Welcome to the Mitta Mitta River Fishing Guide. The Mitta Mitta River is located 4 1/2 hours away from Melbourne. The township Mitta Mitta is located on the Omeo Highway 383 km northeast of Melbourne via Wangaratta and Beechworth. The river itself is a long system that stretches for 204 kilometres feeding into a total of 24 other rivers along the journey. Starting in the Victorian Alps below Mount Bogong and finishing by joining the Murray River east of Albury at Lake Hume. The Mitta Mitta River is very scenic and renowned for exceptional trout fishing in its many shallow streams and pools. This makes for exceptional fly fishing and those who enjoy lightly weighted soft plastics and shallow diving hard body lures. Walking the banks or upstream in waders in some scenic areas.
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Things to do at Mitta Mitta River
Mitta River can be a beautiful area with scenic surroundings. It can be very cold during the winter months as icy snow water trickles into the river. The stretch of the river goes past many townships including Omeo, Snowy Creek and Dartmouth. Recreational activities here include horse riding, bushwalking, 4WDriving, and river rafting. camping and fishing. Local attractions include the Witches Gardens, Brewery, River Walks and 9-hole golf course. The river is heavily connected to other local systems including Banimboola Creek, Bundarra River, Cobungra River, Dart River, Dartmouth Lake, Dry Forest Creek, Gibbo River, Hume Lake, Jim and Jack Creek, Little Snowy Creek, Livingston Creek, Morass Creek, Murray River (NSW), Omeo Lake, Sandy Creek, Sandy Creek Reservoir, Snowy Creek and Tallangatta Creek
Fishing at Mitta Mitta River
At the Mitta Mitta River, you can catch
- brown trout
- rainbow trout
- redfin
- Murray cod
- golden perch
- trout cod
- Macquarie perch
- carp
Please be aware of trout season opening dates. This is a long stretch of the river and brown trout will likely be your primary species in the upper reaches and Murray Cod in the lower reaches. The scenery along the river is quite stunning and one of the most picturesque fishing settings in Victoria especially towards the Victorian Alps. The river is nestled in forest areas, mountains and farmlands. Walking along the banks or upstream in waders enjoying the scenery. Do take care though as these areas are heavily populated with snakes. There are large stretches with excellent access with waders and many deeper pools that hold good volumes of brown and rainbow trout.
Seasonally different sections of the river will be more fishable than others. This will have much to do with water levels and the speed of the river flow. Fly fishing is an excellent option here casting flys in open water and any hanging structure works remarkably well. Shallow diving hard body lures and heavily weighted soft plastic minnow imitations are also excellent choices. So are very lightly weighted traditional lures such as spinners, especially in bright colours. You won’t need to get too fancy here a simple cast and slow roll will be effective. In the early mornings, you will likely spot trout breaking the surface to take flys and crickets. Therefore fly and cricket imitation lures and soft plastics such as the strike tiger 1-inch nymphs in black and gold very lightly weighted on 1/32 ounce jig head can also work really well. You can also use small lightly weighted paddle tail soft plastics.
Cod have been heavily stocked in this system over the past 10 years as shown below. When targeting freshwater species such as trout, redfin and estuary perch we recommend fishing with a light spinning rod. This will make the experience more enjoyable and improve your catch rates. We suggest a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod. Coupled with a 2000, 2500 size reel that’s been spooled with a decent quality braid between 4-8 pounds. Then finished with roughly a rod length of a quality fluorocarbon leader. Bait fishing here can be quite productive in areas with slow-flowing water from the banks. Some excellent bait options include mudeye on a float or scrub worms, power bait & 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.
Recommended baits Mitta Mitta River
The video below demonstrates the best baits for trout and how to rig them correctly.
- Mudeye
- Powerbait
- Scrub worms
- maggots
Recommended lures Mitta Mitta River
Need some help choosing lures and soft plastics. The video below is a detailed guide to get you started.
