Sep 11, 2026

Trellys Fishing Report 11th September 2026

I can now officially say that the fish are on the bite! After a very tough few months for me trying to collate fishing reports, I now have photos coming in from all over the place. Facebook, Instagram, Fishbrain, emails, text messages, and even random people in the supermarket are all telling me that they are catching fish.

Rather than name a few specific locations, this week I will break down my fishing report by species.

Murray Cod

With Murray cod season now closed, there are still a number of places where you can legally target Murray cod. These waterways are exempt from the Murray cod closed season due to the lack of natural fish spawning and the need for heavy fish stocking instead.

At Lake Eildon there have been a lot of big Murray cod caught lately. Most of the photos that I have seen have been of very large Murray cod over 100cm long caught on lures fished under a live scope.

I rarely see photos or videos of smaller Murray cod caught at Lake Eildon, but I am sure they must be there.

The best Murray cod fishing lately has been Lake Eppalock. Over the last few weeks it has produced a steady number of Murray cod for anglers trolling lures from boats. Most fish seem to be of modest size, around 40 to 60cm.

Brenton Clarke has been killing it over there lately with a Blue Dog Diver lure. If you want to see Brenton’s latest Lake Eppalock video, here it is:

Lake Eppalock is really starting to shape up as a Murray cod fishery.

I caught 1 small cod on worms at Lake Nillahcootie while angling for Yellowbelly last week. I also caught one on worms while angling for redfin with worms at Lake Buffalo.

Lakes Eildon, Nillahcootie, Eppalock and Cairn Curran are all open to Murray cod fishing in spring, but Lake Buffalo isn’t. It is closed, and my fish was quickly released. I just added it to my report as it is a sign that the fish are starting to fire up everywhere.

Yellowbelly

We are heading into the best time of the year to target Yellowbelly, and in many places they have already started firing.

Slightly warmer weather and rising water levels have triggered the Yellas to come on the bite earlier than normal this year.

I have been catching a few at Lake Nillahcootie, but have seen photos of them being caught in many other places as well including Lake Hume, Lake Eildon and Lake Eppalock.

2 places that seem to be really standing out at the moment are Cairn Curran Reservoir and the Murray River downstream of Tocumwal.

Kevin Wild has been catching some magnificent Yellowbelly at Cairn Curran Reservoir. You can see Kevin's latest YouTube video on his YouTube channel “Kevin Wild 'Wildman Fishing Adventures'”:

There have been Yellowbelly caught at Swan Hill, Mildura and Barmah this week, and in good numbers.

Further away, some of the photos coming out of the Menindee area in NSW are insane; the Yellowbelly are going crazy up there where it is a little bit warmer.

Redfin

Of the fish that have been caught lately, redfin seem to be the fewest. I have seen a few photos of them being caught in undisclosed locations. The only public places that I have seen them caught have been the Waranga Basin and Lake Eppalock.

By all accounts the Waranga Basin has been very hit and miss, with many people missing out. I suspect that may change soon as the weather continues to warm up.

At Lake Eppalock I have seen a few photos of redfin that have been caught, and once again Brenton Clarke has been catching a few as a by-catch while targeting Murray cod.

If Brenton is catching redfin on big Blue Dog Diver lures, then I have no doubt that the redfin will be biting on smaller lures and bait.

Trout

The trout season is only a week old, but so far so good! I have fished a number of streams and have found trout in most of them. Some seem to have more trout in them than others, but overall, the season is off to a great start.

I have been catching my trout on worms and soft plastics, with the Strike Tiger Nymph in Ginger Beer colour giving me the best results.

The streams are still high so please take care wading, but as the weather warms up and the insect life increases, hopefully the trout fishing will just keep getting better.