Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Phillip Island Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
Between Western Port and Bass Strait: the Cowes and Rhyll piers on the calm side, San Remo and the surf beaches on the wild side, and the channels in between.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 5:46 pm model
Air / High
13 °C / 19 °C
Wind
ENE 19 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Phillip Island rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 19 km/h, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 19 °C. Tides: high 11:51 am, low 5:42 am and 5:46 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 11:26 PM-1:26 AM and 11:54 AM-1:54 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: 11:26 PM-1:26 AM, 11:54 AM-1:54 PM, 5:03 AM-6:03 AM. Warmer at 24 °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 Phillip Island today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:03), sunset (20:03), 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 11:26 PM-1:26 AM and 11:54 AM-1:54 PM; minor 5:03 AM-6:03 AM. New Moon, 0% 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.
Mon
LOW5:42 am-0.57 m
HIGH11:51 am0.42 m
LOW5:46 pm-1.07 m
Tue
HIGH12:50 am0.88 m
LOW6:41 am-0.47 m
HIGH12:30 pm0.56 m
LOW6:33 pm-1.05 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low19 °C / 11 °C
WindENE 19 km/h, gusts 36 km/h
Pressure1017.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain7% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:03 / 20:03
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~17 °C est.
Why the tide matters here: tides and fishing in Australia.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Phillip Island
The best day on Phillip Island this week looks like Thursday 12 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Thursday, 12 Nov — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:26 PM-1:26 AM and 11:54 AM-1:54 PM
- Minor period
- 5:03 AM-6:03 AM
- Sun
- 06:03 to 20:03
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Phillip Island: 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 Phillip Island 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 Phillip Island today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, 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 31 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 35 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
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 35 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
You fish here on a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence unless exempt.
About this water
Phillip Island is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Phillip Island: the full guide
The island
Phillip Island sits at the entrance of Western Port, joined to the mainland by the bridge at San Remo, with the calm water of the bay on its northern shore and Bass Strait on its southern. That gives it two fisheries: the piers at Cowes and Rhyll, the channels and the seagrass of Western Port on the north side, and the surf beaches, the rock platforms and the Nobbies on the south, with the Eastern Entrance and San Remo between them where the tide runs hardest. It is a holiday island and its piers fill up in summer. The report on this page is scored for the island’s coordinates; the bay-wide picture is on the Western Port page.
Species by season
King George whiting fish the seagrass and the channel edges off Rhyll and Cowes from spring to autumn; snapper come into the channels in spring and summer; and squid work the seagrass and the pier lights, with spring and autumn the peaks. Australian salmon run the surf beaches in the cooler months, garfish and silver trevally are pier fish through much of the year, flathead lie on the sand off the piers in the warmer months, and San Remo and the entrance give salmon and trevally on the tide. Gummy shark are a target for the boats in the channels during the warmer months.
Reading this report for Phillip Island
The island has a lee shore in every wind, so the wind row tells you which side to fish: a northerly roughs up the bay side and calms the surf beaches, a south-westerly does the opposite. Pressure and cloud cover go into the score, and the planner sets out the week; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, and the entrance and the channels run hard on the tide, so use the curve for the direction and the Bureau of Meteorology prediction for the minute.
Licence and access
You fish here on a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence unless exempt. Under the 2026/2027 schedule in force from 1 July 2026 the VFA sells it for A$10.00 for three days, A$24.70 for 28 days, A$40.80 for a year online and A$111.20 for three years online, with agents charging a little more for the longer options. The piers at Cowes, Rhyll and San Remo, the beaches and the rock platforms are public; the VFA size and bag limits are on the page in the sources, and Parks Victoria’s maps show any marine protected area near where you plan to fish.
Common questions
What can I catch from the Cowes and Rhyll piers?
King George whiting in season, squid under the lights, garfish, silver trevally and flathead, and the smaller snapper in spring and summer.
Do I need a licence to fish on Phillip Island?
Yes, unless you are exempt: Victoria requires its Recreational Fishing Licence on the piers, the beaches and the rocks alike, from A$10.00 for three days.
Is fishing good at Phillip Island 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.