Rainbow trout
Excellent
Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Newlyn Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
A small Goulburn-Murray Water storage on Birch’s Creek, 28 km north-east of Ballarat: stocked brown trout and redfin, fished from the bank with public access at both ends.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
531.80 m3,018 ML
Air / High
11 °C / 18 °C
Wind
NE 9 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge sp-o10926, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Newlyn Reservoir is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. The gauge reads 531.80 m, holding steady. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NE around 10 km/h, steady pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 18 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:31 PM-1:31 AM and 11:59 AM-1:59 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Brown trout
Excellent
Prime. Nymphs and streamers on the rivers, and the lake edges on the overcast days.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 11:31 PM-1:31 AM, 11:59 AM-1:59 PM, 5:11 AM-6:11 AM. Warmer 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 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 Newlyn Reservoir today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:10), sunset (20:06), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:31 PM-1:31 AM and 11:59 AM-1:59 PM; minor 5:11 AM-6:11 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station sp-o10926 (Newlyn Reservoir).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station sp-o10926. Latest reading 2026-11-08 08:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low18 °C / 5 °C
WindNE 9 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1016.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain37% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:10 / 20:06
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Newlyn Reservoir
Today is the pick of the week on Newlyn Reservoir, at 3 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, 9 Nov — fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:31 PM-1:31 AM and 11:59 AM-1:59 PM
- Minor period
- 5:11 AM-6:11 AM
- Sun
- 06:10 to 20:06
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Partly cloudy, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Newlyn Reservoir: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Streams from October to June in NSW and from September to June in Victoria; lakes open all year; Tasmania from the first Saturday of 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. Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Brown trout
Streams from October to June in NSW and from September to June in Victoria; lakes open all year; Tasmania from the first Saturday of 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. Prime. Nymphs and streamers on the rivers, and the lake edges on the overcast days.
When to come: the Newlyn 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
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 Newlyn Reservoir today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 13 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 10 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 17 °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 needed unless you are exempt; our Victoria page lists the fees.
Storage levels
Compare it with every other storage in the state on Victoria dam levels today.
About this water
Newlyn Reservoir is a lake in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Newlyn Reservoir: the full guide
The lake
Newlyn Reservoir is on Birch’s Creek about 28 kilometres north-east of Ballarat. The original storage was completed in 1871 and enlarged in 1961; Goulburn-Murray Water, which manages it, gives a capacity of about 3,000 megalitres over 72 hectares, used to regulate Birch’s Creek for irrigation, stock and domestic supply with some urban use. The VFA angling guide describes a deep lake in cleared farmland with few trees, large swings in level and little weed. The Bureau of Meteorology’s station on the reservoir, sp-o10926, supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Brown trout are the stocked fish: the VFA database lists more than thirty brown trout releases since 2010, the most recent in August 2026, and only a single small rainbow trout release in that period. The angling guide adds redfin, tench and roach. Victorian lakes have no closed season for trout and a daily bag of five, so Newlyn can be fished through winter, when the cool-water browns are most active near the surface.
Where to fish it
The VFA angling guide notes road access from Newlyn Road in the north and Sutton Park Road in the south, with walking needed to reach the rest of the lake, and says the north-east corner and the southern end are popular with fly anglers. Worms or mudeyes under a float, a small minnow or a wet fly fished slowly along the margins at dawn and dusk suit the browns; redfin take small lures and baits over deeper water.
Reading the report
The estimated water temperature row sits in the trout range for much of the cooler half of the year on this tableland. The chart shows how far the lake has been drawn down; GMW warns that access to recreation areas and toilets can become harder late in a dry season. Open farmland around the water lets the wind build, so a calm morning is worth planning for.
Licence, access and rules
A Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence is needed unless you are exempt; our Victoria page lists the fees. GMW lists a grassed area, car parking and toilets, with no boat ramp. Its page does not set out boating rules for Newlyn, so check signs on site before launching anything. The VFA’s trout limits are in the sources.
The Bullarook Creek storages
Newlyn is one of two small GMW storages on the Bullarook Creek system, the other being Hepburns Lagoon on Langdon’s Creek, 33 kilometres north of Ballarat. GMW limits public access to Hepburns Lagoon to Charleson Lane and allows kayaks, canoes and electric-powered boats when conditions permit, with no facilities on site. The VFA sets a special 45 cm minimum and a bag of three trout at Hepburn Lagoon, so the two waters suit different anglers: Newlyn for a relaxed session from the bank, Hepburn for a chance at a larger fish.
Common questions
What can I catch at Newlyn Reservoir?
Mainly stocked brown trout, plus redfin, tench and roach; trout can be fished all year in the reservoir.
Where do I get onto the water at Newlyn?
Access points are off Newlyn Road in the north and Sutton Park Road in the south; GMW lists no boat ramp, so most anglers fish from the bank.
Is fishing good at Newlyn 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 sp-o10926 — Newlyn Reservoir
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- g-mwater.com.au/water-operations/storages/bullarookcreek/newlynreservo
- g-mwater.com.au/water-operations/storages/bullarookcreek/hepburnslagoo
- vfa.vic.gov.au/recreational-fishing/fish-stocking/db/fishstockdatabase
- vfa.vic.gov.au/recreational-fishing/fishing-locations/inland-angling-g
- vfa.vic.gov.au/recreational-fishing/recreational-fishing-guide/trout-a
- bom.gov.au/waterdata
- 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.