Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Melbourne Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
A city that fishes its bay from the piers, its rivers from the banks and the Yarra from the CBD: Melbourne is a Port Phillip fishing report with a skyline.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 2:30 am model
Air / High
13 °C / 14 °C
Wind
S 17 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Melbourne is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind S around 18 km/h, rising pressure near 1028 hPa and a high of 14 °C. Tides: high 9:03 am and 9:30 pm, low 2:30 am and 3:30 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 16 °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 Melbourne today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:03), sunset (18:19), 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
LOW2:30 am-0.37 m
HIGH9:03 am0.18 m
LOW3:30 pm-0.30 m
HIGH9:30 pm0.01 m
Sun
LOW3:54 am-0.40 m
HIGH10:13 am-0.01 m
LOW4:30 pm-0.43 m
HIGH10:30 pm-0.08 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low14 °C / 10 °C
WindS 17 km/h, gusts 36 km/h
Pressure1027.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 98%
Sunrise / Sunset06:03 / 18:19
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 Melbourne
The best day on Melbourne 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
- 06:03 to 18:19
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Rain, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 98%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Melbourne: 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 Melbourne 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 Melbourne 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 24 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Thu, Sep 24
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 26 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. 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
Victoria requires the Recreational Fishing Licence unless you are exempt, and the exemptions are wide: under 18, 70 and over and a list of cards; our Victoria licence page has the 2026/2027 fees and the list.
About this water
Melbourne is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Melbourne: the full guide
Melbourne’s fishing water
Melbourne fishes Port Phillip. The city sits at the head of the bay and its fishing spreads along both shores: the western beaches and piers at Williamstown, Altona and Werribee, the eastern run from St Kilda through Brighton, Mordialloc and Frankston to the Mornington Peninsula, and the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers that fish for bream and mulloway within sight of the towers. This page is scored for the city’s coordinates; the bay-wide picture, from the spring snapper run to the Bellarine whiting, is on the Port Phillip page, and Geelong has its own.
Species by season
Snapper enter the bay in spring and hold through summer, and the metropolitan boat ramps fill for them; the piers and the river mouths turn up the smaller ones. Bream are the year-round fish of the Yarra, the Maribyrnong, the Patterson River and the piers, with flathead on the sand off the eastern beaches and piers in the warmer months, garfish under floats from the piers all year, squid over the weed and under the pier lights in spring and autumn, and Australian salmon along the beaches in winter. Mulloway are caught in the Yarra and the Maribyrnong at night by the patient.
Reading this report for the city
The wind row is where the eastern and western shores swap: a northerly flattens the eastern piers and roughs up the west, a south-westerly does the reverse, and a strong wind of any direction ends the small-boat fishing. The pressure trend and the sky feed the score, and the seven-day planner picks the day, and the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model; the bay’s tides are small at the top end, so the curve is for the direction of the run in the rivers rather than for exact minutes, which the Bureau of Meteorology has.
Licence and access
Victoria requires the Recreational Fishing Licence unless you are exempt, and the exemptions are wide: under 18, 70 and over and a list of cards; our Victoria licence page has the 2026/2027 fees and the list. Access is everywhere along the bay: dozens of public piers, the river walls through the city, and ramps from Altona to Mordialloc. The VFA rules on limits and any closure are on the page linked in the sources.
Common questions
Can you fish the Yarra in Melbourne?
Yes. The Yarra and the Maribyrnong fish for bream year-round and for mulloway at night, from the river walls and by boat, under the Victorian licence and rules.
Do I need a fishing licence in Melbourne?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies in the bay and the rivers. Our Victoria page has the fees.
Where are the snapper caught near Melbourne?
In Port Phillip from spring through summer, off the western and eastern shores by boat and, for the smaller fish, from the piers and river mouths; see the Port Phillip page.
Is fishing good at Melbourne 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.