Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
Melton Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Werribee River storage at Melton, also called Exford Weir: Murray cod and golden perch stocked by the VFA, open all year south of the Divide, with a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
82.60 m14,439 ML
Air / High
14 °C / 21 °C
Wind
E 3 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 231221A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Melton Reservoir sits in the warm band: moving baits, moving tides and fish on the edges. The gauge reads 82.60 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 3 km/h, steady pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:29 PM-1:29 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Murray cod
Slow
Prime. Cast big spinnerbaits, hardbodies and swimbaits tight to timber and rock, and work the same snag several times.
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: 11:29 PM-1:29 AM, 11:57 AM-1:57 PM, 5:08 AM-6:08 AM. Warmer at 27 °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 Melton Reservoir today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:07), sunset (20:04), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:29 PM-1:29 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 PM; minor 5:08 AM-6:08 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 231221A (WERRIBEE R MELTON RS).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 231221A. Latest reading 2026-11-08 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low21 °C / 3 °C
WindE 3 km/h, gusts 7 km/h
Pressure1017.0 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain8% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:07 / 20:04
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Melton Reservoir
The best day on Melton Reservoir this week looks like Thursday 12 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Thursday, 12 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:29 PM-1:29 AM and 11:57 AM-1:57 PM
- Minor period
- 5:08 AM-6:08 AM
- Sun
- 06:07 to 20:04
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Melton Reservoir: 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
Open all year Melton Reservoir is south of the Great Dividing Range, open all year 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. Prime. Cast big spinnerbaits, hardbodies and swimbaits tight to timber and rock, and work the same snag several times.
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 Melton Reservoir 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 Melton Reservoir today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
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 16 °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 14 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 22 °C, wind to 21 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
A Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence is required at Melton Reservoir unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees.
Storage levels
Compare it with every other storage in the state on Victoria dam levels today.
About this water
Melton Reservoir is a lake in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Melton Reservoir: the full guide
Melton Reservoir
Melton Reservoir, also known as Exford Weir, is the Southern Rural Water storage on the Werribee River about 6 km south of the township of Melton, on the western edge of Melbourne. Its water goes to farmers in the Werribee Irrigation District, so the level changes through the year. The VFA lists it among the urban lakes on its Murray cod page, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the reservoir supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page. Melbourne and Port Phillip have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Murray cod and golden perch are the fish of Melton Reservoir: the VFA’s table of on-grown native fish releases lists 1,800 Murray cod and 7,599 golden perch stocked here. The reservoir is south of the Great Dividing Range, where the VFA does not apply the Murray cod closed season, so cod may be kept all year within a 55 to 75 cm slot and, as an urban lake, a bag of two; golden perch have a 30 cm minimum and a bag of five. The species card computes the season with the VFA page linked.
Where to fish it
Southern Rural Water allows land-based fishing anywhere on the shoreline reached from Clarkes Road or the Waterford Estate, and that is how most people fish it, casting lures and bait along the edges. Non-powered craft may launch from Clarkes Road but must stay north of the railway bridge; south of the bridge the water belongs to the Melbourne Runabout and Speedboat Club and its members’ powered boats.
Planning a visit
Melton Reservoir suits a short session from the city, with the Melton Recreational Reserve picnic area, a playground and toilets beside the water. Southern Rural Water does not allow swimming, camping or fires, and the site is carry-in, carry-out for rubbish. Bring cod lures, bait for golden perch and, if you have one, a kayak or canoe for the water above the railway bridge.
Reading this report here
The basalt plains west of Melbourne are windy, and the wind row matters on the open water of the reservoir; the chart shows the storage level, which moves as irrigation water is drawn for the Werribee district. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm in summer; pressure and sky build the score at Melton Reservoir.
Licence, access and rules
A Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence is required at Melton Reservoir unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees. Southern Rural Water publishes the access rules and prohibited areas for Melton Reservoir, and the VFA’s cod limits and closed-season exemptions are in the sources.
Common questions
Is Murray cod closed at Melton Reservoir in spring?
No. The reservoir is south of the Great Dividing Range, where the VFA closed season does not apply.
What can I catch at Melton Reservoir?
Murray cod and golden perch, both stocked by the VFA as on-grown fish.
Do I need a licence at Melton Reservoir?
Yes, unless exempt: a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence covers the reservoir.
Is fishing good at Melton Reservoir 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 231221A — WERRIBEE R MELTON RS
- 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.