Welcome to the Manor Lakes Fishing Guide. Manor Lakes is a reasonably new housing estate located 33 kilometres or 40 minutes southwest of Melbourne near the township of Werribee. This is a go-to fishing destination if you enjoy fishing for large carp. A residential lake built around a new housing estate, it offers walking trails, playgrounds, duck feeding, picnic and BBQ facilities. This location is well known for its population of European Carp, with plenty of them and some in large sizes. To learn more about catching Carp, click here to read our guide on carp fishing around Melbourne.
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Watch as we target carp at Manor Lakes
Things to do at Manor Lakes
Manor Lakes is mainly a new housing estate with estate schools, a library, a community centre, an adventure playground, open grounds and walking tracks. It’s an environmentally friendly design to encourage families to get outdoors. It has basic facilities for on-site BBQs, walking and cycling tracks or duck feeding. Ample parking is available. A short drive away, you have local attractions including the Werribee open range zoo, Victorian state rose gardens and Werribee historic mansions.
Fishing at Manor Lakes
At Manor Lakes, you can catch carp, mirror carp & eels. Standard baits such as corn, bread, and maggots work great for carp here. It’s a very shallow water system, only 1 meter deep in most areas, so a simple running sinker rig with a pea-size sinker works excellent in this area. So, it suspends the same baits with a float. We have also fished well using unweighted baits.
Therefore, a 3-6 kilo rod coupled with a 4000 size reel is very appropriate. You could even fish a little heavier with rods designed for snapper that are generally 4-7 kilos, 7 feet in length. We recommend 10-pound line and a strong leader. Again you can go heavier if you wish, for fun I have caught some monster size carp using a 2-4 kilo rod and a 6-pound braid. But I am prepared to lose some good fish in the process. Most freshwater species tend 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.
Recommended baits Manor Lakes
- Corn
- Scrub worms
- maggots
Targeting Carp at Manor Lakes
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.
Check out this video we recently recorded. A step by step guide on how to catch carp.
Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. All other photos and videos shown on the Manor Lakes Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Manor Lakes 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
