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.
Macalister River at Licola Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Macalister above Glenmaggie at Licola: a mountain trout stream on the edge of the Alpine National Park, with the Bureau’s gauge at the village.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
1.42 m
Air / High
13 °C / 27 °C
Wind
WNW 2 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 225209, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Macalister River at Licola is a cold-water proposition today: bait on the bottom and a long soak. The gauge reads 1.42 m, easing 0.05 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind WNW around 2 km/h, rising pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 27 °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 17 °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 Macalister River at Licola today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:59), sunset (18:12), 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 225209 (MACALISTER @ LICOLA).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 225209. Latest reading 2026-09-24 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low27 °C / 13 °C
WindWNW 2 km/h, gusts 14 km/h
Pressure1024.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain25% cloud, 73%
Sunrise / Sunset05:59 / 18:12
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Macalister River at Licola
The best day on Macalister River at Licola this week looks like Tuesday 29 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 2 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: Tuesday, 29 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:59 to 18:12
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 73%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Macalister River at Licola: 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 Macalister River at Licola 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 Macalister River at Licola 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 27 °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. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 22 °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. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 16 °C, wind to 11 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
Macalister River at Licola is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Macalister River at Licola: the full guide
The reach
The Macalister at Licola is the river above Lake Glenmaggie where it leaves the Alpine National Park through the village of Licola, the only privately owned town in the state, running fast and clear over rock and gravel between forested ridges with camps and reserves along the road and the Wellington River joining above. It is a mountain trout stream, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Licola 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 runs and the pools on spinners and the fly, 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 below adds bass and perch that reach the lower river. Lake Glenmaggie has its own page.
Where to fish it
The village, the camps and the reserves along the Licola road give bank access to the pools and the runs, the Wellington River camps upstream give more of the same, and the river is a wader’s water fished on foot from the road; dawn and dusk on the runs are the trout hours. The road into the high country continues to the alpine camps.
Reading the report
The chart shows a mountain river that rises with the snowmelt and after rain and falls to its gravel through summer; a fresh moves the trout, a low, clear river makes them wary. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cold for most of the year; the ridges shelter 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 reserves are public under Parks’ rules; the VFA trout stream rules and the blackfish rules are in the sources.
The Wellington River
The Wellington joins the Macalister just above Licola, a smaller and wilder trout stream with the Alpine National Park camps along the Tamboritha road, and the junction pool is the first spot most anglers fish; the road on past the Wellington camps climbs to the alpine lakes and the Howitt plains.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Macalister at Licola?
Wild brown and rainbow trout in the open season, blackfish in the pools; bass and perch from the lake reach the lower river.
Is there camping at Licola?
Yes, at the camps and reserves along the Licola road and up the Wellington River, under Parks’ rules.
Is fishing good at Macalister River at Licola right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 225209 — MACALISTER @ LICOLA
- 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.