Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Ocean Grove Fishing Report
Updated Tue, 10 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Bellarine’s surf town across the river from Barwon Heads: salmon and whiting on the beach, bream in the river, with marine protected areas at both ends.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 12:38 am model
Air / High
13 °C / 24 °C
Wind
ENE 15 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Ocean Grove is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 14 km/h, steady pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 24 °C. Tides: high 12:38 am and 12:18 pm, low 6:39 am and 6:16 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 12:17 AM-2:17 AM and 12:45 PM-2:45 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: 12:17 AM-2:17 AM, 12:45 PM-2:45 PM, 5:39 AM-6:39 AM. Cooler at 17 °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 Ocean Grove today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:05), sunset (20:06), 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 12:17 AM-2:17 AM and 12:45 PM-2:45 PM; minor 5:39 AM-6:39 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
HIGH12:38 am0.84 m
LOW6:39 am-0.42 m
HIGH12:18 pm0.51 m
LOW6:16 pm-1.00 m
Wed
HIGH1:22 am0.99 m
LOW7:22 am-0.49 m
HIGH1:01 pm0.47 m
LOW7:01 pm-1.14 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low24 °C / 11 °C
WindENE 15 km/h, gusts 28 km/h
Pressure1016.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 18%
Sunrise / Sunset06:05 / 20:06
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 Ocean Grove
The best day on Ocean Grove 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
- 12:17 AM-2:17 AM and 12:45 PM-2:45 PM
- Minor period
- 5:39 AM-6:39 AM
- Sun
- 06:05 to 20:06
- Moon
- New Moon, 1% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 18%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Ocean Grove: 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 Ocean Grove 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 Ocean Grove 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 26 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 14 °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 31 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
Fishing at Ocean Grove requires a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence unless you are exempt; the costs are on our Victoria page.
About this water
Ocean Grove is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Ocean Grove: the full guide
Ocean Grove and the beach
Ocean Grove is the surf town on the Bellarine Peninsula east of the Barwon River mouth, with a long beach running east toward Point Lonsdale and the river mouth and the bridge to Barwon Heads at its western end. The Barwon Bluff Marine Sanctuary lies across the river mouth, and Point Lonsdale is one of the six areas of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park; both are closed to all fishing. The daily score and a modelled tide curve are calculated for the town. Barwon Heads has its own page.
Species and seasons
Australian salmon run the beach in the cooler months, at dawn and dusk; King George whiting feed on the beach sand and river flats in summer; flathead take baits on the sandy bottom through the warmer months; and gummy sharks are taken from the beach at night. Black bream hold on the river’s Ocean Grove bank all year, squid work weedy reef edges, and snapper are a boat fish offshore in spring and summer.
Where to fish it
The main beach is the salmon and whiting sand, fished on the rising tide into dusk, and the river bank on the Ocean Grove side of the bridge is for bream and flathead. Boats can reach the offshore reefs through the Barwon mouth in calm weather. Before fishing toward Point Lonsdale, check the marine national park boundary markers, which point inward to the protected area. On the beach, a long rod that keeps the line above the first breaker helps in a running surf.
Reading this report here
The beach faces south, so a south-westerly builds the surf and closes it, while a northerly lays it down, and the wind row shows which to expect. The tide panel is a modelled curve for Ocean Grove, labelled as a model, and the beach tends to fish best on the rising tide into dusk.
Licence, access and rules
Fishing at Ocean Grove requires a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence unless you are exempt; the costs are on our Victoria page. VFA limits apply, and the marine sanctuary at the Bluff and the Point Lonsdale area of the marine national park are closed to all fishing, including from the shore.
Common questions
What can I catch at Ocean Grove beach?
Australian salmon in the cooler months, whiting in summer, flathead in the warmer months and gummy sharks at night.
Can I fish at Point Lonsdale?
Not inside the Point Lonsdale area of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park, where all fishing is prohibited; outside its boundaries the normal VFA rules apply.
Do I need a licence at Ocean Grove?
Yes. A Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence is needed on the beach and in the river unless you are exempt.
Is fishing good at Ocean Grove 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.