Welcome to the Cherry Lake Fishing Guide. Cherry Lake is a go-to fishing destination if you enjoy fishing for large carp. It’s a popular family destination in Altona with walking trails, playgrounds, duck feeding, picnic and BBQ facilities. Cherry Lake, however, is mainly known for its population of large European Carp. Yes, there is plenty of them and they can grow into quite massive sizes. It also has a population of eel, tench and redfin that can be targeted if you can get past all the carp. To learn more about catching carp read our guide to carp fishing around Melbourne.
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Check out this video a step by step guide on how to catch carp at Cherry Lake.
Things to do at Cherry Lake
Cherry Lake is a family-friendly location with a large adventure playground, open grounds and walking tracks. It’s a great place for a picnic with onsite BBQs and tables. Why not take the dog for a walk or feed the ducks. Parking is available near the playground entrance of Millers road. There is also parking around other areas of the lake, particularly near the football grounds and athletics facilities. Cherry lake is only minutes away from Altona beach and hosts a small monthly market with around 80 stalls.
Fishing at Cherry Lake
**Please note there was a recent chemical spill in Cherry lake which has devastated the local fish, birdlife and fauna. You can read about that here “Cherry Lake Chemical Spill” and we strongly recommend you check water conditions and safety with EPA before fishing here.
At Cherry lake, you can catch carp, mirror carp, eels, tench & redfin. Standard baits such as corn, bread, and maggots work great for carp at Cherry Lake. it’s a very shallow water system only 1 meter deep, therefore, using a simple running sinker rig with a pea-size sinker works great in this area. So, does suspending 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 difficult technique that generally requires sight casting. Which means spotting a nearby carp and casting right in there are and working the lure of plastic slowly hoping they will strike. Its tough but very rewarding when you catch a carp using this method. Most however will stick to targeting them with bait.
You’re mainly targeting carp at Cherry lake and they can grow very large. 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 kilo 7 foot in length. We recommend a 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 2-4 kilo rod and 6-pound braid. But I am prepared to lose some good fish in the process.
Most freshwater species have a tendency to feed more aggressively at Dawn and Dusk. We like to target carp on sundown particularity 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 at Cherry Lake. Always carry your Victorian fishing license, Vehicle access only in approved areas, Certain areas of Cherry Lake areas zoned for no fishing due to drop nets to control the carp numbers.
A simple yet effective fishing rig here is to thread a small running sinker through the mainline shown in blue, which is usually 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 (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 using bread.
If you get 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 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.
Best baits at Cherry Lake
- Corn
- scrub worms
- earthworms
- bread
- maggots
- boilies
Targeting Carp at Broken Chery Lake
There is a large volume of carp in local lakes however they are fun to catch and you can learn more about catching carp have a read of our detailed guide to carp fishing around Victoria. When targeting carp standard baits such as corn, bread, maggots work great for carp here. Using a simple running sinker rig with a pea-size sinker works great in this area. So, does suspending 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 difficult technique that generally requires sight casting. Which means spotting a nearby carp and casting right in there are and working the lure of plastic slowly hoping they will strike. Its tough but very rewarding when you catch a carp using this method. Most however will stick to targeting them with bait.
For rod selection, a 3-5 kilo rod coupled with a 4000 size reel is very suitable. You could even fish a little heavier with rods designed for snapper that are generally 4-7 kilo 7 foot in length. For fun I have caught some monster size carp using 2-4 kilo rod and 6-pound braid. But I am prepared to lose some good fish in the process. We like to target carp on sundown particularity 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 here is to thread a small running sinker through the mainline shown in blue, which is usually 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 (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 using bread.
Known hazards at Cherry lake
We have experienced several encounters with large tiger snakes at Cherry Lake, so be careful and wear appropriate footwear. If you see a Tiger snake keep your distance and don’t approach it as they can be aggressive. There are also many large swamp rats that the snakes are actively feeding. You can see Cherry Lake rules and regulations here.
All images and videos shown on the Cherry Lake Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals.
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