Taylors Lake Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
Horsham’s recreation lake in the Wimmera: Murray cod open all year as Wimmera basin water, with golden perch and redfin, and a Bureau gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
144.50 m26,283 ML
Air / High
14 °C / 23 °C
Wind
ESE 7 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge TAYLORS-LAKE-HG, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Taylors Lake rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. The gauge reads 144.50 m, holding steady. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ESE around 6 km/h, rising pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 23 °C. Water sits around 13 °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.
Murray cod
Slow
Slow it down: heavier spinnerbaits, slow-rolled swimbaits and bait on the bottom next to the deep snags.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 16 °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 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 Taylors Lake today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:16), sunset (18:29), 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 TAYLORS-LAKE-HG (Taylors).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station TAYLORS-LAKE-HG. Latest reading 2026-09-25 09:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp14 °C
High / Low23 °C / 13 °C
WindESE 7 km/h, gusts 11 km/h
Pressure1024.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain45% cloud, 51%
Sunrise / Sunset06:16 / 18:29
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Taylors Lake
The best day on Taylors Lake 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
- 06:16 to 18:29
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 11 km/h
- Rain chance
- 51%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Taylors Lake: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Murray cod
December to August; closed September to November
Open all year Taylors Lake is Wimmera basin water, 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. Slow it down: heavier spinnerbaits, slow-rolled swimbaits and bait on the bottom next to the deep snags.
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. Slower. Work the deeper timber and the drop-offs with vibes and bait.
When to come: the Taylors Lake 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 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 Taylors Lake 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. Golden perch led the card at fair. High of 23 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at good. High of 19 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Golden perch led the card at good. High of 16 °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
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies at Taylors Lake unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees.
About this water
Taylors Lake is a lake in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Taylors Lake: the full guide
Taylors Lake
Taylors Lake is the GWMWater storage south-east of Horsham in the Wimmera, a shallow, open lake fed from the Grampians through the pipeline and channel system, with a small natural catchment of its own. GWMWater describes it as very popular with Horsham locals for camping, fishing and water skiing, and notes it often still holds water when other lakes are dry. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at the lake supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Murray cod are the prize of Taylors Lake, and the VFA lists it among its specified lakes for cod. The lake is Wimmera basin water, which the VFA exempts from the Murray cod closed season, so cod may be kept all year within the limits; golden perch and redfin are the other fish most anglers catch. The species card computes the cod rule with the VFA page linked.
Where to fish it
The banks around Taylors Lake are open, and anglers fish from the shore near the camping areas and the points, casting lures and bait into the deeper water; a boat covers the lake when the skiers are off it. Early morning and evening are the cod sessions in summer.
Planning a visit
Taylors Lake is a short drive south-east of Horsham on the Wimmera plains, and Horsham has tackle shops, supplies and accommodation. Summer brings skiers and campers, so the dawn and the evening are the quiet fishing times; bring cod lures, shrimp or worms for yellowbelly, and check GWMWater’s algae warnings before swimming or fishing in the hot months.
Reading this report here
Taylors is a shallow, open lake in flat country, so the wind row decides the day: a strong northerly or southerly makes it rough and muddy. The chart shows how far the lake has drawn down, which matters on a shallow storage. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is warm in summer and cold in winter; pressure and sky build the score at Taylors Lake.
Licence, access and rules
Victoria’s Recreational Fishing Licence applies at Taylors Lake unless you are exempt; our Victoria page has the fees. GWMWater sets the recreation rules at the lake and the VFA sets the cod limits, which are linked in the sources.
Common questions
Is Murray cod closed at Taylors Lake in spring?
No. Taylors Lake is Wimmera basin water, which the VFA exempts from the Murray cod closed season.
What can I catch at Taylors Lake?
Murray cod, golden perch and redfin.
Do I need a licence at Taylors Lake?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence.
Is fishing good at Taylors Lake 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 TAYLORS-LAKE-HG — Taylors
- 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.