Trellys Fishing Report March 6, 2026
Trellys Fishing Report 6th March 2026
The big and obvious news this week is the rain. It rained, and it poured.
Many of the regions’ trout streams were restored to a somewhat healthy flow of water overnight. How long this increased flow will last is unknown.
The landscape has turned green and the whole fishing environment has changed, all in just a matter of days.
Ovens River
In last week’s report I mentioned that I was going fishing in the Ovens River the night of writing my report. Here is how I went: That evening I caught trout cod and 2 Murray cod. All fish were around 20cm long and caught on worms in the middle of Wangaratta.
The following evening I went lure fishing with my friend Sonny in Wangaratta and I did not have a single touch. Sonny caught 1 small Murray cod on a Warlock Cod Hopper lure and that was his only touch. It was very quiet.
It is normal for the Ovens River to fish like this at this time of the year, very hit and miss. As we head deeper into March we will no doubt have some amazing days in amongst the fishless trips. This is the typical hot and cold Autumn Murray cod fishing that we are used to.
Lake Buffalo
My friend Sonny and I fished Lake Buffalo the evening before writing this weeks’ report. We managed to catch around half a dozen redfin each, but they were all too small to keep.
We caught our fish on Strike Tiger soft plastics, Bullet minnows and blades, just casting our lures from knee deep water around the edge of the lake.
Trout Streams
Last weekend's rainfall was an absolute blessing for the region’s trout streams. It was just what the doctor ordered.
I fished a small tributary in the Ovens River catchment where I managed to catch a few trout and saw a few others.
I had been monitoring this stream throughout the extreme heat and dry weather and knew that there were trout seeking refuge in the deep pools. As soon as the rain came, the creek got a reasonably healthy flow and the trout went bonkers!
Without further rainfall I don’t know how long the streams will maintain this healthy flow, but for now the trout fishing is great.
It is worth noting though that rainfall varied a lot from one catchment to another, so catchments that didn’t get as much rain may not have recovered from the harsh summer as well.
Small Dams
Victoria is littered with small dams. Some are decommissioned water storages, some are ornamental ponds in parks, some are old dredges, some are dams that were dug to provide dirt to build freeways etc… you get the drift!
Many of these dams offer some kind of fishing options. Many are stocked by the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) under the banner of “Family Friendly Waterways”.
Usually, trout are stocked into these dams in the winter months, with Yellowbelly and Silver Perch being stocked in the summer months.
Some have populations of redfin, and some have carp in them.
In my area the more popular small dams are Stanley Ditch Dam in Stanley, Cox’s Dredge at Eldorado, Tronoh Dredge at Harrietville and Glenrowan Recreation Reserve dam in Glenrowan.
Further afield there is the Abroretum Dam in Euroa, Lake Neangar in Bendigo, Ouyen Lake in Ouyen and Lake Lascelles in Hopetoun.
These are just a few examples of the many popular small dams that litter Victoria.
Now for the best part… They all fish very well in the Autumn months. As the water cools, the fishing tends to fire up in these small waterways, and that has already started in my area.
Just last week I caught a lovely Silver Perch in Merriwa Park Lake, a tiny ornamental pond in Wangaratta which is stocked annually with Silver Perch by VFA.
I also managed to catch a few small redfin in there as well, despite the water being quite low.
Many of these small waterways could be struggling for water after this extreme summer, but if your local pond has water in it, from now on in as the weather cools is a great time to fish it.
