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.
Yarra River at Warburton Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The upper Yarra at Warburton: trout in the runs and the pools of a forest river an hour from Melbourne, with the Bureau’s gauge at the town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
0.36 m
Air / High
13 °C / 24 °C
Wind
E 2 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 229404A, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Yarra River at Warburton is a cold-water proposition today: bait on the bottom and a long soak. The gauge reads 0.36 m, holding steady. Today brings cloud cover, wind E around 2 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 24 °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 14 °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 Yarra River at Warburton today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:02), sunset (18:16), 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 229404A (YARRA RIV-WARBURTON).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 229404A. Latest reading 2026-09-24 00:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low24 °C / 13 °C
WindE 2 km/h, gusts 8 km/h
Pressure1025.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 71%
Sunrise / Sunset06:02 / 18:16
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Yarra River at Warburton
The best day on Yarra River at Warburton 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
- 06:02 to 18:16
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 11 km/h
- Rain chance
- 71%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Yarra River at Warburton: 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 Yarra River at Warburton 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 Yarra River at Warburton 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 24 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
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 20 °C, wind to 8 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 16 °C, wind to 11 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
Yarra River at Warburton is a river in Victoria, Australia, covered from the Victoria reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Yarra River at Warburton: the full guide
The reach
The Yarra at Warburton is the upper river in the Yarra Ranges, below the closed catchment of the Upper Yarra Dam and above the Yarra Valley, running cold and clear over gravel and rock through the town’s river walk and the reserves past Millgrove and Yarra Junction toward Healesville. It is Melbourne’s closest trout river, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Warburton supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Brown and rainbow trout are the fish, wild and stocked, in the runs and the pools on the fly, spinners and bait, 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; blackfish are in the deeper pools under their own rules; and Macquarie perch, protected, are in the middle Yarra and go back. The lower Yarra is a different fishery under different rules.
Where to fish it
The river walk and the reserves give bank access through Warburton and Millgrove, the Warburton Rail Trail follows the river, and the river is a wader’s water in the runs and the pool heads from Warburton down to Yarra Junction; dawn and dusk are the trout hours. The catchment above the dam is closed.
Reading the report
The chart shows a forest river that rises after rain in the ranges and falls to its gravel through summer; a fresh moves the trout. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cold for most of the year; the forest shelters the water; the rain row matters in the wet ranges; 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 river walk, the reserves and the rail trail are public; the VFA trout stream rules, the blackfish rules and the protection of Macquarie perch are in the sources.
The Warburton Rail Trail
The rail trail from Lilydale to Warburton follows the river for its last fifteen kilometres and gives a walking and cycling angler access to reaches the road cannot, and the Yarra Junction to Warburton section is the trout water of the two; the Little Yarra, joining at Yarra Junction, is a smaller trout stream in its own right.
Common questions
When is the Yarra at Warburton open for trout?
From the first Saturday of September to the King’s Birthday weekend in June, under the Victorian stream rule computed on the species card.
Do I need a licence at Warburton?
Yes, unless exempt: the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence.
Is fishing good at Yarra River at Warburton 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 229404A — YARRA RIV-WARBURTON
- 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.