Welcome to the Lake Boga Fishing Guide. Lake Boga is a family-friendly fishing and camping location 40 kilometres away from the surrounding town Kerang and 15 kilometres from Swan Hill—roughly 330 kilometres from Melbourne, just over 3 hours drive. The lake holds a dense population of silver perch, redfin and carp, which fire up in the warmer months. It’s also a popular spot for boating, water skiing, sailing, canoeing, kayaking and jet skiing, with scattered ramps and launching facilities.
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Things to do at Lake Boga
Lake Boga is an excellent destination for the family with camping and heaps of recreational water activities such as boating, kayaking, waterskiing, wakeboarding, swimming and fishing. You can also hire a boat if you don’t have your own. Lake Boga Caravan Park is situated directly opposite the lake. This is a lovely spot to take the kids, with plenty of fishing spots, surrounding parks, and BBQ facilities. Nearby attractions include the Lakeside Golf course, historic flying boat museum, St Andrews winery, Murray Valley Highway Planetarium and Observatory, and a small drive into the lovely township of Swan Hill. Enjoy the tranquil setting, vast array of birdlife, and wildlife, including snakes and lizards. Be cautious of venomous species like Brown, Tiger, and Red-bellied Black Snakes.
Watch our detailed video guide on our top 10 redfin lures below
Fishing Lake Boga
Lake Boga has its own boat ramp providing excellent access for fishing. Whether by boat, kayak or land, you can catch redfin, silver perch, golden perch, carp and Murray cod. Silver perch are in good numbers here; it’s believed the silver perch migrated through the Kerang Lakes and irrigation channels and have since flourished. In 2016, Lake Boga received a $100,000 grant from the State Government’s Target One Million plan to build a T-shaped floating platform located on the northwest side of the lake, which extends 20 metres across the water. Manmade structures have also been added to help encourage the development of native fish species.
If you plan on fishing with bai,t then good options include worms, yabbies and mud eyes. We enjoy fishing this area, flicking a wide range of soft plastics & lures. Please have a look at our detailed guide on the Best lures and plastics to catch Redfin. If you are targeting cod and yellowbelly, then some great lure choices would include. Lip-less crank-baits, Jackall TN series, stump jumpers, surface lures, vibes, spinnerbaits, Bassman spinners, and large grub-style soft plastics.
When targeting redfin and silver perch, we recommend fishing with a light spinning rod. This will make the experience more enjoyable and improve your catch rates. We recommend using a 2-4 kilo fishing rod with a 2000 or 2500 size reel, spooled with 6-8 pound braid and finished with one rod length of fluorocarbon leader. When targeting golden perch ( yellow belly ) go a little heavier with a 2-4 or 3-5 kilo rod coupled with a 2500-3000 reel loaded with an 8-12 pound braid. If you are targeting Murray cod then you’ll need to up your outfit. A 6 foot to 7-foot rod in a 4-8 kilo or 6-12 kilo class rod and a quality bait caster reel spooled with 20 to 50-pound braid finished with a solid Fluro carbon leader of equal strength. There is a whole range of baitcaster options suiting different budgets. Spring is the best time of year for targeting golden perch ( yellowbelly ) and cod. They can be caught at any time of the day but often the last 2 hours of daylight can be the best. Redfin ( perch ) are more active in the warmer months.
Lake Boga Fishing Gear Selection
Multiple target species are at this location, all requiring quite different setups. And even picking a setup for a specific species here can be tricky. When targeting yellowbelly, a light or medium baitcasting rod should be paired with a 150 baitcast reel, or, as we often prefer, targeting them with a 2-5kg spin rod paired with a 2500-size reel. When targeting redfin and trout, we recommend a 2-4 kg spin rod paired with a 2500 size reel. If bait fishing for multiple species such as carp, yellowbelly, and redfin, a 3-5kg spin rod paired with a 2500 reel would work great
Murray Cod here can grow over a meter. Targeting those giant fish with big lures requires much heavier setups to ensure you can handle the fish’s raw size and power and not break your rod tip when casting heavy lures. Cod lures can weigh anything from 20 grams to 200 grams. Generally, when targeting cod, ideally, 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 go a bit heavier here if you’re targeting huge fish with large lures or smaller if you’re casting smaller lures for smaller cod.
Recommended fishing lures for Lake Boga
- Gulp 3-inch minnow
- Small curtail and paddletail soft plastics
- stump jumpers
- Jackall TN50
- Soft Vibes and Blades
- Storm Gomoku 40mm surface popper
- Zerek fish trap
- Jackall transams
- Samaki vibelicious
- eco gear ZX40
Recommended baits at Lake Boga
At this location, we highly recommend the baits suggested below. There are several ways to present baits, including a running sinker rig, a paternoster rig, or a dropper rig. The rig and sinker choice will depend on the species you are targeting and the conditions, such as wind and tidal strength.
- Scrub worms
- Powerbait
- Yabbies
- Mudeye
- Live minnow
- Maggots
- Cheese cubes
Targeting Redfin at Lake Boga
We recommend targeting Redfin with a light spin outfit. This will make the experience more enjoyable and improve your catch rates. A 2-4 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 2000 or 2500 reel spooled with 4-8-pound braid and an equivalent fluorocarbon leader should be perfect. Redfin responds well to lures and soft plastics, so check our guide on the best lures for catching Redfin. When using soft plastics, we highly recommend curl tails, minnow imitations, and paddle tails in natural and bright colours. Rigged with a jig head that’s 1/8 through to 1/20 in weight. The most effective way to use these is to cast towards visible structure and slow roll the soft plastic with lifts and pauses for the retrieve. Shallow diving hard body lures, blades and vibes are also very effective in this system. So are traditional spinners and Tassie devils in bright colours. Metal spoons also play a role in allowing you to cast great distances and target the bigger reddies. Just remember, they are pretty heavy and very prone to snags in small inland systems like this one.
Targeting Estuary Perch at Lake Boga
Another highlight of fishing in this area is targeting Estuary perch with surface and shallow diving lures. The action can be frantic on warm balmy evenings with low wind. listen for the sound of breaking water which indicates EPs are feeding. The excitement an angler gets from an EP smashing a surface lure on light gear is something that truly needs to be experienced. It almost catches you by surprise when that aggressive strike comes. Small surface poppers, cicadas, blades, surface minnows and pencil lures work well here. So do shallow diving hardbody lures. Noteworthy options include bent minnows, Rapala countdown series, nories laydown minnows and shallow diving cranks. Basically, anything that doesn’t dive too deep and makes a good vibrating action will work well. You can use any colour choice we often start with silvers that mimic small baitfish or mullet.
EPs also respond incredibly well to a whole range of soft plastics lightly weighted. Including curl tails, paddle tails and minnow imitations. The trusty 2.5-inch grubs and minnows are an excellent choice. These imitate small baitfish that the EPs are actively feeding on. We would recommend mixing up the retrieval speeds and pauses and playing around with different colours. Where possible fish along with the structure and stay alert for signs such as breaking water. Fishing for Estuary Perch requires finesse. We recommend an ultralight fishing combo consisting of a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo spin rod around 7 feet in length. Coupled with a 1000 or 2000 size reel spooled with 2-8 pound line and equivalent fluorocarbon leader. When bait fishing uses a 2-4 kilo rod around 7 feet in length. Coupled with a 2500 size reel either a float or small running sinker to a swivel and very fine leader.
Targeting Yellowbelly at Lake Boga
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 Boga
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.
Targeting Carp at Lake Boga
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.
Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. All other photos and videos shown on the Lake Boga Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thanks for reading our Lake Boga 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
