Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Port Fairy Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Moyne River port on the Shipwreck Coast: bream in the river, salmon on the beaches, snapper and tuna outside, with the wharf and the breakwater in the middle of town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 12:04 pm model
Air / High
12 °C / 13 °C
Wind
SE 28 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Port Fairy is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind SE around 27 km/h, steady pressure near 1034 hPa and a high of 13 °C. Tides: high 12:04 pm, low 6:10 am and 6:30 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 13 °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 Port Fairy today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:15), sunset (18:31), 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
LOW6:10 am-0.38 m
HIGH12:04 pm0.11 m
LOW6:30 pm-0.44 m
Sun
HIGH12:13 am0.02 m
LOW6:39 am-0.52 m
HIGH12:21 pm-0.05 m
LOW6:30 pm-0.55 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp12 °C
High / Low13 °C / 10 °C
WindSE 28 km/h, gusts 48 km/h
Pressure1033.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 92%
Sunrise / Sunset06:15 / 18:31
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 Port Fairy
The best day on Port Fairy 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
- 06:15 to 18:31
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 29 km/h
- Rain chance
- 92%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Port Fairy: 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 Port Fairy 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 Port Fairy 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 17 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Thu, 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 22 °C, wind to 23 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 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
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies at Port Fairy unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the 2026/27 fees.
About this water
Port Fairy is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Port Fairy: the full guide
Port Fairy and the Moyne
Port Fairy is the historic fishing port on Victoria’s south-west coast between Warrnambool and Portland, on the Moyne River with its wharf, its crayfish boats and its breakwater, East Beach running north to the Belfast Lough, Griffiths Island and its mutton-birds at the river mouth, and the Southern Ocean beaches and reefs either side. It is a river-and-ocean town, and the report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates. Warrnambool and Portland have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Black bream fish the Moyne’s wharves, walls and snags all year and are the town’s fish; Australian salmon run East Beach and the reefs in the cooler months; snapper come to the inshore reef in spring and early summer for the boats through the river mouth; King George whiting fish the sand and weed of the bay in summer; estuary perch and mullet fish the river; squid work the breakwater weed; and the tuna of the Shipwreck Coast run offshore in autumn for the charter boats. Gummy shark fish the Port Fairy sand at night.
Where to fish it
The Moyne River wharves along Gipps Street and the training walls at the river mouth are the bream and squid marks, fished on the run-in and at night under the lights, and East Beach north of the river is the salmon and gummy beach; the Griffiths Island causeway and the reef off the lighthouse are the whiting and snapper ground for the boats out of the river. The ramps are on the Moyne at the wharf.
Reading this report here
The coast faces the Southern Ocean and a south-westerly closes the beaches and the reefs while the river stays fishable; the wind row tells you which. The tide panel is a modelled curve for the coordinates of Port Fairy, labelled as a model, small on this coast, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the times. Pressure and sky build the score at Port Fairy; the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies at Port Fairy unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the 2026/27 fees. The wharf, the breakwater and the beaches are public, with ramps on the river; the VFA limits are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Moyne River?
Black bream all year on the wharves and the walls, estuary perch and mullet, and squid on the breakwater weed.
Do I need a licence at Port Fairy?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence.
Is fishing good at Port Fairy 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.