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.
Ovens River at Myrtleford Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Ovens at Myrtleford: trout in the runs and the first natives in the pools, between the tobacco flats and the alps, with the Bureau’s gauge at the town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
2.06 m
Air / High
16 °C / 27 °C
Wind
ENE 8 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 403210, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Ovens River at Myrtleford is in its winter rhythm: deep, slow and around the middle of the day. The gauge reads 2.06 m, easing 0.09 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind ENE around 8 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 Ovens River at Myrtleford today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:58), sunset (18:11), 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 403210 (OVENS @ MYRTLEFORD).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 403210. Latest reading 2026-09-24 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp16 °C
High / Low27 °C / 13 °C
WindENE 8 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1024.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain82% cloud, 43%
Sunrise / Sunset05:58 / 18:11
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Ovens River at Myrtleford
The best day on Ovens River at Myrtleford 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
- 05:58 to 18:11
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 43%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Ovens River at Myrtleford: 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 Ovens River at Myrtleford 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 Ovens River at Myrtleford 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 25 °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 11 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; our Victoria page has the fees.
About this water
Ovens River at Myrtleford is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Ovens River at Myrtleford: the full guide
The reach
The Ovens at Myrtleford is the middle river, below the Buckland junction and above Wangaratta, running through the old tobacco and hop country past the town’s river parks and the Buffalo River junction, wider and slower than at Bright with pools, willows and gravel runs. It is trout water with the first cod and perch in it, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Myrtleford supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Brown and rainbow trout fish the runs and the pool heads on spinners, bait and the fly, under the Victorian stream closure 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, stocked into the Ovens, hold in the deeper pools in summer, the cod under the September to November closure; redfin and carp are present under the VFA rules.
Where to fish it
The river parks and the bridges give bank access at the town, the Buffalo junction is a spot for both trout and natives, and a kayak covers the pools downstream toward Everton; wading the runs is the trout method at dawn. Lake Buffalo, up the Buffalo River, has its own page.
Reading the report
The chart shows a river that rises with the snowmelt and after rain and falls to its gravel through summer; a fresh moves the trout and a low, warm summer river brings the natives out. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, runs cool in the valley and gives a short cod band in high summer; the valley funnels the wind; 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 parks and the bridges are public; the VFA trout stream rules and the cod closure are in the sources.
Lake Buffalo and the Buffalo River
The Buffalo River joins at Myrtleford from Lake Buffalo twenty minutes to the south, a trout and native water in its own right with the dam’s release keeping it cool through summer, and the junction reach is where the two rivers’ fish meet; Lake Buffalo has its own page and the two make a day.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Ovens at Myrtleford?
Trout in the runs in the open season, stocked cod and golden perch in the deeper pools in summer, redfin and carp.
Do I need a licence at Myrtleford?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence.
Is fishing good at Ovens River at Myrtleford 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 403210 — OVENS @ MYRTLEFORD
- 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.