Snapper
Excellent
Fish are thinner inshore. Work the deeper structure and the channel edges with baits on the bottom, and pick the tide change.
Rye Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Mornington Peninsula’s bay town: Rye pier’s squid and whiting, the shallow bay flats and the ocean back beach.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 11:37 am model
Air / High
15 °C / 19 °C
Wind
E 18 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Rye has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 18 km/h, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 19 °C. Tides: high 11:37 am, low 5:39 am and 5:30 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 11:28 PM-1:28 AM and 11:56 AM-1:56 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: 11:28 PM-1:28 AM, 11:56 AM-1:56 PM, 5:05 AM-6:05 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 Rye today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:04), sunset (20:04), 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 11:28 PM-1:28 AM and 11:56 AM-1:56 PM; minor 5:05 AM-6:05 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
LOW5:39 am-0.52 m
HIGH11:37 am0.37 m
LOW5:30 pm-0.99 m
Tue
HIGH12:40 am0.85 m
LOW6:30 am-0.43 m
HIGH12:21 pm0.52 m
LOW6:21 pm-1.01 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low19 °C / 10 °C
WindE 18 km/h, gusts 31 km/h
Pressure1017.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain10% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:04 / 20:04
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 Rye
The best day on Rye 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
- 11:28 PM-1:28 AM and 11:56 AM-1:56 PM
- Minor period
- 5:05 AM-6:05 AM
- Sun
- 06:04 to 20:04
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 26 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Rye: 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 Rye 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 Rye 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 15 °C, wind to 24 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 32 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 27 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
Rye falls under Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence, with exemptions and prices on our Victoria page.
About this water
Rye is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Rye: the full guide
Rye and the pier
Rye is the bay town on the Mornington Peninsula between Rosebud and Sorrento, with a long pier on the Port Phillip side, shallow sand flats and weed beds either side of it, and the ocean back beach on the other side of the peninsula. Toward the heads, Point Nepean, Portsea Hole and Popes Eye are parts of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park, closed to all fishing. This page scores the weather at Rye and shows a modelled tide curve for the same place. Sorrento has its own page.
Species and seasons
Squid are Rye pier’s staple, taken over the weed by day and under the lights after dark; King George whiting feed on the flats and weed edges from spring to autumn; and snapper come into the southern bay in spring and early summer for boats. Australian salmon visit the pier and the back beach in the cooler months, flathead lie on the sand, and garfish and silver trevally are regular pier fish.
Where to fish it
Rye pier is the land-based spot for squid, whiting and garfish, fished at night under the lights and at dawn from the outer end, and the flats either side are for whiting and flathead from a small boat or by wading. The back beach on the ocean side is for salmon in the cooler months, but it faces open ocean swell and is dangerous in rough conditions.
Reading this report here
The bay side is sheltered from southerly weather and exposed to northerlies, and the back beach the reverse, so the wind row decides which side of the peninsula to fish. The tide panel is a modelled curve for Rye, labelled as a model; inside Port Phillip the tide runs later than at the heads, so read it for direction and take official times from the Bureau of Meteorology.
Licence, access and rules
Rye falls under Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence, with exemptions and prices on our Victoria page. VFA limits apply, and the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park areas at Point Nepean, Portsea Hole and Popes Eye are closed to all fishing, which matters if you run a boat toward the heads.
Common questions
What can I catch from Rye pier?
Squid under the lights and over the weed, whiting from spring to autumn, salmon in the cooler months, and garfish and silver trevally through the year.
Do I need a licence at Rye?
Yes, unless exempt: Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies to all recreational fishing.
Is fishing good at Rye 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.