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.
Tarago Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Sat, 26 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Melbourne Water reservoir near Neerim South: a trout, bass and redfin lake opened to shore fishing, with a Bureau gauge on the level.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
25.41 m36,475 ML
Air / High
11 °C / 13 °C
Wind
SSW 10 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 228224A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Tarago Reservoir is a cold-water proposition today: bait on the bottom and a long soak. The gauge reads 25.41 m, up 0.06 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSW around 10 km/h, steady pressure near 1032 hPa and a high of 13 °C. Water sits around 8 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM: 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: 11:16 PM-1:16 AM, 11:16 AM-1:16 PM, 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Similar at 14 °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 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 Tarago Reservoir today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:00), sunset (18:15), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM; minor 5:46 AM-6:46 AM. Full Moon, 100% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 228224A (TARAGO R-TARAGO RES).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 228224A. Latest reading 2026-09-24 08:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp11 °C
High / Low13 °C / 7 °C
WindSSW 10 km/h, gusts 19 km/h
Pressure1031.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset06:00 / 18:15
MoonFull Moon, 100%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Tarago Reservoir
The best day on Tarago Reservoir 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, 26 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:16 PM-1:16 AM and 11:16 AM-1:16 PM
- Minor period
- 5:46 AM-6:46 AM
- Sun
- 06:00 to 18:15
- Moon
- Full Moon, 100% lit
- Sky and wind
- Storms, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Tarago Reservoir: 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 Tarago 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 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 Tarago Reservoir today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataFri, Sep 25
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 22 °C, wind to 14 km/h.
Thu, Sep 24
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 21 °C, wind to 10 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 18 °C, wind to 8 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
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless exempt; fees on our Victoria page.
About this water
Tarago Reservoir is a lake in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Tarago Reservoir: the full guide
The lake
Tarago Reservoir is a Melbourne Water storage on the Tarago River near Neerim South in West Gippsland, returned to the drinking-water system in the 2000s and opened to shore fishing in designated areas with a picnic ground near the wall, a lake of steep, forested banks in the hills an hour and a half from Melbourne. It is south of the Divide, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the dam 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 on bait, lures and flies; Australian bass are stocked and fish the timber and the creek mouths in the warm months; redfin are abundant; golden perch have been stocked; and carp are present with the VFA rules. There is no trout closure on the reservoir, and the Tarago River below is trout stream water under the stream closure computed on its rule.
Where to fish it
The designated shore fishing areas near the picnic ground and the wall are the access, on foot along the bank, with no boats and no wading; the drop-off near the wall is the summer water and the edges toward the inflow fish for trout at dawn in the cool months. The rules on where to stand are Melbourne Water’s and are posted at the gate.
Reading the report
The Gippsland hills are wet and cool and the water temperature estimate, labelled as one, sits in the trout bands for most of the year with a warm band for the bass in high summer; the chart shows the supply draw-down. The forested banks shelter the water from most wind; pressure and sky fill the score and the planner picks the morning.
Licence, access and rules
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless exempt; fees on our Victoria page. Shore fishing only in the designated areas under Melbourne Water’s rules; the VFA limits and the trout rules are in the sources.
The river below
The Tarago River below the dam is a small, cold trout stream through the farms toward Drouin, open in the Victorian stream season and closed from the King’s Birthday weekend to the first Saturday of September, and an angler who fishes the reservoir in winter can fish the river in spring; the two share a page on the VFA site and a rule on this one.
Common questions
Can I fish Tarago Reservoir?
Yes, from the shore in the designated areas near the picnic ground, under Melbourne Water’s rules; no boats or wading.
What fish are in Tarago Reservoir?
Stocked trout in the cool months, Australian bass in the warm months, redfin through the year.
Is fishing good at Tarago 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 228224A — TARAGO R-TARAGO RES
- 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.