Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Ocean Grove Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Bellarine’s surf town across the river from Barwon Heads: the main beach’s salmon and whiting, the river mouth and the reef off the point.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 3:21 pm model
Air / High
13 °C / 22 °C
Wind
S 4 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Ocean Grove rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings cloud cover, wind S around 3 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 22 °C. Tides: high 9:35 am and 9:43 pm, low 2:30 am and 3:21 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 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: 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: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 13 °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 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 (06:07), sunset (18:20), 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 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
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.
Fri
LOW2:30 am-0.57 m
HIGH9:35 am0.40 m
LOW3:21 pm-0.34 m
HIGH9:43 pm0.28 m
Sat
LOW3:41 am-0.60 m
HIGH10:23 am0.39 m
LOW4:22 pm-0.62 m
HIGH10:48 pm0.34 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low22 °C / 13 °C
WindS 4 km/h, gusts 13 km/h
Pressure1026.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain73% cloud, 80%
Sunrise / Sunset06:07 / 18:20
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °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 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, 25 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 06:07 to 18:20
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 80%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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 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 Ocean Grove 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. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 24 °C, wind to 14 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 16 °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. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 18 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 Ocean Grove unless exempt; our Victoria page has the fees.
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 the long main beach running east toward Point Lonsdale, the river mouth and the bridge to Barwon Heads at its western end, the river’s Ocean Grove bank and the reef off Collendina. It is a beach town with a river at one end, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Barwon Heads has its own page for the river mouth and the Bluff.
Species and seasons
Australian salmon run the main beach in the cooler months at dawn and dusk and are the beach’s fish; King George whiting fish the beach sand and the river flats in summer; flathead lie on the beach sand and the river from spring to autumn; black bream fish the river’s Ocean Grove bank all year; gummy shark fish the beach at night; squid work the reef weed; and the reef off Collendina gives snapper in spring and summer for the boats through the Barwon mouth or out of Queenscliff.
Where to fish it
The main beach from the surf club east to Collendina 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 the bream and flathead water; the reef off Collendina is the snapper ground for the boats through the Barwon mouth. The nearest ramp is across the river at Barwon Heads, and Point Lonsdale’s rocks are a few minutes east.
Reading this report here
The beach faces south and a south-westerly builds the surf and closes it, while a northerly flattens it; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Ocean Grove, labelled as a model, and the beach fishes on the rising tide into dusk. Pressure and sky build the score at Ocean Grove; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies at Ocean Grove unless exempt; our Victoria page has the fees. The beach and the river bank are public, with the ramp across the river at Barwon Heads; the VFA limits are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Ocean Grove beach?
Australian salmon in the cooler months, whiting in summer, flathead in the warm months and gummy shark at night.
Do I need a licence at Ocean Grove?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence.
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
- 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.