Welcome to the Broken River Fishing Guide. Broken River starts near Bald Hill on the Victorian Alps near Mount Buffalo National Park. Then flows past the township of Shepparton opposite the township of Benalla and flows into the Goulburn River. Spanning a total of 225 kilometres. It’s a great location to target Golden Perch ( Yellow belly ) which has been stocked in the system for many years.

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Things to do at Broken River

Broken Rover stretches past the large country town of Shepparton which is home to roughly 50,000 residents. There are several nice bushwalks along the river. As with all rural areas always be mindful of snakes. There are several nice accommodation offerings in the immediate area. A great spot to take the kids and unplug and enjoy the township of Shepparton.

 

Fishing Broken River

At Broken River, you can catch

  • Murray cod
  • Yellowbelly ( Golden Perch )
  • Redfin ( English Perch )
  • Macquarie Perch
  • Trout Cod
  • Silver Perch
  • Carp
  • Eels

The Broken River has a great variety of freshwater species and has been helped by some amazing stocking over the years. Natives have been heavily stocked in this system and today you can catch golden perch ( yellow belly ), Murray cod, and various other species.  Catching cod with surface lures has become a very fun way of fishing this system. Walking the banks and casting towards any visible structure. This works best on evenings especially when the conditions are calm.

The best baits include Scrub worms, Crickets, Power bait, Yabbies, and Mudeye. We also recommend flicking a wide range of spinners, soft plastics & lures can be a great method of catching a prized reddie or trout. Why not read our guide on the best lures to catch redfin.

Watch our detailed video guide on our top 10 redfin lures below

Broken River holds freshwater fish that will actively take lures and soft plastics. We recommend small curl tails, minnow imitations, and paddle tails. Both natural and bright colours work well rigged with jig heads from 1/18 through to 1/20 in weight. Where possible cast towards structure and slow roll with occasional hops and pauses for the retrieve. Small shallow diving hard body lures are also very effective in this system. As are old favourites such as spinners and Tassie devils. Ideally in smaller sizes and nice bright colours. Metal lures and spoons are also an option. Allowing you to cast great distances and target slightly bigger fish. But they are quite heavy and very prone to snags. If you target golden perch then vibes, blades, spinnerbaits and lipless cranks are also a great option, slowly worked ideally close to structures such as submerged trees. When targeting cod and yellow belly then some great lure choices would include lip-less crank-baits such as Jackall TN series, stump jumpers which can be cast or trolled, surface lures, vibes, spinnerbaits, bassman spinners, large grub style soft plastics in dark colours & Savage Gear swimbait. Cod also does take a liking to large surface lures, slowly worked along with structure. There are some weird and wonderful surface lures and swimbaits new to the market so get creative and mix up your retrieval technique.

Then, of course, there are carp and plenty of them. If you plan on targeting carp from the banks then we would recommend using corn kernels, worms or bread as good bait options. Either on a basic running sinker rig or suspended from a float. It would also be wise to upgrade your fishing outfit to something a little heavier. Perhaps a 3-5 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 3000 size reel spooled with 8-pound line as a good starting point.

Fishing Gear Guide for Broken River

Good gear selection here would include a light spin rod or a light to medium baitcaster depending on what you’re targeting and how you plan on fishing. For trout, redfin and even yellowbelly a 2-4 kilo or 2-5 kilo spin rod coupled with a 2000 or 2500-size spin reel spooled with 6-10 pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader is a great option. It’s nice and light so you can enjoy the experience but heavy enough to land a decent fish. If you intend to target Murray Cod and Yellowbelly by casting or trolling bigger lures then a medium to light baitcast outfit would be more suitable.

Trolling Tassie Devils, stump jumpers and minnow imitations such as the Daiwa double clutch at different depths is a great way to fish here. We have also had great success fishing with a range of soft plastics & lures. Click here to see our best lures & plastics to catch redfinIf bait fishing Mudeye, live minnow and power bait on a float is a great choice when targeting trout. Other good options include scrub worms and yabbies. I would do so using a very simple running sinker rig with a small hook or treble, and a small pea size sinker.

