Rainbow trout
Excellent
Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Tambo River at Swifts Creek Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The upper Tambo at Swifts Creek: a high-country trout stream on the Great Alpine Road between Omeo and Ensay, with the Bureau’s gauge at the town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
1.72 m
Air / High
9 °C / 18 °C
Wind
SSW 3 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 223202, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Tambo River at Swifts Creek rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. The gauge reads 1.72 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind SSW around 3 km/h, steady pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 18 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Brown trout
Excellent
Prime. Nymphs and streamers on the rivers, and the lake edges on the overcast days.
River blackfish
Closed today
Reopens 1 Jan 2027. River blackfish and two-spined blackfish cannot be taken or possessed in, on or next to Victorian waters south of the Great Dividing Range from 1 September to 31 December inclusive.
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, 11:44 AM-1:44 PM, 4:56 AM-5:56 AM. Warmer at 25 °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 rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with VFA before you keep anything; the Rainbow trout page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Tambo River at Swifts Creek today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:55), sunset (19:50), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM; minor 4:56 AM-5:56 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 223202 (TAMBO @ SWIFTS CREEK).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 223202. Latest reading 2026-11-07 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp9 °C
High / Low18 °C / 4 °C
WindSSW 3 km/h, gusts 13 km/h
Pressure1020.1 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 12%
Sunrise / Sunset05:55 / 19:50
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Tambo River at Swifts Creek
The best day on Tambo River at Swifts Creek 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
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM
- Minor period
- 4:56 AM-5:56 AM
- Sun
- 05:55 to 19:50
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 12%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Tambo River at Swifts Creek: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Streams from October to June in NSW and from September to June in Victoria; lakes open all year; Tasmania from the first Saturday of August
Open now Closes 15 June 2027. Rivers and streams close from the Tuesday after the King’s Birthday weekend to the Friday before the first Saturday in September. Lakes and reservoirs stay open all year. Rule as read from Victorian Fisheries Authority on 2026-09-23.
The stocked lakes of the Snowy Mountains, the Victorian highlands and the Tasmanian central plateau. Closed seasons apply on the rivers: check the state rules. Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Brown trout
Streams from October to June in NSW and from September to June in Victoria; lakes open all year; Tasmania from the first Saturday of August
Open now Closes 15 June 2027. Rivers and streams close from the Tuesday after the King’s Birthday weekend to the Friday before the first Saturday in September. Lakes and reservoirs stay open all year. Rule as read from Victorian Fisheries Authority on 2026-09-23.
The wild trout of the highland rivers and Tasmania's lakes. Spawns in autumn, hence the closed rivers through winter in NSW and Victoria. Prime. Nymphs and streamers on the rivers, and the lake edges on the overcast days.
River blackfish
Victoria: closed 1 September to 31 December south of the Great Dividing Range; an evening and night fish the rest of the year
Closed now Reopens 1 Jan 2027. River blackfish and two-spined blackfish cannot be taken or possessed in, on or next to Victorian waters south of the Great Dividing Range from 1 September to 31 December inclusive. Rule as read from Victorian Fisheries Authority on 2026-09-29.
A slimy, mottled native of cool, snag-filled streams on both sides of the Divide in Victoria, feeding mainly at night, late evening and early morning. The VFA sets a 30 cm minimum and a combined bag of 2 blackfish, and closes them from 1 September to 31 December south of the Great Dividing Range.
When to come: the Tambo River at Swifts Creek 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
River blackfish
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 Tambo River at Swifts Creek 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. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 12 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 26 °C, wind to 19 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
A Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence is required for anyone not exempt; the prices are on our Victoria page.
About this water
Tambo River at Swifts Creek is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Tambo River at Swifts Creek: the full guide
The reach
The Tambo at Swifts Creek is the upper river in the high country south of Omeo, clear and quick over gravel and rock through the town and the valley’s grazing flats toward Ensay and the gorges below, with the Great Alpine Road alongside. It is trout water, a long way from the estuary at the Gippsland Lakes that has its own page, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Swifts Creek, station 223202, supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Brown and rainbow trout are the fish, in the runs and pools on spinners, bait and the fly, under the Victorian stream closure computed on the species card: trout may not be taken from the Tuesday after the King’s Birthday weekend to the Friday before the first Saturday of September. River blackfish, in the deeper pools, have their own VFA limits.
Where to fish it
Town reserves and road crossings give bank access, and the river is waded through the runs and pool heads. The valley road from Omeo down to Ensay opens up more water in a day. In clear, shallow water, trout hold in the broken surface of riffles and under undercut banks; fish those rather than the flat, glassy water.
Reading the report
The chart shows a high-country river that rises with snowmelt and after rain and falls to its gravel through summer; a fresh gets the trout moving. The water temperature on this page is modelled, not measured, and reads cold for most of the year at this altitude. Valleys like this funnel the wind, so check the wind row for dry-fly days.
Licence, access and rules
A Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence is required for anyone not exempt; the prices are on our Victoria page. The VFA trout and blackfish rules are linked here.
Down to the lakes
Far downstream the Tambo becomes a different fishery. The VFA lists the Tambo downstream of the Bruthen Road bridge as a sea-run trout river open for trout all year, and its stocking record includes Australian bass for the Tambo. None of that applies at Swifts Creek, which follows the ordinary stream season; the Tambo River page covers the lower river and the lakes.
Common questions
Is this the same Tambo River as the lakes page?
The same river, much higher up. This page is the high-country trout water; the Tambo River page covers the lower river and the Gippsland Lakes end.
Is the Tambo open for trout all year?
Only downstream of the Bruthen Road bridge, which the VFA lists as a sea-run trout river. At Swifts Creek the ordinary stream closed season applies.
Is fishing good at Tambo River at Swifts Creek 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
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 223202 — TAMBO @ SWIFTS CREEK
- 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.