Rainbow trout
Slow
Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Goulburn River at Eildon Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Goulburn tailrace below Eildon: Victoria’s most fished trout river, cold and regulated, with a total ban in the closed season and the Bureau’s gauge at Eildon.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
1.12 m
Air / High
14 °C / 26 °C
Wind
E 7 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 405203, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Goulburn River at Eildon is in its winter rhythm: deep, slow and around the middle of the day. The gauge reads 1.12 m, up 0.09 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind E around 8 km/h, rising pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 26 °C. Water sits around 8 °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.
Brown trout
Slow
The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
Tie on: Bait on the bottom, running sinker · Heavy blade, deep · Slow-rolled swimbait · Live bait, deepest hole. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 19 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with VFA before you keep anything; the Rainbow trout page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Goulburn River at Eildon today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:02), sunset (18:15), 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 405203 (GOULBURN @ EILDON).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 405203. Latest reading 2026-09-24 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low26 °C / 14 °C
WindE 7 km/h, gusts 20 km/h
Pressure1025.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain40% cloud, 58%
Sunrise / Sunset06:02 / 18:15
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Goulburn River at Eildon
The best day on Goulburn River at Eildon 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
- 06:02 to 18:15
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 58%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Goulburn River at Eildon: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open now Closes 15 June 2027. Rivers and streams close from the Tuesday after the King’s Birthday weekend to the Friday before the first Saturday in September. Lakes and reservoirs stay open all year. Rule as read from Victorian Fisheries Authority on 2026-09-23.
The stocked lakes of the Snowy Mountains, the Victorian highlands and the Tasmanian central plateau. Closed seasons apply on the rivers: check the state rules. Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Brown trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open now Closes 15 June 2027. Rivers and streams close from the Tuesday after the King’s Birthday weekend to the Friday before the first Saturday in September. Lakes and reservoirs stay open all year. Rule as read from Victorian Fisheries Authority on 2026-09-23.
The wild trout of the highland rivers and Tasmania's lakes. Spawns in autumn, hence the closed rivers through winter in NSW and Victoria. The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
When to come: the Goulburn River at Eildon 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 8 °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 Goulburn River at Eildon 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. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 23 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 21 °C, wind to 8 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 17 °C, wind to 10 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
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless exempt; our Victoria page has the fees.
About this water
Goulburn River at Eildon is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Goulburn River at Eildon: the full guide
The reach
The Goulburn at Eildon is the tailrace below the Eildon Pondage, the river that the dam’s cold releases turn into the most fished trout stream in Victoria, running from the pondage wall through Thornton, Molesworth and Alexandra toward Trawool over gravel runs, deep pools and willows, with the Snobs Creek hatchery on its bank and the Trout Opening festival at its head. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Eildon supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Brown and rainbow trout are the fish, wild and stocked from Snobs Creek, in the runs and the pools on bait, spinners and the fly, and the VFA classifies the reach from the pondage to Trawool Bridge as a tailrace with a total ban on hook and line fishing in the closed season, from the Tuesday after the King’s Birthday weekend to the Friday before the first Saturday of September, computed on the species card. Murray cod and golden perch have been stocked and hold in the deeper pools downstream in summer; redfin are present.
Where to fish it
The pondage wall, the Thornton bridge, the Breakaway and the road crossings give bank access along the upper reach, drift boats and rafts cover the runs from Eildon down through Thornton and Molesworth, and wading is possible when the release is low; the runs and the pool heads are the trout water. Snobs Creek hatchery is open to visitors and the pondage itself is a separate stocked fishery.
Reading the report
The chart is the Eildon release: a big summer irrigation release makes the river high, cold and unwadeable and the fishing a boat’s, a low release in autumn and spring shows the gravel and makes the fly fishing; read it before the drive. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, runs cold because of the dam release and the page says so; pressure and sky fill the score.
Licence, access and rules
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless exempt; our Victoria page has the fees. The crossings and the reserves are public; the VFA tailrace rules, with the total ban in the closed season and the size and bag limits, are in the sources.
Common questions
When is the Goulburn tailrace open?
From the first Saturday of September to the King’s Birthday weekend in June, computed on the species card; in the closed season the VFA bans all hook and line fishing on the tailrace from the pondage to Trawool Bridge.
Do I need a licence on the Goulburn at Eildon?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence.
Is fishing good at Goulburn River at Eildon 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 405203 — GOULBURN @ EILDON
- 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.