Welcome to the Moorabool Reservoir Fishing Guide. Moorabool Reservoir is one of the largest local water supplies in the central highlands, located near Daylesford. This is a great fishing destination located on Spargo Creek Road, a truly picturesque location with breathtaking views. Moorabool is known for its large trout (both brown and rainbow) and redfin populations. Please note the regulations, as rangers frequently patrol the area.
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Check out this video on how to catch trout at Moorabool Reservoir.
Things to do at Moorabool Reservoir
Moorabool is a tranquil spot to take the family. The main entrance of Spargo Creek Road has BBQ facilities, picnic grounds and nicely maintained, charming gardens. There isn’t much in the area, so take some activities with you. Be careful when walking around with kids in long grass and rock areas, as I have seen several snakes on recent outings.
Fishing at Moorabool Reservoir
At Moorabool Reservoir, you can target
- Rainbow Trout
- Brown Trout
- Redfin ( English perch )
Moorabool reservoir is a challenging fishing destination, especially on cold and windy days. However, you can catch brown trout, rainbow trout and redfin and trophy-size trout and redfin are not uncommon at this location. The reservoir itself is relatively shallow and weedy in many areas. This is an excellent location for lures and soft plastics. Check out our guide on the best lures to catch Redfin. Long-casting metal lures and spoons are a must-have option when fishing from the rocks or banks. They will allow you to cover great distances that are needed, and also allow you to target both trout and redfin at the same time. Top options include the Nories Wasaby and Pontoon 21 Paco Spoon. Shallow-diving hard-body lures and heavily weighted soft-plastic minnow imitations are also excellent choices. Some good options include bullet lures in bright and natural colours, as well as the Daiwa double-clutch, Rapala Countdown series, and Savage Gear minnows, which are also excellent choices. Traditional lures, such as spinners and Tasmanian devils, will also work well, especially in bright colours. You often see trout surfacing to take flies and crickets off the surface, so fly and cricket imitations, lures, and plastics such as the savage Gear Mayfly are also great options.
Bait fishing can be challenging here, as getting your baits out far enough to catch a bite can be difficult. However, should you choose to fish with bait, then mudeye on a float, or scrub worms on a running sinker rig, is an excellent choice for both trout and redfin. You may also like to try Power Bait and yabbies. When targeting freshwater species such as trout and redfin, we recommend fishing with a light spinning rod. This will enhance the experience and improve your catch rates. We suggest a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod. Coupled with a 2000, 2500 or 3000 size reel that’s been spooled with a decent quality braid between 4-8 pound and then finished with roughly a rod length of high-quality fluorocarbon leader. Trout and Redfin are notorious for feeding more heavily at Dawn and Dusk. My personal favourite is fishing at sundown. As this reservoir holds trophy-size fish, you may also consider fishing slightly heavier to ensure you don’t drop a good-size trout or redfin.
Trout and redfin are notorious for feeding more aggressively at dawn and dusk. We highly recommend fishing during the first and last hours of sunlight. Redfin is more active in the warmer months, and trout are more active in the colder months. Please remember to follow local rules, which include: No fishing with waders, Do not fish on the rock wall, Ensure you fish only in the approved areas, Always carry your Victorian fishing license, No firearms, Vehicle access only in approved areas, No digging for bait, Using berley is not permitted, No boating/kayaking.
Recommended baits for Moorabool Reservoir
- Scrub worms
- Powerbait
- Yabbies
- Mudeye
- maggots
Recommended lures for Moorabool Reservoir
- Bluefox spinners
- Daiwa DR joint minnows
- Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
- Savage Gear 3D Prey minnow
- Berkley powerbait grub
- Daiwa Presso minnows
- Tasmanian Devil Blade
- Bullet lures 5-0 minnow
- Bassman spinnerbait
- Bullet lures 3cm lure
- strike tiger nymph
- Nories Wasabi spoon
- Rapala countdown floating minnow
- Pontoon 21 paco spoon
- Daiwa Double Clutch
- Tasmanian Devil lure
- Gulp 3-inch minnow
- Zman 2.5 inch grub
- Daiwa Bait Junkie paddle tail minnow
- Zerek fish trap
- eco gear ZX40
- Savage Gear Fathead crank shallow diving
- Squidges biotough grub
- stump jumpers S3
Targeting Trout at Moorabool Reservoir
We would highly recommend that you read our detailed guide on how to catch trout which details our favourite lures, baits and techniques. You can follow trout stocking timelines by reading the Victorian trout stocking guide as part of the target 1 million by 2020 and 10 million by 2022 initiatives. When targeting trout with lures, we recommend using shallow-diving hard-body minnows, metal spoons, spinners, Tassie devils, and soft plastics, which are also very effective on trout. If you’re bait fishing, then Mudeye, scrub worms, power bait, yabbies, and minnows suspended from a float or a running sinker rig are great options when targeting trout at this location. Trout are more active in cold conditions, with most catches on the first and last light of the day. We recommend targeting trout with a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 1000, 2000, or 2500 reel spooled with 4-8-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader. If there are larger trophy-size trout around, then you can go heavier, moving up the scale to a 3-5 kilo class spin rod spooled with fine 8-12-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader.
We conducted a test to determine which method would perform better for stocked trout: power bait or lures.
Targeting Redfin at Moorabool Reservoir
We recommend targeting Redfin with a light spin outfit. This will enhance the experience and improve your catch rates. A 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 2000, 2500 or 3000 reel spooled with 4-8-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader should be perfect. Redfin respond well to lures and soft plastics so do 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 both 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 during 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, allowing you to cast great distances and target the bigger size reddies. Just remember, they are quite heavy and very prone to snags in small inland systems like this one.
Shallow-diving hard-body lures, blades, and vibes are also very effective in this system. So are traditional spinners and Tasmanian devils in bright colours. Metal spoons also play a role, allowing you to cast great distances and target the larger size reds. Just remember, they are quite heavy and very prone to snags in small inland systems like this one.
Images of fish supplied by VFA and DEPI. All other photos and videos featured on the Moorabool Reservoir Fishing Guide are original Fishing Mad content. Thank you for visiting the Moorabool Reservoir Fishing Guide. If you believe this location guide is missing key information or requires corrections, please let us know by emailing our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au with specific details in the email. Please also feel free to share any fishing pictures you have from this location with us. Thank you
