Welcome to the Murray River Fishing Guide. The Murray River is Australia’s longest river spanning 2,500 kilometres. In fact, it’s the third-longest river in the world, after the Amazon and Nile. The Murray River spans 3 states Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. It plays a key role in separating the borders between Victoria and New South wales. Starting at the mountains of the Great Dividing Range in NE Victoria through to South Australia. Beginning as a mountain stream in the upper reaches and turning into a river flowing through forests and country townships. Locally known townships along the Murray include Yarrawonga, Wodonga, Cobram, Echuca, Mildura and Swan Hill.
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It’s a great spot for swimming, boating, skiing, kayaking and fishing. There are many great spots to fish along the mighty Murray river including Yarrawonga & Albury. The prized catch along this strip is Murray Cod which can be an elusive giant targeted by many. However, there is also a great selection of golden perch, redfin and an abundance of big carp.
Watch our detailed video guide on our top 10 redfin lures below
Things to do at Murray River
The Murray River is a great place for recreational water activities including swimming, kayaking, canoeing, water skiing, jet skiing, boating and fishing. It’s a great place to venture down with a paddle steamer or houseboat. The Murray River is home to much wildlife including birds, mammals, reptiles and fish. It’s also a prime destination for world-class golf courses and facilities. including Khancoban, Bethanga, Thurgoona, Wodonga, Albury, Rutherglen, Corowa, Howlong, Yarrawonga, Black Bull, Cobram Barooga, Tocumwal, Deniliquin, Mathoura, Rich River, Cohuna, Barham, Murray Downs, Robinvale, Red Cliffs, Riverside, Mildura, Coomealla. But don’t forget the local food, wine, parks, accommodation, history, camping and more.
Fishing at Murray River
The mighty Murray River is the destination to catch yourself a trophy size Murray Cod. These elusive giants can grow up to 1.8 meters attracting anglers worldwide. You can also catch golden perch, trout, trout cod, redfin, estuary perch and carp. Good bait choices include Scrub/earthworms, Power bait, Yabbies, Mudeye and a wide range of soft plastics & lures. Click here to see our best lures and plastics when targeting Redfin. If you are targeting cod and yellow belly then some great lure choices would include. Lip-less crank-baits such as Jackall TN series and stump jumpers can be cast or trolled. There are also surface lures, vibes, spinnerbaits, bassman spinners, and large grub style soft plastics in dark colours. The new range of Savage Gear swimbaits are also a great option for the larger species. When targeting Trout and Redfin we recommend fishing as light as possible which will provide you with more fun and control. To maximize your chances fish with a 2-4 or 1-3 kilo rod and a 2000 to 2500 size reel spooled with 4-6 pound braid finished with a quality fluorocarbon leader. When targeting golden perch ( yellow belly ) it pays to fish a little heavier, therefore, a slight upgrade to a 2-4 or 3-5 kilo rod coupled with a 2500-3000 reel loaded with 6 or 8-pound braid.
If your site is set on catching a big cod then you’ll need to up your outfit. A 6 foot to 7-foot rod in a 4-8 kilo or 6-12 kilo class rod and a quality bait caster reel spooled with 20 to 50-pound braid finished with a solid Fluro carbon leader of equal strength. There is a whole range of baitcaster options suiting different budgets. An affordable starting point would be either a Savage Gear black savage bait caster rod and reel combo or a Shimano raider cod 642 with a Casitas bait caster reel.
Spring is the best time of year for targeting golden perch ( yellow belly ) and cod. They can be caught at any time of the day but often the last 2 hours of daylight can be the best. Trout are more active in the colder months and redfin ( perch ) are more active in the warmer months. Again you can catch all these different species during any part of the day, though some fish will be more active at Dawn and Dusk.
Best baits for the Murray River
- Live Yabbies
- Scrub worms
- Bardi Grubs
- Corn
- Cheese
Best lures for the Murray River
- stump jumpers
- Bassman spinnerbait codman
- Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
- Gulp 3-inch minnow
- Daiwa Bait Junkie paddle tail minnow
- Jackall TN50 & TN60
- Balista Dyno 90 hardbody
- Zerek fish trap
- Jackall Pompadour
- Samaki vibelicious
- old mate lake Nagambie cod classic lure
- old mate cod lures
- Codger 55mm cod hard body
- eco gear ZX40
- Savage Gear Fathead crank shallow diving
- Jackall transams
- Daiwa Duckfin live shad
- Wilson slick back hard body lure
- Koolabung code walker
- Savage Gear 3D snake
- Bassman Biggen spinnerbait
- Icon Carnage spinnerbaits
- Koolabung codcracker
- Deps buzzjet
Targeting Murray Cod at Murray 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 rod is ideal when targeting cod. This might be a stiff 6-foot rods in 6-10 kilo class 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, paddle tail 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 Yellowbelly at Murray River
Yellow belly AKA Golden Perch is a beautiful freshwater fish found in this system. With a rich food source available the yellowbelly here grow 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 so do blades such as the eco gear ZX40 with stinger hooks. Other favourites are the reliable stump jumpers, spinnerbaits, bassman spinners, and large grub style soft plastics in dark colours. Soft plastics are worked best on a 1/8 or 1/4 jig head slow-rolled along with 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 to 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 feet 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.
Targeting Trout at Murray River
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. Trout are more active in cold conditions with most catches on first and last light of the day.
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. 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 Murray 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 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 Carp at Murray 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 have a read of 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. 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, 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 using bread.
If your 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.
All rural areas are inhabited by wildlife such as Snakes and Lizards, so be wary of venomous snakes such as Brown, Tiger and Red-bellied Black. 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. Map supplied from Google Maps. All other images and videos shown on the Murray River Fishing Guide page are Fishing Mad originals.
Thank you for visiting the Murray 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
