Welcome to the Trout Fishing Guide Victoria. Trout most commonly the rainbow and brown are an introduced species and arguably the most targeted freshwater species in Victoria. They have beautiful distinctive colours and terrific fighting qualities on light spin outfits and fly. Trout fishing is thriving and initiatives within Victoria are seeing these popular fish stocked by the thousands yearly. Check out the Trout stocking schedule. Most trout stockings occur before the school holiday in many lakes and rivers across Victoria and Melbourne providing locals with great fishing opportunities. There is also trout in the variations of Brook and Tiger with encouraged programs to increase their numbers currently. Trout can be targeted by flies, lures, and bait but fly fishing is a wonderful technique and art that many anglers will spend years trying to master.
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Trout Facts & Catch Limits
- Scientific Name – Rainbow – Oncorhynchus mykiss
- Scientific Name – Brown – Salmo trutta
- Trout should be targeted in the colder months with Winter and Spring your best time to catch a nice rainbow or Brown
- They can grow to large sizes however most common catches through the state are usually between 25cm and 40 cm
- There is a limit of 5 Trout per day per person but this does vary between rivers and lakes so make sure you check your local guide for more information
- There is no size limit for Trout although we will never understand why people keep the small ones.
- Please make sure you pay close attention to trout open and close seasons. Fishing for trout in closed seasons is frowned upon and can come with a hefty fine.
Best time to catch Redfin ( Seasons )
In Victoria, Trout are generally targeted and caught during the colder months when they are most active. They are generally stocked in family fishing lakes on most school holidays. In rivers and streams, we do have closed seasons so be aware of those dates.
How to catch trout fishing in Victoria Guide
Watch this video below of FishingMad walking you through setup and tips to land a trout of a lifetime
We recommend targeting trout with a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod coupled with 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. The best baits to catch trout include mudeye, power bait, scrub worms, maggots, earthworms, and live minnows suspended from a float or with a very light running sinker.
A simple yet effective fishing rig is to thread a small running sinker through the mainline shown below in blue around 6 pounds. Then tie a small swivel to the end allowing the sinker to run up the mainline freely. On the other end of the swivel tie 50cm of 6-pound fluorocarbon leader which is shown in grey. Finished with a hook size 6 bait keeper hook.
You can catch trout on many types of different lures. Your choice will depend if you fishing in a lake river, or a shallow stream. Good choices include metal spoons, hard body minnow imitations like the Daiwa double-clutch, Rapala Countdown series and bullet lures. Soft plastics such as minnow imitations, curly tails and paddle tails and bug imitations such as mayfly work well. Old classics such as Tassie Devils and spinners continue to be proven successful options for trout. Some of our noted favourite lures include Bluefox spinners, Nories wasabi spoons, Pontoon 21 Paco spoons, Bullet lures, Rapala CD 5, Pink Tassie Devil, Savage Gear 3D prey minnow, Yo-Zuri crystal minnow, EcoGear MX series in shallow streams. Fly fishing is almost a sport in its own right. If you enjoy targeting trout then it would be a great idea to pay a highly qualified fly fisherman to take you out for the day and teach to the basic skills to get you started.
Best Soft Plastics and lures to Catch Trout
Trout love shallow diving lures, spinners, and tassie devils. It may surprise you but they also love soft plastics. Particularly small paddle tails and grubs. You are encouraged to mix up the retrieval speed working both lures and plastics at a medium pace. Cast in one area for a few minutes if you don’t get any bites then move on. Keep doing this until you start getting some bites. Mix up colours and lure styles if the bite goes quiet. Some days bright colours work great the next day natural colours. For jig head selection it’s a good idea to have multiple weights and sizes with you. This way you can adjust based on the current strength and weather conditions. We generally would have a 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, and & 1/12 jig head in a 2/0 and 3/0 size. Take your time when rigging and make sure the plastic is on straight, this improves the plastic action.
Need some help choosing lures and soft plastics to catch trout. The video below is a detailed guide to get you started.
- Rapala countdown floating minnow
- EcoGear MX48
- YoZuri pins minnow
- Daiwa presso minnows
- Nories laydown minnow
- Bluefox spinners
- OSP bent minnow
- Daiwa DR joint minnows
- Strike tiger nymph
- Daiwa bait junkie 2.5-inch grub
- Daiwa double clutch
- Berkley powerbait grub
- Tasmanian devil blade
- Bullet lures 5-0 minnow
- Tasmanian devil lure
- Zman 2.5-inch grub
- Bullet lures 3cm lure
Best Baits to Catch Trout
Our best bait recommendations include power bait, scrub worms, minnows, and mudeye. The are several ways to present baits either a running sinker rig or a paternoster rig. The rig choice will be dependent on where you are fishing, the casting distance required, and the conditions such as tidal strength. Where possible fish with as little weight. When land-based you may need a heavy sinker to cast out as far as you can.
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
General tips for trout fishing
Your eyes can be an essential guide when trout fishing. Look for signs of breaking water and cast lures and baits in those directions. Keep an eye on stocking programs. Trout are generally released just before school holidays to give kids a great opportunity to catch trout in local river systems. Use waiders to allow you to fish from within the water allowing you to target better spots or cast further. Though Trout can be spooked easily so tread cautiously and try to keep the noise down. If you fishing shallow streams they walk against the current when casting flies or floating hard body lures.
Best locations to catch trout in Victoria
- Eildon Pondage
- Lake Purrumbete
- Rubicon River
- Hepburn Lagoon
- Tullaroop Reservoir
- Moorabool Reservoir
- Lake Tolondo
- Wurdi Buloc
- Lillydale Lake
- Mitta Mitta River
- Albert Park Lake
- Blue Rock Lake
- Bostock Reservoir
- Lake Hyland
- Lake Bullen Merri
- Daylesford
- Eildon Pondage
- Goulburn River
- Karkarook Park
- Kennington Reservoir
- Casey Fields Lake
- Pakenham lakes
- Coliban Reservoir
- Lake Fyans
- Lauriston Reservoir
- Lillydale Lake
- Newlyns Reservoir
- St Augustines water hole
You can obtain a free Victorian recreational fishing guide from the Victorian Fisheries Authorities
Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. All other images and videos shown on the Trout Fishing Guide Victoria are Fishing Mad originals.
Thank you for reading our Trout Fishing Guide Victoria. If you feel this fish species guide is missing key information or needs any corrections. Then please let us know by emailing our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au with specific details in the email. Thank you