Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Mornington Fishing Report
Updated Tue, 10 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The pier, the harbour and the eastern shore of Port Phillip: Mornington’s snapper, squid and garfish an hour from Melbourne.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 3:30 am model
Air / High
11 °C / 24 °C
Wind
E 17 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Mornington has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 18 km/h, steady pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 3:30 am and 9:30 am, low 6:10 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 17 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 12:15 AM-2:15 AM and 12:43 PM-2:43 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Flathead
Good
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.
Australian salmon
Slow
The main season. Beach gutters, rock platforms and bay edges on the rising tide; metals, surf poppers and bait all work.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 12:15 AM-2:15 AM, 12:43 PM-2:43 PM, 5:37 AM-6:37 AM. Cooler at 18 °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 Mornington today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:03), sunset (20:04), 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 12:15 AM-2:15 AM and 12:43 PM-2:43 PM; minor 5:37 AM-6:37 AM. New Moon, 1% 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.
Tue
HIGH3:30 am0.02 m
HIGH9:30 am0.18 m
LOW6:10 pm-0.32 m
Wed
HIGH3:30 am0.14 m
LOW7:50 am0.06 m
HIGH10:42 am0.12 m
LOW7:10 pm-0.41 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low24 °C / 9 °C
WindE 17 km/h, gusts 32 km/h
Pressure1016.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 25%
Sunrise / Sunset06:03 / 20:04
MoonNew Moon, 1%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Mornington
The best day on Mornington this week looks like Friday 13 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Friday, 13 Nov — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 10 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 12:15 AM-2:15 AM and 12:43 PM-2:43 PM
- Minor period
- 5:37 AM-6:37 AM
- Sun
- 06:03 to 20:04
- Moon
- New Moon, 1% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 25%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Mornington: 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 Mornington 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 17 °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 Mornington today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataMon, Nov 9
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Sun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 15 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at excellent. High of 13 °C, wind to 27 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
Mornington is licensed water: a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence is needed unless you are exempt, and the fees from 1 July 2026 are on our Victoria page.
About this water
Mornington is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Mornington: the full guide
Mornington and its shore
Mornington is a town on the eastern shore of Port Phillip at the top of the Mornington Peninsula, with a harbour, the Mornington Pier and Jetty, looked after by Parks Victoria, and a run of beaches and small rock points along the bay from Mount Martha to Frankston. It fishes the bay in front of it: the snapper grounds off the peninsula, the squid over the weed, the pier and the harbour walls for the shore angler. The report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates; the bay-wide picture is on the Port Phillip page.
Species by season
Snapper are the fish the peninsula is known for, from spring through summer off Mornington and Mount Martha by boat, and the VFA says the Mount Martha grounds fire up late, from February to the end of April, when the rest of the bay can be quiet; the pier turns up the smaller fish. Squid work the weed off the pier and the rock points in spring and autumn and under the pier lights through the year; garfish fish the pier under floats; flathead lie on the sand off the beaches in the warmer months; and Australian salmon run the bay in winter. Whiting fish the weed patches in summer, silver trevally and salmon trout are pier fish in the cooler months, and the VFA rates the Mount Martha rocks among the best shore spots in the bay, with a warning about the slippery walk down.
Reading this report for Mornington
The eastern shore is exposed to a northerly and sheltered from a south-westerly, so the wind row tells you whether the pier and the beaches are comfortable; the boat grounds need a still morning. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the bay’s tides are small on this shore, so it is the direction of the flow that helps, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the times.
Licence and access
Mornington is licensed water: a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence is needed unless you are exempt, and the fees from 1 July 2026 are on our Victoria page. Mornington Pier, the harbour and the beaches are public, and the Boating Vic list has two ramps in town, at Fisherman Beach and Schnapper Point, with Martha Cove and Safety Beach to the south; the VFA limits are on the page in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch from Mornington Pier?
Squid under the lights, garfish under floats, flathead and silver trevally, and the smaller snapper in spring and summer.
Do I need a fishing licence in Mornington?
Yes, unless you are exempt; the Victorian licence can be bought online through Service Victoria before you head to the pier.
Is fishing good at Mornington 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
- Pages checked
- 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.