Welcome to the Lake Benalla Fishing Guide. Lake Benalla is located in northeast Victoria, roughly a 2 1/2 hours drive from Melbourne. It was established in the 1970s and became a quiet and scenic area nice for walking and cycling. It has lovely surrounding birdlife, including ducks, pelicans, cockatoos and kookaburras. It has over 4 kilometres of beautiful walking tracks around the area. In recent times, it has had issues with flooding, dangerous levels of organisms and poor water clarity. This was once only a carp fishing destination, but several years ago, it was stocked heavily with native fish, including yellowbelly and Murray cod and native fish habitats and structures. This, however, stopped in 2018 due to concerns about fish not flourishing in the system.
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Things to do at Lake Benalla
There is a scenic 4-kilometre walking track around Lake Benalla, which offers picturesque views. It’s a relaxing way to capture some scenic photos whilst enjoying the local fauna, birdlife and wildlife. Nearby attractions include the Benalla Botanic Gardens, the Adventure Playground of Bridge Street and the Art Gallery. A couple of years ago, swimming was prohibited at Lake Benalla due to poor water conditions. So check for updates before entering, and don’t eat fish caught from here. Always beware of snakes in rural areas, which are known to have brown, tiger and red-bellied.
Fishing Lake Benalla
At Lake Benalla, you can catch carp, eels, and tench. Thanks to recent initiatives by the VFA, there have also been programs to stock native fish species, including Murray cod and yellowbelly. When targeting carp, standard baits such as corn, bread, and maggots work great for carp here. Using a simple running sinker rig with a pea-size sinker works excellently in this area. So, does suspending baits using a float. We have also fished well using unweighted baits. You can also target carp with hard body lures and soft plastics. This is a difficult technique that generally requires sight casting. This means spotting a nearby carp and casting right in there and working the lure of plastic slowly hoping they will strike. It’s tough but very rewarding when you catch a carp using this method. Most, however, will stick to targeting them with bait.
Most freshwater species have a tendency to feed more aggressively at Dawn and Dusk. We like to target carp on sundown, particularly in the warmer months. This is often when you see carp swimming along the edges or jumping out of the water around September-November which is their spawning season. European carp must not be returned to the water. Always carry your Victorian fishing license.
Best baits at Lake Benalla
- Corn
- scrub worms
- earthworms
- bread
- maggots
- boilies
Targeting Carp at Lake Benalla
We highly recommend you read our detailed guide on how to catch carp fishing around Victoria. Carp will actively take simple baits like worms, corn, bread, and maggots on a running sinker rig with a small sinker. Suspending baits from a float also works well, as do unweighted baits. You can target carp with hard-body lures and soft plastics; however, this is a complex technique that generally requires sight casting a nearby carp, casting towards them and working the lure of plastic slowly, hoping they will strike. It’s challenging but rewarding when you catch a carp using this method. Most anglers, however, will stick to targeting them with bait.
A 2-5 kilo rod coupled with a 3000 size reel is very suitable. You could even fish a little heavier if the system is known to hold huge ones up to a meter. I have caught some monster-size carp using a 2-4 kilo rod and 6-pound braid for fun. But I am prepared to lose some good fish in the process. We like to target carp at sundown, particularly in the warmer months. This is often when you see carp swimming along the edges or jumping out of the water around September-November, which is their spawning season. European carp must not be returned to the water. A simple yet effective fishing rig involves threading a small running sinker through the mainline, typically around 8 pounds, as shown in blue. Then, tie a medium swivel to the end, allowing the sinker to run up the mainline freely. Then, tie on the other end of the swivel 50cm of 8-pound fluorocarbon leader (the leader is shown in grey ). Finished with a hook. I generally use a size six bait keeper hook or a size 10 long shank, which is perfect for corn kernels or scrub worms; however, you can also use small treble style hooks, which is a better setup if you use bread.
