Southern calamari
Excellent
Spring and autumn are the seasons: the weed beds on the rising tide, slow sinking jigs.
Western Port Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Port Phillip’s wilder neighbour: tidal channels, mudflats, mangroves and the whiting, snapper and gummy shark fishery of Victoria’s second bay.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 3:21 pm model
Air / High
14 °C / 21 °C
Wind
SSW 8 km/h
Sources: modelled tide curve, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Western Port rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSW around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Tides: high 9:35 am and 9:43 pm, low 2:38 am and 3:21 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 Western Port today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:04), sunset (18:18), 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
LOW2:38 am-0.67 m
HIGH9:35 am0.45 m
LOW3:21 pm-0.40 m
HIGH9:43 pm0.34 m
Sat
LOW3:49 am-0.68 m
HIGH10:26 am0.44 m
LOW4:26 pm-0.65 m
HIGH10:52 pm0.40 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low21 °C / 14 °C
WindSSW 8 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1025.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 84%
Sunrise / Sunset06:04 / 18:18
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 Western Port
The best day on Western Port 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
- 06:04 to 18:18
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 84%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Western Port: 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 Western Port 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 Western Port 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 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 15 °C, wind to 16 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 13 °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
Bring a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence unless you are under 18, 70 or over or hold an exempting card; our Victoria page has the 2026/2027 prices.
About this water
Western Port is a bay or coastal water in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Western Port: the full guide
The bay
Western Port is the second of Melbourne’s two bays, east of the Mornington Peninsula and wrapped around French Island and Phillip Island, and it is nothing like Port Phillip: deep channels between wide mudflats and seagrass, mangroves on the northern shores, two entrances to Bass Strait and a tide that runs hard and drains half the bay. The towns of Hastings, Tooradin, Corinella, Rhyll and Cowes are its ports, the channels between the islands are its fishing grounds, and the piers at Stony Point, Hastings, Cowes and Rhyll are its shore marks.
Species by season
King George whiting fish the seagrass and the channel edges from spring to autumn, snapper come into the channels in spring and summer, and gummy shark are the bay’s specialty on the channel edges through the warmer months. Elephant fish arrive in autumn, Australian salmon run the entrances and the Phillip Island beaches in winter, squid work the seagrass and the pier lights in spring and autumn, and flathead, garfish and silver trevally fish the piers and the shallows through the year. Bream hold in the creeks and around the mangroves of the northern shore.
Reading this report for the bay
Western Port is a tide fishery before it is a weather one: the tide panel, a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model, shows the direction of the run, and the channels fish on the change and the run-in over the flats; the Bureau of Meteorology has the official times. The wind row matters because the bay is open and shallow, and a strong westerly or south-westerly makes the channels rough and the piers the only option. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows which day to take.
Licence and access
Bring a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence unless you are under 18, 70 or over or hold an exempting card; our Victoria page has the 2026/2027 prices. The piers at Stony Point, Hastings, Cowes, Rhyll and Tooradin are public, and ramps around the bay serve the channels. The bay has marine park zones and the VFA limits apply; both are on the pages linked in the sources.
Common questions
What is Western Port known for?
King George whiting over the seagrass, snapper in the channels in spring and summer, gummy shark on the channel edges and elephant fish in autumn.
Do I need a licence to fish Western Port?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies.
Is fishing good at Western Port 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.