Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
Campaspe River at Rochester Fishing Report
Updated Tue, 10 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Campaspe at Rochester: cod and golden perch in the lower river between Lake Eppalock and the Murray, with the Bureau’s gauge at the town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
1.91 m
Air / High
13 °C / 28 °C
Wind
E 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 406202, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Campaspe River at Rochester has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. The gauge reads 1.91 m, holding steady. Today brings a mixed sky, wind E around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 28 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 12:17 AM-2:17 AM and 12:44 PM-2:44 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Murray cod
Closed today
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.
Tie on: Soft plastic on a 1/4 oz jighead · Small hardbody, shallow diver · Squid jig, size 3.0 · Fresh pipi or worm on a small hook. Prime windows: 12:17 AM-2:17 AM, 12:44 PM-2:44 PM, 5:44 AM-6:44 AM. Similar at 28 °C. 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 (06:08), sunset (20:02), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 12:17 AM-2:17 AM and 12:44 PM-2:44 PM; minor 5:44 AM-6:44 AM. New Moon, 1% 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 2026-11-07 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low28 °C / 10 °C
WindE 8 km/h, gusts 18 km/h
Pressure1015.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain39% cloud, 13%
Sunrise / Sunset06:08 / 20:02
MoonNew Moon, 1%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °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 Friday 13 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Friday, 13 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 10 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 12:17 AM-2:17 AM and 12:44 PM-2:44 PM
- Minor period
- 5:44 AM-6:44 AM
- Sun
- 06:08 to 20:02
- Moon
- New Moon, 1% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 13%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
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
Closed 1 September to 30 November in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, and 1 August to 31 October in Queensland; check the exempt lakes
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.
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. Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
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 19 °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 dataMon, Nov 9
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Sun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 27 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 town under the highway bridge over deep pools, snags and red gums. It is cod and golden perch water regulated by releases from Eppalock, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Rochester, station 406202, supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Murray cod fish the snags and deep bends through summer and autumn; in Victorian rivers the VFA allows one cod a day between 55 and 75 cm, and the 1 September to 30 November closure is computed on the species card. The VFA’s stocking record includes Murray cod released into the Campaspe from Rochester to Axedale. In the warmer months, golden perch are the fish most anglers take home.
Where to fish it
Parkland and the bridge give bank access at the town, and a kayak covers the pools upstream toward Elmore and down toward the Murray. Fish the outside bends where timber lies in deep water; in summer, a surface lure worked slowly along the snags after dark is a classic cod method.
Reading the report
The chart follows the Eppalock releases, higher through the irrigation season and low in a dry autumn; a rise often brings the golden perch on. The modelled water temperature, an estimate as the page says, gives the cod band from November to April. Flat country gives the wind a clear run at the river.
Licence, access and rules
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence is required unless you are exempt, and our Victoria page lists the fees. The VFA cod rules are linked from this page.
Between Eppalock and the Murray
Rochester sits in the middle of the lower Campaspe, with Lake Eppalock upstream and the Murray junction at Echuca downstream. Eppalock is both a VFA specified lake with a cod bag of two and one of the waters where the cod closed season does not apply, so it can be fished for cod in spring when the river cannot. Eppalock and the Murray at Echuca have their own pages.
Common questions
Is the Campaspe stocked with cod?
Yes. The VFA stocking record lists Murray cod released into the Campaspe from Rochester to Axedale.
Can I fish for cod at Eppalock in spring?
Yes. Lake Eppalock is on the VFA list of waters where the Murray cod closed season does not apply; the Campaspe itself closes from 1 September to 30 November.
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
- Pages checked
- 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.