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.
Lake Buffalo Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The small storage on the Buffalo River near Myrtleford: trout and redfin with stocked natives, a quiet valley lake with a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
262.25 m16,879 ML
Air / High
19 °C / 27 °C
Wind
E 7 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge sp-o10109, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Buffalo is a cold-water proposition today: bait on the bottom and a long soak. The gauge reads 262.25 m, up 1.00 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind E around 6 km/h, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 27 °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 23 °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 Lake Buffalo today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:59), sunset (18:12), 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 sp-o10109 (Lake Buffalo).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station sp-o10109. Latest reading 2026-09-24 09:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp19 °C
High / Low27 °C / 14 °C
WindE 7 km/h, gusts 11 km/h
Pressure1024.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain38% cloud, 67%
Sunrise / Sunset05:59 / 18:12
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Buffalo
The best day on Lake Buffalo 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
- 05:59 to 18:12
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 11 km/h
- Rain chance
- 67%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Buffalo: 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 all year No closed season in lakes and reservoirs; the winter closure applies to rivers and streams. 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 all year No closed season in lakes and reservoirs; the winter closure applies to rivers and streams. 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 Lake Buffalo 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 Lake Buffalo 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 24 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 21 °C, wind to 10 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 18 °C, wind to 13 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; fees on our Victoria page.
About this water
Lake Buffalo is a lake in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Lake Buffalo: the full guide
The lake
Lake Buffalo is a modest Goulburn-Murray Water storage on the Buffalo River south of Myrtleford in Victoria’s north-east, a narrow lake between timbered ridges below Mount Buffalo, with a ramp, a picnic area and camping at the dam and a level that irrigation draws down through summer. It is a quiet alternative to the big lakes of the region, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge on the lake supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Brown and rainbow trout are stocked and fish the edges and the drop-offs from autumn to spring, trolled and cast, with the summer fish deeper; redfin are the numbers fish through the year; golden perch and Murray cod have been stocked and hold in the timber in the warm months, the cod under the Victorian September to November closure computed on the species card because the lake is north of the Divide and not on the VFA’s exempt list; and carp are present with the VFA rules. The Buffalo River above and below is trout stream water under the stream closure.
Where to fish it
The dam end has the ramp, the picnic area and the camping, and the deep water near the wall holds the fish through the summer draw-down; the timbered arms upstream and the river inflow are the spring and autumn water, best from a small boat or a kayak. Bank fishing is easiest along the eastern shore near the road.
Reading the report
The chart shows the irrigation draw-down that shrinks the lake through summer and the winter refill; the water temperature estimate, labelled as such, is cool for most of the year, which is trout weather, and warm enough in summer for the natives. The valley shelters the water and wind matters less than on the open lakes; pressure and sky fill the score.
Licence, access and rules
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless exempt; fees on our Victoria page. The ramp, picnic area and camping are managed by the water authority; the VFA limits, the trout rules and the cod closure are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Lake Buffalo?
Trout in the cool months, redfin through the year, and stocked golden perch and cod in the warm months, the cod outside the September to November closure.
Is there camping at Lake Buffalo?
Yes, at the dam end with the ramp and the picnic area.
Is fishing good at Lake Buffalo 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 sp-o10109 — Lake Buffalo
- 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.