- Daiwa Presso minnows
- Rapala countdown floating minnow
- Strike tiger 1-inch nymph
- Daiwa DR joint minnows
- Bluefox spinners
- Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5-inch grub
- Berkley powerbait grub
- Tasmanian Devil Blade
- Bullet lures 5-0 minnow
- Bullet lures 3cm lure
- Daiwa Double Clutch
- Tasmanian Devil lure
- Gulp 3-inch minnow
- Zman 2.5-inch grub
- Daiwa Bait Junkie paddle tail minnow
Mitta Mitta River Stocking information
From 2012 through to 2019 the Mitta River was heavily stocked with Murray Cod.
Targeting Trout at Mitta Mitta River
One of the most effective ways to catch trout here is trolling lures such as Tassie devils and double clutches at the back of your boat or kayak. Electric motors work great for this and the reduced noise will help increase catch rates. Generally, we are trolling with 2 rods out the back motoring along between 2.5 and 3.5 kilometres. Trout are more active in cold conditions with most catches on the first and last light of the day. You will notice much surface action during these times as they frequently go to the surface to feed on bugs. We would highly recommend that you read our detailed 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 your 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.
We recommend targeting trout with a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 1000, 2000, or 2500 reel spooled with 4-8-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader. When trolling or targeting the larger trophy-size trout around 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 Murray Cod at Mitta Mitta River
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 matched with a suitable size bait caster reel spooled with 20lb to 30lb braid and 30lb to 40lb leader. Good lure options for Murray Cod include hard body lures, surface lures, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, shads, lipless crankbaits, paddletail and curtail soft plastics. These should be worked slowly or tolled from your boat or kayak if access is permitted. There are some amazing surface lures on the market these days including imitation mice, frogs, ducks, and snakes with realistic action that are fun to target cod with. Bait anglers can target Murray cod with live yabbies and worms.
Targeting Redfin at Mitta Mitta 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 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 slowly 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.
Watch our detailed video guide on our top 10 redfin lures below
Targeting Carp at Mitta Mitta River
There is a large volume of carp in local lakes however they are fun to catch and you can learn more about catching carp by reading our detailed guide to carp fishing around Victoria. When targeting carp standard baits such as corn, bread, and maggots work great for carp here. Using a simple running sinker rig with a pea-size sinker works great in this area. So, do suspend 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. This means spotting a nearby carp and casting right in there and working the lure of plastic slowly hoping they will strike. It’s 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-sized 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, particularly 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 use bread.
If you 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.
Targeting Yellowbelly at Mitta Mitta River
Golden Perch is a beautiful freshwater fish found in this system. With a rich food source available the yellowbelly here grows too thick and plump sizes. Good lure choices include curl tail soft plastics with the Zman 2.5-inch grubz and Gulp 3-inch grub minnow both in black are standout choices. Soft vibes such as the Zerek fish trap, Jackall transams and Samaki vibelicious are great options. lip-less crank-baits such as Jackall TN50 and TN60 continue to be very popular as do blades such as the eco gear ZX40 with stinger hooks. Other favourites are the reliable stump jumpers, spinnerbaits, bassman spinners, large grub style soft plastics in dark colours. Soft plastics work best on a 1/8 or 1/4 jig head slow-rolled along any structure. This works particularly well when tying your boat or kayak up against trees and working the soft plastic slowly up against the tree and adding some noise to the action 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 really well in open water being slow-rolled or trolled.
When it comes to rod selection we generally use a light spin rod around 7 foot in length in 1-4, 2-4 or 3-5 kilo class paired with a 1000, 2000 or 2500 size reel. Spooled with 8-12 pound braid and an equivalent fluorocarbon leader. Baitcaster rods and reels are a very popular choice when targeting yellowbelly. Good options include a 3-5 or 4-6 bait caster with a 2000 bait caster reel. When bait fishing a 7 foot light rod paired with a 3000 size reel. Good bait rigs would include a paternoster rig with a small sinker at the bottom or a running sinker rig with scrub worms or yabbies.
Camping 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 and stocking information supplied VFA and DEPI. A header from mittavalleycaregroup . All other images and videos shown on the Pykes Creek Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Mitta Mitta River 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