Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Warrnambool Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Hopkins River, Lady Bay and the breakwater: Warrnambool fishes an estuary, a sheltered bay and the Shipwreck Coast beaches in one town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 6:47 pm model
Air / High
13 °C / 18 °C
Wind
SE 6 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Warrnambool has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. Today brings cloud cover, wind SE around 6 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 18 °C. Tides: high 11:54 am and 11:45 pm, low 5:18 am and 6:47 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 13 °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 Warrnambool today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:15), sunset (18:28), 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
LOW5:18 am-0.27 m
HIGH11:54 am0.23 m
LOW6:47 pm-0.27 m
HIGH11:45 pm0.03 m
Sat
LOW6:06 am-0.37 m
HIGH12:00 pm0.10 m
LOW6:30 pm-0.43 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low18 °C / 13 °C
WindSE 6 km/h, gusts 16 km/h
Pressure1026.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 80%
Sunrise / Sunset06:15 / 18:28
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 Warrnambool
The best day on Warrnambool 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
- 06:15 to 18:28
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 80%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Warrnambool: 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 Warrnambool 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 Warrnambool 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 23 °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 16 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Southern calamari led the card at excellent. High of 13 °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 licenses all recreational fishing, this water included, unless you are exempt; the current prices are on our Victoria licence page.
About this water
Warrnambool is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Warrnambool: the full guide
Warrnambool and its water
Warrnambool is the city of Victoria’s south-west coast, on Lady Bay with the breakwater that shelters it, the Hopkins River running into the sea at its eastern edge and the Merri River at its western, and the beaches and rock platforms of the Shipwreck Coast on either side. The Hopkins is a long estuary that fishes for bream far upstream, the bay and the breakwater are the town’s shore marks, and the reefs and the shelf beyond are for the boats on the days the Southern Ocean allows.
Species by season
Bream are the Hopkins’ fish all year around the snags, the rock walls and the bridge, with estuary perch upstream; mulloway are taken in the river mouth and the bay at night; and flathead and whiting fish the bay sand in the warmer months. Australian salmon run the beaches and the breakwater in the cooler months, snapper come into the bay in spring and summer, squid work the weed off the breakwater in spring and autumn, and the reefs outside give snapper, gummy shark and, in summer, the odd kingfish. The rock platforms fish for salmon and sweep but are exposed to swell.
Reading this report here
This is Southern Ocean coast and the wind and swell decide the day: a south-westerly brings swell into the bay and closes the rocks, a northerly flattens the bay and makes the breakwater and the beaches fishable. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the window; the tide panel is a modelled curve for these coordinates, labelled as a model, useful for the run in the river and the bay, with the Bureau of Meteorology for the times.
Licence and access
Victoria licenses all recreational fishing, this water included, unless you are exempt; the current prices are on our Victoria licence page. The breakwater, the bay foreshore, the river banks and the beaches are public, with ramps in the harbour and on the Hopkins; the VFA limits are on the page in the sources, and rock fishing here has its own safety rules.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Hopkins River?
Bream all year around the snags and the walls, estuary perch upstream, and mulloway at the mouth at night.
Do I need a licence to fish in Warrnambool?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies.
Is fishing good at Warrnambool 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.