Welcome to the Malmsbury Reservoir Fishing Guide. Malmsbury River is one of our earliest water supplies constructed way back in 1865 and today is used as a domestic water supply. This fishing destination is located off Sullivan street and situated about a 10-minute drive from the township of Kyneton and a short distance from the Lauriston Reservoir and Upper Coliban Reservoir. Fishing is permitted from the banks and dam walls. During the dry months, many areas of this fishing hole are unfishable with very low water levels. It’s regularly stocked with trout and a great spot to target trout and an abundance of Redfin. As this is part of the local drinking water there is no boating or wadding in this River.
BECOME A FISHINGMAD MEMBER AND UNLOCK ACCESS TO
Weekly Fishing Reports | GPS Marks | Workshops | Giveaways | Podcasts | Competitions | Forums | Maps | Rigging Tutorials | Sounder School | Exclusive Footage | Tackle Talks | Gear Guides | Kayak Club & Much more….
Things to do at Malsmbury Reservoir
This is a scenic area that presents a nice walk, bird spotting and photo opportunities. It has basic picnic facilities including tables and toilets. There is adequate parking at the park’s entrance and a small walk to the fishing areas. As suggested water levels can be an issue so do check Malmsbury water levels.
Fishing Malmsbury Reservoir
At Malsmbury Reservoir you can catch
- Brown trout
- Rainbow trout
- Murray cod
- Yellowbelly ( Golden Perch )
- Redfin ( English Perch )
- Tench
- Carp
- Roach
- Goldfish
- Eels
Malmsbury is a shallow system that has suffered from low water levels over the years. It can be a challenging system with murky water clarity and many snags. Walking along the rock wall and banks you can catch a good variety of fish species flicking long-casting lures, soft plastics or baits. Scrub worms, power bait, yabbies, and mudeye are great options either suspended from a float or running sinker rig. Flicking lures can be challenging as the shallow areas are full of weeds, grass and snags so you need to cast beyond those areas to have any success. Shallow diving hard body lures, Soft plastics and spinners have proven to be great options here. We encourage you to read our detailed guide on the best lures & plastics when targeting Redfin.
Access has improved here and in recent years it has been opened to non-power vessels like kayaks. Always be careful when walking along the rocks or rock walls which can become very slippery. Most freshwater species tend to feed more aggressively at Dawn and Dusk. Our favourite is fishing the sundown, particularly in the warmer months. 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.
Fishing Gear Guide for Malmsbury Reservoir
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 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.
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,
- Upper Coliban Reservoir
- Lauriston Reservoir
- Barkers Creek Reservoir
- Lake Daylesford
- Hepburn Lagoon
- Lake Wendouree ( Ballarat )
- Newlyns Reservoir
- Tullaroop Reservoir
- Cairn Curran Reservoir
Malmsbury Reservoir Fish Stocking
Almost 500,00 fish have been stocked in Malsbury Reservoir since 1990. This mainly included rainbow and brown trout but in recent has heavily been natives including Murray Cod and Yellowbelly.
Recommended baits Malmsbury Reservoir
The following baits are highly recommended when fishing at the Upper Coliban Reservoir.
The video below demonstrates the best baits for trout and how to rig them correctly.
- Scrub worms
- Powerbait
- Yabbies
- Mudeye
- maggots
- Corn
Recommended lures Malmsbury Reservoir
The following lures and soft plastics are highly recommended when fishing at Malmsbury.
- 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 Malmsbury Reservoir
We highly 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.
We conducted a test to see which would perform better for stocked trout powerbait or lures. Watch the video below to find out the results which were interesting.
Targeting Redfin at Malmsbury 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 targeting the bigger size reddies. Just remember they are quite heavy and very prone to snags in small inland systems like this one.
Targeting Murray Cod at Malmsbury 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.
Targeting Yellowbelly at Malmsbury 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 Carp at Malmsbury Reservoir
There is a large volume of carp however they are fun to catch. You can learn more about catching carp by reading 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.
If you are 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.
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. As with all country areas please be mindful of snakes. No fishing with waders fishing is only permitted from the shore, No boats, No cleaning of fish onsite, and Always carry your Victorian fishing license, Using berley is not permitted, FishingMad encourages ‘catch & release’ of all native species to help maintain the water quality within the lake. Swimming, camping, boating and open fires are prohibited. 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 other images and videos shown on the Malmsbury Reservoir Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Malmsbury 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
