Trellys Fishing Report 5th June 2026

Trellys Fishing Report 29th May 2026

This coming long weekend is the final weekend of the trout season in both Victoria and New South Wales. 

In both states trout season closes at midnight on Monday night. In Victoria it reopens on the first Saturday in September and in NSW it opens on the Saturday of the October long weekend. 

Trout fishing has been very good around North East Victoria in recent weeks. After a couple of mediocre seasons, there has definitely been an improvement in the trout fishing of late. 

Not all waterways have picked up, but many have, particularly the headwaters and tributaries of the larger rivers.

I have been fishing in small tributaries in the headwaters of the Ovens River catchment and having great success. In fact, as recently as yesterday I experienced great trout fishing.

Following the widespread rainfall, I headed out with a punnet of worms to fish the high and dirty water in one of the small tributaries of the Ovens River. 

Just drifting worms through pools and backwaters I managed to catch around 9 or 10 rainbow trout, 2 of which I kept and cooked for lunch on the side of the creek. 

I was using a size 6 hook with an SG size split shot sinker and 1 worm on the hook. 

If you are heading out trout fishing this long weekend, my advice is to make sure you take some worms. 

Also, the 2026 Murray crayfish season opened earlier this week and is off to a great start for many people. 

I have seen a lot of photos and videos of crayfish caught in the Ovens River, Goulburn River and Murray River, including Lake Mulwala. 

Ovens River

Prior to the rain, the Ovens River had been fishing well for this time of the year. 

I have been trying out a relatively new lure called a Bite Science Biobait and had success with it. 

The night that I took it out to test it last week I caught a nice Yellowbelly. Catching a Yellowbelly on a swimbait is a first for me!

The following night I found myself with an hour to spare so I went down the river in Wangaratta and just flicked the same lure around for a while and managed to catch a small Murray cod on it. 

I haven’t been catching heaps of fish but have been picking up one or two. 

My friend Sonny caught an 85cm Murray cod on a Jackall Chibitarel lure in the Ovens River last week. (See attached photo)

Here is the video of Sonny’s big fat cod being caught: 

These usually expensive lures are actually on a great special at Trelly’s at the moment which can be found here: https://www.trellys.com.au/products/jackall-chibitirel-triple-pack?_pos=3&_sid=8eb9b0ede&_ss=r&ref=i68jzcdpol2e

The recent rainfall has completely changed the river now though. It has risen almost 2 meters and is very dirty. I am not sure what effect this will have on the fishing. 

I have been catching a few crayfish in the ovens River, but not a lot. I caught 5 on opening morning and 1 on a fishing rod this morning. 

I have heard plenty of reports of friends and other people catching good numbers of crays in the Ovens though. 

Lake Mulwala

There have been a few photos circulating on social media of Murray cod being caught at Lake Mulwala this week. The biggest I have seen looked to be around 70cm. 

Reports seem to be a bit few and far between down there. 

My friend Matt went crayfishing in the Burke Street area just upstream of the Majors Creek boat ramp. He said he caught heaps of crayfish, but they were all well undersized, or females in berries. 

Goulburn River

There have been some nice trout caught in the Goulburn River up around Thornton this week, along with some large fish caught in some of the feeder streams such as the Rubicon River. 

These larger fish are no doubt heading upstream to spawn at this time of the year.

Down around Shepparton many people have been out crayfishing with great success, including my friend Mick Marshall. They are on the march in the Goulburn River at the moment. 

Loddon River

I have not heard of any fishing reports at all from the Loddon River this week, but I wanted to mention it for another reason. 

There have been a few photos circulating online of the Loddon River lately. Photos of black water littered with dead carp, a photo of 2 men with a huge gill net full of carp and cod and even a photo of someone emptying drums of oil into the river. 

These photos are all fake. If you see them, discard them. They are Ai generated images that have a lot of people talking, many concerned for the health of the river. 

Why they are there I have no idea, but I just know that some people reading this report will have seen them and may be concerned, but I can assure you the river is fine and these images are not real.