Broken River Fish Stocking

Over 1.5 million fish have been stocked in this system since 1990.

Recommended baits Broken River

Bait Choices

  • Scrub worms
  • crickets
  • Powerbait
  • Yabbies
  • Mudeye
  • maggots
  • Corn

Recommended lures Broken River

Soft Plastics

  • Jackall Pompadours
  • Stump jumpers
  • Spinnerbaits
  • Bluefox spinners
  • Daiwa DR joint minnows
  • Jackall TN50/60s
  • 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
  • Zerek fish trap
  • eco gear ZX40
  • Savage Gear Fathead crank shallow diving
  • Squidges biotough grub

Targeting Yellowbelly at Broken River

Golden Perch

Yellow belly is a beautiful freshwater fish found in this system and with a rich food source available the yellowbelly here grow to good sizes. Curltail and paddle tail soft plastics in black colours are standout choices so are soft vibes, blades, lipless crank-baits such as Jackall TN50 and TN60s.  Other favourites are the reliable stump jumpers and spinnerbaits. Soft plastics work best on a 1/8 or 1/4 jig head slow-rolled or jigged along any structure. Even tie your boat or kayak up to trees and work the soft plastic adding noise 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 in general work well in open water being slow-rolled or trolled.

A light spin rod around 7 feet in length in 2-4 or 3-5 kilo paired with a 2000 or 2500 size reel. Spooled with 8-12 pound braid and an equivalent fluorocarbon leader. Light to Medium baitcaster combos is also a very popular choice when targeting Yellowbelly with spinnerbaits and larger lures. 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 Broken River

Murray Cod

Murray Cod have been stocked here in recent years as part of the VFA’s target of 1 million by 2020 and target 10 million by 2022 campaigns. Building a state of the art self-sufficient hatchery in Arcadia. Murray Cod is Australia’s largest freshwater fish that grows to impressive sizes. 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. Cod are most active in low light conditions such as sunrise and sundown. A medium to heavy bait caster rod is needed when targeting these large and powerful fish. Good lure options for Murray Cod include hard body lures, surface lures, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, shads, lipless crankbaits, paddle tails and curtail soft plastics cast towards structure or trolled.

Targeting Redfin at Broken River

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 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 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 allowing you to cast great distances and targeting the bigger size reddies. Just remember they are quite heavy and very prone to snags in small inland systems like this one.

Targeting Carp at Broken River

Carp

There is a large volume of carp however they are fun to catch. You can learn more about catching carp by reading our guide to carp fishing around Victoria. When targeting carp baits such as corn, bread, and maggots work great with a running sinker rig with a pea-size sinker. So, does suspend baits using a float and even unweighted baits. You can also target carp with hard body lures, soft plastics and fly but this is a difficult technique that generally requires sight casting in shallow clear waters. Most however will stick to targeting them with bait. For rod selection, a 3-5 kilo rod coupled with a 2500, or 3000 size reel is suitable. You can also fish heavier or lighter if you like. We like to target carp on sundown, in the warmer months when you see carp swimming along the edges or jumping out of the water around September-November during their spawning season. European carp must not be returned to the water. 

A simple effective rig is to thread a small running sinker through the mainline (shown in blue) around 8 pounds. 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 (shown in grey ). I generally use a size 6 bait keeper hook or size 10 long shank which is perfect for corn kernels or scrub worms, or treble style hooks for baits like bread.

Running sinker fishing rig

If you’re getting snagged up then 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 breeze which will stop the float from coming back to you. If you’re not getting bites then adjust the line depth and If necessary add a splint shot to add weight.

Float fishing rig

As with all rural areas always be mindful of snakes. 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. Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI.  All images and videos shown in Broken River Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Broken River Fishing Guide. If you feel this location guide is missing any key information or needs any corrections made, then please let us know by emailing our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au with specific details in the email. Thank you