Campaspe River at Rochester Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Campaspe at Rochester: cod and golden perch in the lower river below Eppalock, with the Bureau’s gauge at the town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
3.35 m
Air / High
17 °C / 27 °C
Wind
SSW 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 406202, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Campaspe River at Rochester is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. The gauge reads 3.35 m, up 0.60 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSW around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 27 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Murray cod
Slow
Slow it down: heavier spinnerbaits, slow-rolled swimbaits and bait on the bottom next to the deep snags.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 22 °C with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Victoria requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$10.00. Victoria fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing murray cod here? Check the size and bag limits with VFA before you keep anything; the Murray cod page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Campaspe River at Rochester today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:06), sunset (18:19), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 406202 (CAMPASPE - ROCHESTER).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 406202. Latest reading 2026-09-24 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp17 °C
High / Low27 °C / 15 °C
WindSSW 8 km/h, gusts 11 km/h
Pressure1023.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain41% cloud, 18%
Sunrise / Sunset06:06 / 18:19
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Campaspe River at Rochester
The best day on Campaspe River at Rochester this week looks like Sunday 27 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Sunday, 27 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 06:06 to 18:19
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 10 km/h
- Rain chance
- 18%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Campaspe River at Rochester: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Murray cod
December to August; closed September to November
Closed now Reopens 1 Dec 2026. Closed 1 September to 30 November inclusive, except in Lake Eildon, Eildon Pondage, Lake Eppalock, Cairn Curran, Lake Nillahcootie and the other waters the VFA lists. Rule as read from Victorian Fisheries Authority on 2026-09-23.
The giant of the inland rivers and the big lakes (Hume, Mulwala, Eildon). A snag fish that eats big lures, and a species with a closed season across the Murray-Darling. Slow it down: heavier spinnerbaits, slow-rolled swimbaits and bait on the bottom next to the deep snags.
Golden perch
Best: November to April
Yellowbelly. The bread-and-butter native of the Murray-Darling lakes and rivers; loves warm water, structure and a lure worked slowly past its nose. Slower. Work the deeper timber and the drop-offs with vibes and bait.
When to come: the Campaspe River at Rochester calendar
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Murray cod
Golden perch
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 13 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Campaspe River at Rochester today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 25 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 21 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at good. High of 17 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence (RFL), from A$10.00, the same for residents and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by VFA and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Victoria licence page before you keep anything.
Access
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence is required unless you are exempt, and our Victoria page lists the fees.
About this water
Campaspe River at Rochester is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Campaspe River at Rochester: the full guide
The reach
The Campaspe at Rochester is the lower river between Lake Eppalock and the Murray at Echuca, running through the dairy town’s river parks and under the Northern Highway bridge over deep pools, snags and red gums. It is cod and perch water regulated by the Eppalock releases, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Rochester supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Murray cod fish the snags and the deep bends through summer and autumn on lures and bait, with the VFA bag of one in the river and the closure from 1 September to 30 November computed on the species card; golden perch are the everyday fish from spring to autumn; redfin are present; and carp are numerous under the VFA rules. Lake Eppalock upstream, a year-round cod fishery, has its own page.
Where to fish it
The river parks and the bridge give bank access at the town, and a kayak covers the pools upstream toward Elmore and downstream toward the Murray junction; the deep outside bends and the timber are the cod water. Summer nights along the snags with a surface lure are the Rochester method.
Reading the report
The chart follows the Eppalock releases, high in the summer irrigation season and low in a dry autumn; a rise brings the perch on. The water temperature estimate, an estimate as the page says, puts the cod season from November to April; the flat Campaspe plains give the wind a clear run at the river, and the barometer counts before a summer storm.
Licence, access and rules
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence is required unless you are exempt, and our Victoria page lists the fees. The parks and the bridge are public; the VFA limits, the river bag and the closure are in the sources.
Between Eppalock and the Murray
Rochester sits in the middle of the lower Campaspe, with Lake Eppalock and its year-round cod fishery forty kilometres upstream and the Murray junction at Echuca twenty downstream, and the three pages together cover the river: the lake for the boat, the Rochester reach for the kayak and the bank, the Echuca reach for the big river. The Campaspe weir pool at Elmore is another quiet reach between.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Campaspe at Rochester?
Murray cod in season, golden perch in the warm months, redfin and carp.
Do I need a licence at Rochester?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence.
Is fishing good at Campaspe River at Rochester right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 406202 — CAMPASPE - ROCHESTER
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.