Welcome to the Sugarloaf Reservoir Fishing Guide. Sugarloaf Reservoir was established in the 1970s and is situated within the Yarra Valley, nestled within the Christmas Hills. With a 15-kilometre walkway around the lake, it’s an open and scenic spot for a family picnic, walks, cycling and fishing. You cannot fish with bait at Sugarloaf; only fishing with lures is permitted, as it forms part of Melbourne’s domestic water supply. The reservoir gets its water through the pipeline from the Yarra River and Maroondah aqueduct. Several local anglers have reported fishing with baits and rangers without making a fuss. This is a great land-based fishing location for Golden perch and redfin. Just flick soft plastics, vibes, blades and shallow diving hard body lures along the weedy edges. The lake opens at 8:30 am and closes at 7:00 pm in summer, and at 5:00 pm in winter.
BECOME A FISHINGMAD MEMBER & UNLOCK ACCESS TO
Weekly Fishing Reports | Workshops | Giveaways | Podcasts | Competitions | Maps | GPS Marks | Rigging Tutorials | Sounder School | Exclusive Footage | Tackle Talks | Gear Guides | Kayak Club | Much More
Things to do at Sugarloaf Reservoir
Sugarloaf Reservoir is roughly 45 kilometres away from Melbourne, past townships such as Eltham and Warrandyte. This is a lovely and scenic location to take the family and kids, with plenty of walking tracks, fishing zones, picnic grounds, BBQ facilities and toilets. There is plenty of free parking available within the entrance of the park with properly sealed roads. Keep a lookout for birdlife, kangaroos, wallabies and echidnas. Why not take the family for a hike, cycle or gentle walk around the 15-kilometre track around the reservoir? Sailing is another popular activity here, and the local sailing club is often on the water. It’s an excellent location for hikers. The hike starts at the Saddle Dam Picnic Area and car park on Simpson Road. There are clear signs throughout to keep you on track. The hike offers great views and takes on average 4 hours to complete the full circuit. Close by attractions include the Warburton golf course and its picturesque and challenging layout. There is also the Kangaroo Grounds war memorial and the surrounding vibrant townships. You could also continue further up and visit local attractions such as Healsville Sanctuary. An amazing zoo for both kids and adults. The place is well-maintained and has a terrific range of animals and activities.
Watch as Al from FishingMad targets yellowbelly and walks you through gear and techniques to catch them.
Fishing at Sugarloaf Reservoir
At Sugarloaf reservoir, you can catch Golden perch ( Yellowbelly ), Redfin, rainbow trout, brown trout, tench & carp. Soft plastics are a great choice as redfin and golden perch will eagerly take these. Spinners, Tassie devils, and mid diving hard body lures are also good options for perch and trout. Flick towards structure and slow roll with occasional hops and pauses for the retrieve. If you are targeting yellowbelly, then vibes, blades, spinnerbaits, and lipless cranks are also a great option. Why not have a read of our detailed guide on the best lures to catch redfin? When targeting freshwater species at Sugarloaf reservoir, including golden perch and redfin, we recommend fishing with a light spinning rod. This will make the experience more enjoyable whilst improving your catch rates. We recommend a fishing rod with a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo capacity. Coupled with a 2000, 2500 or 3000 size reel. Spooled with braid between 4-8 pound finished with a rod length of a quality fluorocarbon leader. Any time of day, though golden perch and redfin can be more active at Dawn and Dusk
Kayaks and boats are not permitted on Sugarloaf Reservoirs. Boats are understandable, as they make part of the local drinking supply, but we struggle to understand why they’re not open to kayakers, given that sailing is permitted. Our understanding is that there are agreements in place between the local sailing club and Melbourne Water. Let’s hope that in years to come, kayak access is considered.
Best fishing lures at Sugarloaf Reservoir.
The lake is shallow and weedy. We recommend using single hooks instead of trebles where possible. Lightly weighted grub and minnow-style soft plastics are very effective on yellowbelly (golden Perch), estuary perch, carp, and trout. Lipless Crankbaits, blades, cranks and shallow diving hard-body lures are a great all-around choice.
- 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
Targeting Yellowbelly at Sugarloaf Reservoir
Yellow belly, AKA Golden Perch, is a beautiful freshwater fish in this system. With a rich food source, the yellowbelly grows to thick and plump sizes. Good lure choices include curl tail soft plastics with the zman 2.5-inch grubz and Gulp 3-inch grub minnow, both in black, are standout choices. Soft vibes like the Zerek fish trap, Jackall transams 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, spinnerbaits, bassman spinners, and large grub-style soft plastics in dark colours. Soft plastics work best on a 1/8 or 1/4 jig head, slow-rolled with any structure. This technique works particularly well when tying your boat or kayak up against trees. To use it, slowly work the soft plastic up 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 down scan and side scan technologies on your sounder and spend some time moving between the structure to find the fish. Other lures can be worked amongst the timber but generally work well in open water, being slow-rolled or trolled. When it comes to rod selection, we typically use a light spin rod around 7 feet in length in 1-4, 2-4 or 3-5 kilo class paired with a 1000, 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. 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 Redfin at Sugarloaf Reservoir
We recommend targeting Redfin with a light spin outfit. This will make the experience more enjoyable 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 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 quite heavy and very prone to snags in small inland systems like this one.
Targeting Trout at Sugarloaf 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.
Targeting Carp at Sugarloaf Reservoir
There is a large volume of carp in local lakes; however, they are fun to catch, and you can learn more about catching carp by reading our detailed guide to carp fishing around Victoria. Standard baits such as corn, bread, and maggots work great when targeting carp. Using a simple running sinker rig with a pea-sized sinker works great in this area. So, do suspend 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 complex technique that generally requires sight casting. This means spotting a nearby carp, casting right in there, 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, however, will stick to targeting them with bait.
A 3-5 kilo rod coupled with a 4000 size reel is very suitable for rod selection. You could even fish a little heavier with rods designed for snapper that are generally 4-7 kilo 7 foot in length. 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 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. 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 6 bait keeper hook or 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. Haeder Melb Water. All other photos and videos shown on the Sugarloaf Reservoir Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Sugarloaf Reservoir 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
Rules, regulations and hazards at Sugarloaf reservoir
- The park is open every day of the year from 8.30 am through to 7.00 pm. Outside of daylight savings, the park closes at 5.00 pm.
- Fishing with bait is strictly not permitted. You are only allowed to fish with lures in the permitted fishing zone.
- Dogs are not allowed in the park
- Always carry your Victorian fishing license.
- FishingMad encourages ‘catch & release’ of all native species to help maintain the water quality within the lake; however, European Carp must not be returned.
- As with all countries, rural areas always be mindful of snakes.
