Golden perch
Excellent
Prime. Hop soft plastics and vibes around the timber, or fish shrimp and worms on the bottom.
Ovens River at Peechelba Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The lower Ovens at Peechelba near the Murray: Murray cod and protected trout cod in a Heritage River reach, with a Bureau gauge.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Level
127.14 m
Air / High
15 °C / 22 °C
Wind
S 1 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 403241, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Ovens River at Peechelba is fishing in its best temperature window, with the bite spread across the day. The gauge reads 127.14 m, easing 0.06 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind S around 2 km/h, rising pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 22 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 11:50 AM-1:50 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Murray cod
Closed today
Reopens 1 Dec 2026. Closed 1 September to 30 November inclusive, except in Lake Eildon, Eildon Pondage, Lake Eppalock, Cairn Curran, Lake Nillahcootie and the other waters the VFA lists.
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: 11:22 PM-1:22 AM, 11:50 AM-1:50 PM, 5:05 AM-6:05 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 Ovens River at Peechelba today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:03), sunset (19:54), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 11:50 AM-1:50 PM; minor 5:05 AM-6:05 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 403241 (OVENS @ PEECHELBA).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 403241. Latest reading 2026-11-07 10:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low22 °C / 5 °C
WindS 1 km/h, gusts 2 km/h
Pressure1017.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain45% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:03 / 19:54
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Ovens River at Peechelba
The best day on Ovens River at Peechelba this week looks like Friday 13 Nov, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today.
Best day this week: Friday, 13 Nov — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 11:22 PM-1:22 AM and 11:50 AM-1:50 PM
- Minor period
- 5:05 AM-6:05 AM
- Sun
- 06:03 to 19:54
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 10 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Ovens River at Peechelba: 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
Closed now Reopens 1 Dec 2026. Closed 1 September to 30 November inclusive, except in Lake Eildon, Eildon Pondage, Lake Eppalock, Cairn Curran, Lake Nillahcootie and the other waters the VFA lists. 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.
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 Ovens River at Peechelba 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 Ovens River at Peechelba today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 20 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Golden perch led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 27 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
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 23 °C, wind to 14 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 on the Ovens unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees.
About this water
Ovens River at Peechelba is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Ovens River at Peechelba: the full guide
The Ovens at Peechelba
Peechelba is on the lower Ovens River north of Wangaratta, in the 25 km Heritage River section that runs from Killawarra to Lake Mulwala on the Murray; the VFA describes the river flowing through farmland and then red gum forest below Peechelba. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Peechelba, station 403241, supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. The Ovens at Wangaratta and Lake Mulwala have their own pages.
Species and seasons
The VFA guide lists numerous Murray cod in this reach, a self-sustaining population, with some golden perch, most of them near Lake Mulwala, redfin, carp and Murray spiny crayfish. Trout cod, restocked through the Trout Cod Recovery Program, are now established through the Ovens; they may only be kept in lakes Sambell and Kerferd, so release every one here. Victoria’s Murray cod closed season, 1 September to 30 November, applies on the lower Ovens, and the species card computes it.
Where to fish it
The VFA calls this section very accessible by small boat, with launching at Bundalong; near Lake Mulwala the anabranches and backwaters can be confusing to navigate. At Peechelba the channel is 33 to 40 metres wide, with long stretches 1 to 2.2 metres deep and holes over 3.5 metres, which is where cod lures and baits belong.
Planning a visit
Wangaratta, to the south, has supplies and tackle. Learn to tell a trout cod from a Murray cod before you go: the VFA cod pages in the sources show the difference. Lake Mulwala itself is New South Wales water and needs the NSW fee.
The river through the year
The Ovens is largely unregulated, so in wet years its floods spread across the red gum forest around Peechelba, and it runs low in dry summers. Cod feed through summer and autumn in the snags and the deep holes, and the floods bring a burst of food and fish activity as they drain. The chart shows the flood pulses as they pass.
Reading this report here
The chart shows the Ovens rising after rain in the Alps and spilling onto the floodplain in wet years. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm in summer; pressure and sky build the score at Peechelba.
Licence, access and rules
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies on the Ovens unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees. The VFA limits, the cod closure and the trout cod protection are in the sources.
Common questions
Can I keep a trout cod from the Ovens?
No. Trout cod may only be kept in lakes Sambell and Kerferd; in the Ovens they must be released.
When is Murray cod closed on the Ovens?
On the lower Ovens, from 1 September to 30 November.
Do I need a licence on the lower Ovens?
Yes, the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, unless you hold an exemption.
Is fishing good at Ovens River at Peechelba right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 403241 — OVENS @ PEECHELBA
- 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.