Jul 17, 2026

Trellys Fishing Report 17th July 2026

Fishing reports have been pretty few and far between this week due largely to environmental factors, particularly flooding. But, as all good fishermen know, we can never whinge about flooding, as it is the key to great fishing in the months ahead.

I am predicting an amazing spring and summer of fishing ahead for us. For now, things are looking up. The days are getting longer and soon everything will start becoming active again.

But for now, this is what has been happening…

Ovens River

I went fishing and crayfishing in the Ovens River in Wangaratta last week. It was after the flooding had passed, but the river was still very high—around 30cm below minor flood level.

I caught one crayfish in a cray net and that was it. There were no bites on my worms and no other crays. I was only using two nets because the small section of river I found that wasn't flowing too fast wasn't big enough for any more nets.

So, the Ovens River has been moving between fishing slowly and being completely unfishable. There is no more rain in the foreseeable forecast, so I am sure that it won’t be too long before I find a quiet backwater and start fishing again.

Lake Eildon

The very consistent big cod fishery at Lake Eildon continues to tick over and produce big Murray cod. When scanning fishing pages, apps, and public accounts online looking for fishing reports, it is never hard to find photos of big cod in the winter months, and quite often they have been caught in Lake Eildon.

There have been more big Murray cod caught there this week, but I have not heard of any other species being caught.

Lake Hume

Paul Watts and his son have been catching brown trout in Lake Hume ranging from 45 to 56cm. These trout have been trolled on a variety of lures, ranging from small diving lures to flatline trolling and trolling with leadline.

Paul mentioned that they also trolled a few small redfin that were, in his words, "not photo-worthy."

This report is the first trout report that I have seen from Lake Hume for a long time. Hopefully, it is the first of many, as August and September seem to be the best months for trolling trout up there. With the lake filling quite quickly, there are a lot of grassy flats that are now becoming submerged.

Lower Murray River

The lower Murray River around Mildura has been consistently producing quite a lot of carp along with a few Yellowbelly.

As the days continue to get longer, I am sure that the fishing will only get better down there.

Family Friendly Waterways

The Victorian Fisheries Authority recently stocked the family-friendly waterways with rainbow trout for the school holidays. Although the school holidays are now over, most of these waterways still have a few trout in them waiting to be caught, and they will no doubt continue to prove popular with school kids after school and on weekends.

I fished the Glenrowan Recreation Reserve dam with Matt Hobbs from 92.1 StarFM last week. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs, but we did not catch anything. I did manage to lose two lures on snags, though!

Thankfully, my young friend Zac Sayers was there with his mum. Zac caught the only fish—a nice little rainbow trout. Zac returned the following day with his mum and caught two more. I think Zac has these rainbow trout all worked out!

For a full list of waterways that fisheries stocked, head to their website at vfa.vic.gov.au where you can find all the information you need, including which waterways were stocked and how many trout they received.