If you’re getting snagged, you can also use a float rig. Attach a quill or bubble float to your mainline. Thread the line through and adjust the length using a size 6 bait keeper hook or size 10 long shank to keep your bait suspended at a good depth. Ideally, cast down the breeze, stopping the float from returning to you. If you’re not getting bites, adjust the line depth and, if necessary, add a splint shot to add weight.
Targeting Yellowbelly at Lake Benalla
Yellow belly, AKA Golden Perch, is a beautiful freshwater fish in this system. With a rich food source, they can grow to thick and plump sizes. Good lure choices include curl tail soft plastics; the Gulp 3-inch grub minnow in black is a standout choice. Soft vibes like the Zerek fish trap, and Samaki vibelicious are great options. Lip-less crank-baits, such as Jackall TN50 and TN60, remain very popular, as do blades like the eco gear ZX40 with stinger hooks. Other favourites are the reliable stump jumpers and spinnerbaits. Soft plastics work best on a 1/8 or 1/4 jig head vertically jigged along structure. This technique works particularly well when using spotlock or tying your boat or kayak up against trees. Slowly work the soft plastic against the tree and add some noise to the action by tapping the butt of your rod or by hitting the jig head into the timber. This brings out the predatory nature of the yellowbelly. Take advantage of Livescope, down scan and side scan technologies on your sounder and spend some time moving between the structure to find the fish. Other lures will also work well in open water, being slow-rolled or trolled. Typically, we use a light to medium spin rod around 7 feet in length, 2-4 or 3-5 kilo class, paired with a 2000 or 2500 size reel and spooled with 8-12-pound braid and an equivalent fluorocarbon leader. Baitcaster rods and reels are a very popular choice when targeting yellowbelly. Good options include a 3-5 or 4-6 baitcaster with a 2000 baitcaster reel. When bait fishing, a 7-foot light rod paired with a 3000-size reel is used. Good bait rigs include a paternoster rig with a small sinker at the bottom or a running sinker rig with scrub worms or yabbies.
Targeting Murray Cod at Lake Benalla
Murray Cod is Australia’s largest freshwater fish, which grows to impressive sizes. Murray Cod are ambush predators that love the cover of structure, so make sure you concentrate your efforts on any visible structure, including logs and submerged trees. They will also seek shelter in deeper holes and rock ledges. Murray Cod are most active in low light conditions, such as sunrise and sundown. A medium to heavy bait-caster rod is ideal when targeting cod. At this system, which has giant cod, we recommend a heavy baitcast combo around 6″6 in length and 8-15kg in class paired with a 150/200 baitcast reel spooled with 50lb braid. You can also fish lighter, which might be a stiff 6-foot rod in the 6-10 kilo class matched with a suitable size bait-caster reel spooled with a 20lb to 30lb braid and 30lb to 40lb leader. Good lure options for Murray Cod include hard body lures, surface lures, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, shads, lipless crankbaits, paddle tail and curtail soft plastics. If access is permitted, these should be worked slowly or trolled from your boat or kayak. Some terrific surface lures are on the market these days, including imitation mice, frogs, ducks, and snakes with realistic action that are fun to target cod with. Bait anglers can target Murray cod with live yabbies and worms.
Watch a detailed video of Al from FishingMad walking you through how to catch big Murray Cod.
Lake Benalla News
- In March 2019, 40 fish habitat structures were installed on Lake Benalla by the Tatong Anglers Club. This is in an attempt to restore the lake to its founder glory and to start stocking it once again with native fish species.
- In 2020, the VFA and Goulburn Murray Water teamed up to relocate native fish species, including Murray cod and yellowbelly, from local irrigation channels into Lake Benalla. This is welcome news.
Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. Header featured from timeout.com/melbourne. All other images and videos shown on the Lake Benalla Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thanks for reading our Lake Benalla Fishing Guide. If you believe this location guide is missing key information or requires corrections, please email our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au with specific details. Please also feel free to share any fishing pictures you have from this location with us. Thank you
