Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Port Phillip Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Melbourne’s bay, where the spring snapper run, the whiting grounds and the pier fishing of a whole city share one shallow, tidal basin.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 3:24 pm model
Air / High
14 °C / 21 °C
Wind
SSW 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Port Phillip has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSW around 11 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Tides: high 9:35 am and 9:39 pm, low 2:30 am and 3:24 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 14 °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 Port Phillip today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:06), 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-0.54 m
HIGH9:35 am0.39 m
LOW3:24 pm-0.31 m
HIGH9:39 pm0.27 m
Sat
LOW3:42 am-0.56 m
HIGH10:19 am0.37 m
LOW4:25 pm-0.57 m
HIGH10:48 pm0.31 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low21 °C / 14 °C
WindSSW 11 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure1026.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 80%
Sunrise / Sunset06:06 / 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 Port Phillip
The best day on Port Phillip 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
- 06:06 to 18:20
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 80%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Port Phillip: 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 Phillip 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 Phillip 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 22 °C, wind to 19 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 21 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 needs a Recreational Fishing Licence for everyone not exempt, and our Victoria licence page has the 2026/2027 fees and the exemptions as read from the VFA.
About this water
Port Phillip is a bay or coastal water in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Port Phillip: the full guide
The bay and its fisheries
Port Phillip is a large, mostly shallow bay with a narrow entrance at the Rip, and it is the water that Melbourne fishes: from the piers of the eastern suburbs at Mordialloc, Frankston and Mornington, the western shore at Williamstown and Altona, the Bellarine from Portarlington to Queenscliff, and Geelong’s Corio Bay in the far west. It has two seasons that draw the crowds. The first is the spring snapper run, when the fish come in through the heads to spawn and the boat ramps fill before dawn; the second is the whiting and squid fishing of summer and autumn over the weed beds of the southern bay. Between them it is a pier and land-based fishery for garfish, flathead, salmon and bream that runs all year.
Species through the year
Snapper enter from spring and hold through summer, with the early fish taken deep off the western shore and the later ones spread across the bay; the Victorian Fisheries Authority publishes the limits and any closures, and the rules page is linked from this report. King George whiting fish best from spring into autumn over the sand-and-weed grounds off the Bellarine and the southern shore, and southern calamari peak in spring and autumn over the same weed. Flathead lie on the sand off the piers and the eastern beaches through the warmer months, Australian salmon run the bay in winter, garfish are a year-round pier fish under a float, and bream work the piers, the creeks and the Yarra.
Reading this report for the bay
The bay is big enough to make its own weather. The wind row decides where to fish: a northerly flattens the eastern shore, a south-westerly makes the Bellarine the lee, and a strong wind of any kind ends the boat fishing for the small craft that make up most of the fleet. Pressure and sky build the score, and the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model; Port Phillip’s tides are small inside the bay and large and fast at the heads, so read the curve for the direction of the flow and take the times from the Bureau of Meteorology.
Licence and access
Victoria needs a Recreational Fishing Licence for everyone not exempt, and our Victoria licence page has the 2026/2027 fees and the exemptions as read from the VFA. Access is everywhere: dozens of public piers with lights and cleaning tables, boat ramps from Altona to Sorrento, and the shore from St Kilda to Point Lonsdale. The species cards below are rated from the month and today’s conditions; the closures and limits are on the VFA page in the sources.
Common questions
When is the snapper season in Port Phillip?
The snapper come into the bay from spring and hold through summer; the species card rates them by month and today’s conditions, and the VFA publishes the limits and any closure.
Do I need a licence to fish Port Phillip?
Yes, unless you are exempt: Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence covers the bay. Our Victoria licence page has the fees and exemptions.
Which piers can I fish in Port Phillip?
The public piers around the bay, among them Mordialloc, Frankston, Mornington, Rye, Portarlington, Queenscliff, Williamstown and Altona, all free and most lit for night fishing.
Is fishing good at Port Phillip 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.