Trelly's Weekly Fishing Report - January 30, 2026
by Trellys 30 Jan 09:50 UTC
January 30, 2026
Murray cod © Trellys
I don't need to tell you how hot it has been. WOW This is the hottest summer since 2009 in Victoria, and in many places it's the hottest on record.
Yesterday it was 45 degrees here in Wangaratta, about as hot as it gets.
Over the last few evenings, I have been heading to the Ovens River here in town and going for a swim and a fish and I have to say that the water is far from refreshing. It is so warm. Wading in the river now is like entering the therapy pool at the local aquatic centre.
So what has been biting?
Ovens River
I will begin with my local, the Ovens River. As stated the water is very warm which has really slowed the fish down.
Over the last 2 evenings I have been in the Ovens River swimming and fishing. I have been casting a small soft plastic to try and catch a Yellowbelly while swimming on the sand bars.
I have caught 2 Murray cod, one each evening, both of which have been around 15cm in length.
I did lose a big fish on one trip though.
At the end of last week I went bait fishing early in the morning, just before the heatwave where I managed to catch 4 Murray cod around 40cm long.
Some of my friends have been catching some nice Murry cod up over 60cm in length, but they've been working hard for them.
Overall the Ovens isn't fishing as well as it can, but the water level is stable and it is ticking over OK.
Lake Buffalo
I fished Lake Buffalo one evening and managed to catch a few small redfin. All up I caught around 10 small fish. I was casting lures from the bank (wet wading).
My fish were all caught on TT Switchblades and Strike Tiger nymph soft plastics, and were all released as they were too small to get a feed off.
TT Switchblades: www.trellys.com.au/products/tt-switchblade-value-pack
Strike Tiger Soft Plastics: striketiger.com.au
Goulburn River
The Goulburn River seems to be fishing similar to the Ovens River at the moment. Steady, but not as good as it can be.
There have been some very large trout caught up around the Thornton area. There are obviously still quite a few of the big "Stonkers" in the Goulburn River that were stocked at the beginning of the trout season because I continue to see photos of people with these huge fish.
Closer to Shepparton there have been quite a few Yellowbelly and Murray cod caught on both lures and bait.
Rocklands Reservoir
A friend of mine told me that there have been some nice sized Murray cod and Yellowbelly caught at Rocklands Reservoir recently. The very next day I saw a photo on Facebook of Pa Sealey with a 4lb Yellowbelly caught at Rocklands Reservoir.
I have never fished this lake, but it is on my to-do list.
Cairn Curran
I have seen a few photos of Yellowbelly being caught at Cairn Curran reservoir this week. None have been monsters, they have all been either undersized, or just a nice pan size.
Brook Richardson caught 2 Yella's there using yabbies as bait. One was undersized at 25cm and the other was a perfect table fish of 35cm.
Having never fished Cairn Curran Reservoir myself, I am starting to get the impression that it's similar to Lake Nillahcootie. Plenty of smaller Yellowbelly, not a lot of monsters. I could be wrong, but that's the impression that I get.
Lake Eppalock
There have been some nice redfin caught at Lake Eppalock this week, as well as the odd Yellowbelly. The standout fish that I know of, was a 95cm Murray cod caught off the bank by Vasko Stojcevski. WOW What a monster, well done Vasko.
Campaspe River
I saw a video of a couple of young blokes from Bendigo catching Yellowbelly in the Campaspe River this week. I am unsure where they were fishing, but they caught the fish on spinnerbaits.