Fishways are commonly installed at instream barriers to improve connectivity for migratory fish populations. However, poorly designed fishway entrances can severely compromise fish attraction, and ultimately recovery of migratory fish populations. An important tenet of fishway entrances is that they should be located at the upstream limit of migration. However, fishway attraction efficiency can be compromised when the upstream limit of migration shifts due to variable discharge, or in large, wide rivers where the upstream limit spans a broad area, making it difficult to determine the optimal location for the entrance. Here we identify fishways with poor attraction efficiency and suggest a number of solutions to improve fishway attraction efficiency including a case study of a fishway located in coastal Victoria that had a well located entrance under low flow conditions that became compromised under medium and high flows. We also suggest improvements to weir wall design to improve fish attraction and to support the recovery of native fish.