Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Lorne Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Great Ocean Road resort: the Lorne pier’s squid and salmon, the Erskine River mouth and the reefs of Louttit Bay, with snapper and gummies for the boats.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 4:30 pm model
Air / High
8 °C / 12 °C
Wind
SSE 20 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lorne rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSE around 19 km/h, falling pressure near 1036 hPa and a high of 12 °C. Tides: high 10:22 am and 10:49 pm, low 3:48 am and 4:30 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 13 °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.
Australian salmon
Good
The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Snapper
Fair
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
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.
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 11 °C. 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 snapper here? Check the size and bag limits with VFA before you keep anything; the Snapper page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Lorne today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:08), sunset (18:24), 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
LOW3:48 am-0.53 m
HIGH10:22 am0.31 m
LOW4:30 pm-0.55 m
HIGH10:49 pm0.26 m
Sun
LOW4:52 am-0.71 m
HIGH11:13 am0.26 m
LOW5:13 pm-0.82 m
HIGH11:43 pm0.37 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp8 °C
High / Low12 °C / 8 °C
WindSSE 20 km/h, gusts 44 km/h
Pressure1035.7 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain79% cloud, 99%
Sunrise / Sunset06:08 / 18:24
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lorne
The best day on Lorne 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, 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
- 06:08 to 18:24
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 99%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lorne: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Snapper
Best: October to January in the southern bays
The southern headline fish. Runs into Port Phillip, Western Port, the gulfs and the WA sounds in spring to spawn; holds on reef and rubble the rest of the year. Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
King George whiting
Best: December to May in SA; spring and summer in Port Phillip
The table fish of the south. Feeds over sand patches between weed and reef in 2 to 10 metres, mostly by day, mostly on the moving tide. Deeper sand patches and the middle of the day; slower bites, bigger fish.
Southern calamari
Spring and autumn peaks in the southern bays
Southern calamari over weed and sand in 2 to 10 metres of the bays and gulfs; a jig fishery at dawn, dusk and under the jetty lights. Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Australian salmon
Winter and spring on the southern beaches
Not a salmon at all: a hard-fighting schooling fish of the surf and the bays, from WA around to NSW. Great on light gear, poor on the plate. The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
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.
When to come: the Lorne 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
Snapper
King George whiting
Southern calamari
Australian salmon
Flathead
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 13 °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 Lorne 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. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Thu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 14 °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 at Lorne unless exempt; fees on our Victoria page.
About this water
Lorne is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lorne: the full guide
Lorne and Louttit Bay
Lorne is the resort town on the Great Ocean Road in Louttit Bay, with the pier at the southern end of the beach, the Erskine River mouth at the northern end, the main beach between, the rock platforms and reefs at Point Grey and the Otways rising behind. It is a pier-and-bay town, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Apollo Bay has its own page.
Species and seasons
Australian salmon run the beach and the pier in the cooler months; squid work the pier weed and the lights at night and are the pier’s everyday catch; King George whiting fish the sand of the bay in summer; snapper come to the bay’s reefs in spring and summer for the boats and, at night, the pier; bream and estuary perch fish the Erskine mouth; silver trevally, garfish and yellowtail fill the pier; and gummy shark fish the sand at night. The Otways streams behind the town are small trout waters.
Where to fish it
Lorne pier at the southern end of the beach is the walk-on mark for squid, salmon and trevally, fished at night under the lights and at dawn from the outer end, and the Erskine River mouth at the northern end is the bream and perch water; the Point Grey platforms below the pier are the salmon rocks. The ramp is beside the pier, and the reefs of Louttit Bay are a short run for snapper. The Cumberland River mouth south of the town is a second, quieter bream spot.
Reading this report here
The bay faces south-east and a southerly or an easterly swell closes the pier’s outer end and the platforms, while a westerly flattens the bay; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Lorne, labelled as a model. Pressure and sky build the score at Lorne; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies at Lorne unless exempt; fees on our Victoria page. The pier, the beach and the river mouth are public, with a ramp at the pier; the VFA limits are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch from Lorne pier?
Squid under the lights and over the weed, salmon in the cooler months, whiting in summer, silver trevally and garfish through the year and the odd snapper at night.
Do I need a licence at Lorne?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence.
Is fishing good at Lorne 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.