Welcome to the Daylesford Fishing Guide. Daylesford is a beautiful country township with scattered freshwater fishing holes, that hold an abundance of redfin and trout. There are numerous lovely locations in Daylesford including Lake Jubilee, Lake Daylesford, Bostock Reservoir, Wombat Reservoir, Pykes Creek, Denherts Dam and further up towards Creswick you have some of the best trout fishing Victoria has to offer with Newlyns Reservoir, Hepburn Lagoon and Calembeen Park.
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Things to do at Daylesford
There are terrific spots for the kids that have picnic grounds and playgrounds such as Lake Jubilee, Pyke’s Creek & Calembeen Park. They will keep the kids occupied even if the fishing is quiet. Lake Daylesford is a beautiful and scenic location to take the family for a light bushwalk. There is a walking trail that goes around the lake which is quite easy on the feet and takes about 30 minutes to complete. Along the walk, there are lots of little treasures to stop and explore. At Lake Daylesford, you can also hire paddle boats and have some fun energetic time on the water with the kids or friends. There are many photo opportunities and the chance to spot local wildlife and birdlife. There are plenty of grasslands for a picnic and there is also an on-premise cafe for scones and a coffee and a library.
Around Daylesford, there are many cafes, boutique shops and other lakes such as Lake Jubilee, Pyke’s Creek & Calembeen Park. Whilst in Daylesford we would highly recommend exploring the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, enjoying weekly Sunday markets, relaxing at Hepburn Springs Bathhouse and Spa Resort, and exploring the local mineral springs.
Have a look at our detailed video guide on how to fish at Lake Daylesford.
Fishing Daylesford
There are many good options right in town including Lake Daylesford and Jubilee Lake which hold good numbers of trout and redfin. Out of town, you have Wombat Dam, Bostock Reservoir, Pykes Creek and more. Seasonally redfin is more active in the warmer months and trout is active in the colder months. Many of these locations have scattered jetties and walkways along the lake suitable for fishing. This is a great way to enjoy a scenic bushwalk with rod in hand stopping every few minutes to try flicking soft plastics or baits along with these stops. You can also fish Lake Daylesford by kayak and Canoe. A productive way of fishing this style is flicking shallow diving lures and soft plastics along the banks and structure which will no doubt catch you plenty of redfin.
Lake Daylesford is a great location for lures and soft plastics. Check out our guide on the best lures to catch redfin. Long-casting metal lures, blades, vibes and spoons are also a good option worth trying when fishing from the banks. They will allow you to cover great distances and target both trout and redfin at the same time. 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, Daiwa double-clutch, Rapala Countdown series and Savage gear minnows are also excellent choices. Traditional lures such as spinners and Tassie devils will also work well, especially in bright colours. You won’t need to get to fancy here a simple cast and slow roll will be effective. You may also consider trolling these slowly from your boat or kayak. In the early mornings, you may spot trout breaking the surface to take flys and crickets. Therefore fly and cricket imitation lures and soft plastics such as the savage Gear Mayfly are also options worth trying.
Bait fishing here can be quite productive from the banks. Some excellent bait options include mudeye on a float or scrub worms, powerbait & yabbies on a light-running sinker rig. This is a great choice for trout and redfin. Trout and redfin are notorious for feeding more aggressively at dawn and dusk. So we highly recommend fishing in the first and last hours of sunlight. With redfin is more active in the warmer months and trout is more active in the colder months. Many lakes and reservoirs in the area have been stocked with trout fingerlings. Use this link to follow Victorian trout stocking programs.
Here are some great fishing locations in the surrounding area.
You may also want to try these fantastic fishing locations which aren’t too far away including,
- Lake Daylesford
- Jubilee Lake
- Lauriston Reservoir
- Malmsbury
- Upper Coliban Reservoir
- Barkers Creek Reservoir
- Hepburn Lagoon
- Lake Wendouree ( Ballarat )
- Newlyns Reservoir
- Tullaroop Reservoir
- Cairn Curran Reservoir
Fishing Gear Guide for Daylesford
For trout and redfin 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. We have also had great success fishing with a range of soft plastics & lures. Click here to see our best lures & plastics to catch redfin. If 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.
Recommended baits fishing Daylesford
The video below demonstrates the best baits for trout and how to rig them correctly.
- Mudeye
- Powerbait
- Scrub worms
- maggots
- Earthworms
- yabbies
- live minnows
- caterpillar/crickets/grasshoppers/beetles
Recommended fishing lures Daylesford
Need some help choosing lures and soft plastics to catch trout. The video below is a detailed guide to get you started.
- Tasmanian Devil Blade
- Daiwa jointed minnow
- Bullet Lures
- Daiwa Double Clutch
- Tasmanian Devil lure
- Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
- Strike Pro Bob n Spoon
- Gulp 3 inch minnow
- Zman 2.5 inch grub
- Dawia Bait Junkie paddle tail minnow
- Zerek fish trap
- Jackall transams
- eco gear ZX40
- Savage Gear Fathead crank shallow diving
- stump jumpers
Targeting Trout at Daylesford
We recommend you read our guide on how to catch trout which details our favourite lures, baits and techniques. You can follow when trout will be stocked using the Victorian trout stocking programs as part of the target 1 million by 2020 and 10 million by 2022 initiatives. When using lures, we recommend shallow diving hard body minnows, metal spoons, spinners, and Tassie devils. Soft plastics are also very effective on trout. If you’re bait fishing, then Mudeye, scrub worms, power bait, yabbies and minnows suspended on a float or a running sinker rig is a great choice when targeting trout here. Fly fishing is a popular fishing method 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 we recommend 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. If there are trophy size trout around then you could 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 Redfin at Daylesford
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 really 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.
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