Lauriston Reservoir

Welcome to the Lauriston Reservoir Fishing Guide. Lauriston Reservoir is a popular fishing destination 9 kilometres west of the township of Kyneton along Lauriston Reservoir Road. This deep domestic water supply constructed in 1938 is home to a good population of redfin and trout. It also has become part of recent native fish species stocking and has welcomed yellowbelly and Murray cod.  A popular spot to fish is the dam spill wall which spreads roughly 80 meters across and often has water flowing heavily into the stream below. It’s a nice spot with walking trails, park grounds, picnic tables, BBQ and toilets. 2019 marks a significant milestone for the Lauriston reservoir which has been opened to kayaks and non-powered vessels and is heavily stocked with native fish species.

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Things to do at Lauriston Reservoir

This is a lovely place to take the family, it has basic picnic facilities, toilets, walking trails and playgrounds. There is ample parking and free electric BBQs. The upkeep is excellent and the grounds are very clean and neatly presented. Many people visit this location to enjoy nature walks and birdlife spotting. There is ample parking at Laurtson Reservoir. Just follow the roads through the main entrance which will take you to picnic and BBQ areas with free parking available. Lauriston Reservoir as of the 1st of August 2019 has been opened to allow kayaks, canoes and non-powered vessels. This opens up a whole new world to family fun and angling opportunities.

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

Fishing Lauriston Reservoir

At Lauriston Reservoir, you can catch

• Brown trout
• Rainbow trout
• Murray cod
• Yellowbelly ( Golden Perch )
• Redfin ( English Perch )
• Carp
• Roach
• Eels

In recent years the reservoir has been heavily stocked with trout and native fish including golden perch and Murray Cod. We’re now starting to see good-sized ones regularly being caught. Use this link to follow Victorian trout stocking programs. Lauriston Reservoir in 2019 was stocked with 25,000 large Murray cod fingerlings and Golden Perch which is amazing news. This place fishes well seasonally with redfin more active in the warmer months and trout being 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

This is a great location for lures and soft plastics. Check out our guide on the best lures to catch Redfin. Long-casting metal lures and spoons are great for land-based anglers and will allow you to target both trout and redfin at the same time. Shallow diving hard body and minnow imitation lures are also excellent choices. You will also certainly catch your fair share of redfin and trout with soft plastics and spinners. You often see trout surfacing to take flys off the surface so fly and crickets so imitations such as the savage Gear Mayfly are great options. If you plan to fish with bait from the banks then good options include power bait in bright colours, worms, maggots, live minnows and mudeye. Either on a light running sinker rig, paternoster rig or suspended from a float. We have seen many trout and perch caught using these baits and methods.

Please note that non-powered vessels including Kayaks as of 2019 are now allowed to fish at Lauriston Reservoir, Upper Coliban Reservoir, Malmsbury and Hepburn Lagoon. You can read more about that here. 

Lauriston Reservoir Fish Stocking

Over 700,000 fish have been stocked in Lauriston Reservoir since 1990. This consistently mainly of trout and natives including Murray Cod and Yellowbelly in recent years

Recommended Lures and Soft Plastic Fishing Lauriston Reservoir

• • 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 Trout at Lauriston Reservoir

We recommend you read our 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 1000, 2000, or 2500 reel spooled with a 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 Redfin at Lauriston 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 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 target the bigger size reddies. Just remember they are quite heavy and very prone to snags in small inland systems like this one.

Targeting Yellowbelly at Lauriston Reservoir

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 Lauriston Reservoir

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.

When fishing there are lots of snags so be prepared to lose your fair share of lures and rigs. Always be careful when walking along the rocks or rock walls which can become very slippery. I once slipped and fractured my wrist fishing from Lauriston Reservoir. As with all country areas please be mindful of snakes. Boating and Wading are banned from this location due to it being a domestic water supply, however, fishing with non-powered vessels like Kayaks is allowed. Land-based fishing from the banks only. Camping, swimming, and fires are also prohibited. Always carry a valid fishing licence

Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. the header from All other images and videos shown on the Lauriston Reservoir Fishing Guide is Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Lauriston Reservoir Fishing Guide. If you feel this location guide is missing 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. Please also feel free to share any fishing pictures you have from this location with us. Thank you