Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Sorrento Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The tip of the Mornington Peninsula: the Sorrento and Portsea piers on the bay, the Rip and Point Nepean, and the back beaches on Bass Strait.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 3:25 pm model
Air / High
14 °C / 19 °C
Wind
SSW 11 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Sorrento 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 19 °C. Tides: high 9:35 am and 9:43 pm, low 2:35 am and 3:25 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 Sorrento today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:05), sunset (18:19), 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
LOW2:35 am-0.59 m
HIGH9:35 am0.41 m
LOW3:25 pm-0.34 m
HIGH9:43 pm0.30 m
Sat
LOW3:44 am-0.62 m
HIGH10:26 am0.39 m
LOW4:26 pm-0.62 m
HIGH10:48 pm0.35 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low19 °C / 14 °C
WindSSW 11 km/h, gusts 20 km/h
Pressure1026.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 80%
Sunrise / Sunset06:05 / 18:19
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 Sorrento
The best day on Sorrento 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
- 06:05 to 18:19
- 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 Sorrento: 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 Sorrento 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 Sorrento 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 21 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 17 °C, wind to 13 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’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees.
About this water
Sorrento is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Sorrento: the full guide
Sorrento and the Heads
Sorrento is the old resort town near the tip of the Mornington Peninsula, on Port Phillip Bay, with the Sorrento pier and the Portsea pier on the bay side, the ferry to Queenscliff across the Rip, Point Nepean and its national park at the very end, and the ocean back beaches at Sorrento and Portsea on Bass Strait. It is a pier and beach town at the meeting of the bay and the ocean, and it fishes from the piers, the bay beaches and the back beaches, and from boats over the bay’s southern reefs and, for those who know the Rip, outside it. Queenscliff, across the water, has its own page. The report on this page is scored for the town’s coordinates.
Species and seasons
Squid are the piers’ fish, over the weed at Sorrento and Portsea through the cooler months and the lights at night, and the reason most people search for the pier; King George whiting fish the weed and sand of the southern bay from spring to autumn; Australian salmon run the back beaches and the Rip in the cooler months; and garfish, silver trevally and flathead fish the piers and the bay. Snapper come to the southern bay in spring and early summer, gummy shark fish the sand and the Rip at night, and the ocean beaches give salmon, and the odd gummy and snapper for the boats outside the Heads when the swell allows.
Reading this report here
The bay side is sheltered from a southerly and open to a northerly, the back beaches the reverse, so the wind row tells you which shore to fish; the Rip runs harder than any water in the state and the tide panel, a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model, is for the direction, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the Port Phillip Heads times that decide whether the Rip is passable. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the day.
Licence, access and rules
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees. The piers, the bay beaches and the back beaches are public, with ramps at Sorrento and Rye; Point Nepean National Park has restricted areas and the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park has no-take zones around the Heads, on the pages in the sources with the VFA limits.
Common questions
What can I catch from Sorrento pier?
Squid over the weed in the cooler months and under the lights at night, whiting, garfish, silver trevally and flathead, and the odd snapper in spring.
Do I need a licence to fish in Sorrento?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies.
Is fishing good at Sorrento 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.