Upper Coliban Reservoir Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The highest of the Coliban reservoirs near Trentham: a cold trout and redfin lake on the VFA’s year-round cod list, with a Bureau gauge on the level.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
505.56 m37,770 ML
Air / High
12 °C / 22 °C
Wind
SSE 13 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge UPPERCOLIBAN, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Upper Coliban Reservoir has cool water and fish holding a little deeper and slower. The gauge reads 505.56 m, holding steady. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSE around 13 km/h, rising pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 22 °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 13 °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 Upper Coliban Reservoir today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:07), sunset (18:20), 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 UPPERCOLIBAN (Upper Coliban Reservoir).
Storage level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station UPPERCOLIBAN. Latest reading 2026-09-23 00:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp12 °C
High / Low22 °C / 12 °C
WindSSE 13 km/h, gusts 27 km/h
Pressure1025.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 43%
Sunrise / Sunset06:07 / 18:20
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Upper Coliban Reservoir
The best day on Upper Coliban 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, 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
- 06:07 to 18:20
- 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 Upper Coliban Reservoir: 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
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. 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 Upper Coliban 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
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 Upper Coliban Reservoir 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 19 °C, wind to 18 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 17 °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 12 °C, wind to 27 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; fees on our Victoria page.
About this water
Upper Coliban Reservoir is a lake in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Upper Coliban Reservoir: the full guide
The lake
Upper Coliban Reservoir is the topmost of the three Coliban Water storages, on the Coliban River near Tylden between Kyneton and Trentham on the Central Highlands, a cold, open lake of grassy shores with a picnic area and bank access near the wall and the road along one side. The VFA lists it among the lakes with a two-cod bag, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge on the reservoir supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Brown and rainbow trout are stocked and are the main fishery, along the edges and the drop-offs from autumn to spring on bait, lures and flies; redfin are abundant through the year; Murray cod are stocked and hold near the wall and the few trees in the warm months, closed from 1 September to 30 November under the Victorian rule the species card computes; golden perch have been stocked; and carp are present with the VFA rules. The Coliban above is trout stream water under the stream closure.
Where to fish it
The picnic area and the wall give bank access to the deepest water, and the road along the shore gives casting access to the drop-off; the grassy flats at the upstream end flood in a full year and the trout feed over them at dawn. Boating is restricted on the supply reservoir and it fishes from the bank.
Reading the report
High and cold, the lake keeps the water temperature estimate, labelled as an estimate, in the trout bands for most of the year with a short warm band for the natives; the chart shows the supply draw-down. The plateau wind is cold and crosses the open water; pressure and sky fill the score and the planner picks the morning.
Licence, access and rules
The Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence applies unless exempt; fees on our Victoria page. The picnic area and the shore are open under the water authority’s rules with boating restricted; the VFA limits, the trout rules, the cod closure and the lake bag are in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch at Upper Coliban?
Stocked trout in the cool months, redfin through the year, and cod near the wall in the warm months outside the September to November closure.
Is there boating at Upper Coliban?
Restricted, under the water authority’s rules; it is a bank fishery from the picnic area, the wall and the road.
Is fishing good at Upper Coliban 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 UPPERCOLIBAN — Upper Coliban Reservoir
- 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.