its fishing works in three directions. Inside are the lakes themselves, Victoria, King and Wellington, and the rivers that feed them, a bream, flathead and tailor fishery of enormous size; at the entrance are the rock walls, the Cunninghame Arm and the North Arm where the town’s jetties and boardwalks are; and outside is the Ninety Mile Beach, running west for as far as the name says, with the surf gutters and the offshore grounds beyond. The town is a fishing port, and the report on this page is scored for its coordinates at the entrance.
Species through the year
Bream are the lakes’ signature fish, year-round in the arms, the rivers and around the jetties, with the biggest in the cooler months; flathead lie on the sand of the arms and the lake edges through summer and autumn; tailor and salmon run the entrance and the surf beach in the cooler months, and the entrance walls fish for salmon, tailor, trevally and, at night, mulloway. Whiting and garfish are summer fish in the arms, luderick work the walls in winter, and the beach gives salmon, tailor and gummy shark to those who fish the gutters into the dark. Outside, snapper and flathead on the offshore grounds when the bar allows.
Reading this report here
The entrance is tidal and the lakes are not much, so the tide panel on this page, a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model, matters most at the walls and in the arms, where the run-in brings the fish; the Bureau of Meteorology has the official times. The wind row decides between the beach and the lakes: a south-westerly makes the beach unfishable and the lakes fine, an easterly does the opposite. Pressure and sky build the score, and the planner shows which of the seven days to take.
Licence and access
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence is required unless exempt; our Victoria page has the 2026/2027 fees. Access is easy: the town jetties and boardwalks along the arms, the entrance walls, the beach across the footbridge, and ramps in the town and at Metung and Paynesville for the lakes. The species cards are rated from the month and today’s conditions; the limits and any closures are on the VFA page in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Lakes Entrance?
Bream and flathead in the arms and the lakes, salmon, tailor and trevally on the entrance walls, mulloway at night, and salmon, tailor and gummy shark on the Ninety Mile Beach.
Do I need a licence at Lakes Entrance?
Yes, unless exempt: Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence covers the lakes, the entrance and the beach.
Is fishing good at Lakes Entrance 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.