Toorongo River

Welcome to the Toorongo River Fishing Guide. The Toorongo River is located a 90-minute drive from Melbourne along the Warburton highway, not far from Noojee. It’s a beautiful and very scenic location; the river flows from the Toorongo Falls. It’s a great place to take the family. There are camping grounds at the bottom of the falls, and walking trails with breathtaking views along two falls. Active wildlife and birds are watching along the amphitheatre walk. The river itself is a long, shallow system that snakes around the rainforest and local farmland. Crystal clear waters with deep holes make walking upstream great for fly fishing. The system is full of brown and rainbow trout that often sit in sheltered, calm pools. Most trout are between 25 and 35cm and don’t seem to get a lot bigger than that, but they are clean, healthy, and very colourful. They’re also a lot of fun to catch on the light fly or spinning gear.

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Things to do in Toorongo River

This is a unique location to bring the family. Camping, stunning walking trails, and waterfalls. Breathtaking views, rock formations and falls. A tranquil setting with the sound of the falls and local birdlife. It’s not every kid’s cup of tea, but it is a fantastic location. The biggest issue I have had in this area is leeches. A lovely wander around the falls had my young children in chaotic fits when they realised they had many leeches on their skin. It can also be very slippery with descents and sharp rocks, so do be very careful. All country areas are inhabited by wildlife, including snakes and lizards. Be cautious of venomous species like the brown, Tiger, and red-bellied black snakes.

Fishing Toorongo River

The Toorongo River is a magnificent system to target wild brown and rainbow trout. This river system features shallow-flowing, clean water with calm pools, making it ideal for fly fishing with nymphs. This way, you can walk upstream and carefully cast into calm pools and deeper pockets. You can also fish with small, shallow-diving hard-body lures, surface lures, and soft plastics that imitate crickets and mayflies. There are some sections of the river where spinners and lures such as Tassie Devils will work to significant effect. Again, this is primarily a fly fishing location. Ideally, you would be fishing here with a fly combo. Speak to your local tackle store about being fitted out for a fly fishing combo. There are also local fly fishing tuition opportunities available, so keep your eyes open for those. If trout fishing with spin gear, then the ultra-light gear is a must, and I’ll make the experience more fun. To maximise your chances, fish with a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo rod. The main line spooled with 4-pound braid finished with a good-quality leader. This lake is not stocked; these are wild trout and should be treated with the utmost respect. We believe catch and release is a must here, and we do our best to keep the fish in optimal health by using an eco-friendly net and barbless hooks where possible.

This river system features shallow-flowing, clean water with calm pools, making it ideal for fly fishing with nymphs. This way, you can walk upstream and carefully cast into calm pools and deeper pockets. You can also fish with small floating and shallow diving hard body lures. Some good examples of shallow diving hard bodies that work well will include Rapala’s countdown series in F models such as F3 and f5, as well as ecogears SX40F and other floating options. Soft plastics with ultra-light jig heads that imitate crickets and mayflies will also work well due to high cricket and mayfly activity. There are some sections of the river where spinners will work really well. Adjust the weight of your spinner to the depth of the water levels. You can fish here with bait, but in most areas of the river, you will need to do so unweighted. Often, bait fishing in shallow streams is challenging as you need to cast downstream, which can usually spook the fish. If you plan to fish unweighted, then options like scrub worms, maggots, mudeye, and power bait are good choices.

Speak to your local tackle store about being fitted out for a fly fishing combo. There are also local fly fishing tuition opportunities available, so keep your eyes open for those. If trout fishing with spin gear, then the ultralight gear is a must, and I’ll make the experience more fun. To maximise your chances, fish with a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo rod. The mainline spooled with 4-pound braid finished with a good-quality leader. This river has an open and closed season, so please check these dates before fishing and don’t fish during closed seasons. Always carry your Victorian fishing license. FishingMad encourage that wild trout be treated with the utmost respect. We believe catch and release is a must here, and we do our best to keep the fish in optimal health by using an eco-friendly net and barbless hooks where possible. This is an unspoilt area, so do your best to keep it this way by cleaning up after yourself and looking after the natural fauna and wildlife. Trout will bite all day long in this area but are notorious for feeding more heavily at Dawn and Dusk. My personal favourite is fishing at sundown.

Check out this video highlighting how to target stocked rainbow trout.

Trout are more active during the cooler months. Most freshwater species have a tendency to feed more aggressively at Dawn and Dusk. My personal favourite is fishing the sundown particularly in the warmer months.

Recommended baits for Toorongo River

• Bluefox spinners
• Daiwa DR joint minnows
• Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
• Savage Gear minnow blade
• Berkley powerbait grub
• Daiwa Presso minnows
• Tasmanian Devil Blade
• Bullet lures 5-0 minnow
• 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
• Savage Gear Fathead crank shallow diving
• Squidges biotough grub