Victorian Fisheries Authority

Call Directions Website Contact the organization

Victorian Fisheries Authority Managing our fisheries - now and for the future

16/10/2026

This Sunday 18 October is Gone Fishing Day – and it’s a licence-free fishing day across Victoria! That means you can wet a line without needing a fishing licence for the day. It’s the perfect chance to give fishing a go for the first time, or take your mates and family out for a fish.

To help you make the most of it, we’ve been busy stocking catchable-size rainbows into some of our popular family fishing lakes:

🐟 Karkarook Lake – 2,000
🐟 Yarrambat Lake – 1,000
🐟 Hyland Lake – 800
🐟 Casey Fields Lake – 750
🐟 Allans Flat Dredge Hole – 500
🐟 Mount Beauty Pondage – 100

We also stocked our usual browns and rainbows across the state:

🐟 Wurdiboluc Reservoir – 10,000 rainbows
🐟 Tullaroop Reservoir – 200 rainbows and 1,600 browns
🐟 Mount Beauty Pondage – 1,500 rainbows
🐟 Lake Hume (Kookaburra) – 19,000 browns
🐟 Lake Eildon (Gough’s Bay) – 6,470 browns

That’s 43,820 trout stocked this week to help more Victorians get hooked on fishing!

Don’t forget - no licence needed this Sunday. Just bring your crew and give it a go. Have fun! šŸ‘ŒšŸŸ

Perfect day for a fishing trip  šŸ‘€
16/10/2026

Perfect day for a fishing trip šŸ‘€

Day for it! Boaters are already making the most of the upgraded Schnapper Point boat ramp in Mornington ā˜€ļø

This Sunday is National Gone Fishing Day...AND you won’t need a Victorian recreational fishing licence on the day anywhere in the state!

So get on out there this weekend – there’s plenty of snapper and squid to be caught in the bay!

Have you heard? It’s National Gone Fishing Day this Sunday 18 October...AND you won’t need a Victorian recreational fish...
16/10/2026

Have you heard? It’s National Gone Fishing Day this Sunday 18 October...AND you won’t need a Victorian recreational fishing licence on the day anywhere in the state!

That makes it the perfect opportunity to finally take that neighbour, nephew, niece, work mate, or cousin fishing. You know, the one who’s always keen to tag along because they’ve heard all your fishy yarns!

To celebrate the day, we’ve stocked more than 5,000 ready-to-catch rainbow trout into a few Family Fishing Lakes like Karkarook, Yarrambat, Casey Fields, Hyland Lake, and the Eildon Pondage - https://vfa.vic.gov.au/recreational-fishing/fish-stocking/holidaystocking

And we’ll be casting lines and celebrating at the Melbourne Boat Show today and across the weekend.

So this Sunday, wherever you are in the state, get out there, find your closest waterway and enjoy fishing with family and friends. To find out more about bag and size limits for each species, head to https://vfa.vic.gov.au/recreational-fishing/recreational-fishing-guide.

Winner, winner, gummy shark for dinner! Steve had a ripper session on the Bellarine, landing this impressive gummy while...
16/10/2026

Winner, winner, gummy shark for dinner! Steve had a ripper session on the Bellarine, landing this impressive gummy while fishing at night in just 3–4m of water.

Salmon was the bait of choice on a running sinker setup, proving you don’t need to fish deep to hook into something special!

To be our next Pelican’s Pick star, submit your photos to [email protected], and share your fishing story here https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=vqAuchw-EUutb5QB1oVuJF5LGGYHYllBgG653UyqAz5UQTFKVUlPT01DSDQzUllTMzJBOEVVSEFSRi4u&route=shorturl - https://bit.ly/pelicanspick

š€š„šØš§š  š­š”šž š‚šØššš¬š­
It’s tuna mayhem in Lakes Entrance with many anglers hitting the water ready to score the catch of a lifetime. There’s been record breaking specimens caught on a range of skirted lures. It has now been confirmed these spectacular fish are Northern Pacific bluefin tuna (a species usually found in the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Mexico) so make sure you get a trip out on a boat, whether it’s with a friend or a charter for a chance to snag one of these trophy fish! But be warned these tuna can get up to 450kg in weight so be prepared for a fight of a lifetime.

Gummy sharks are well and truly on the chew this week with mammoth catches along the coast. 90 Mile Beach is rivalling for the top spot with respectable catches from land-based fishers. Fresh oily baits have been working the best – the smellier the better! Aussie salmon are hiding in deep gutters, cast out metal slugs to find them!

Port Albert has had consistent gummy action. Deeper waters are holding big specimens. Dropping oily fish baits around 8m depth especially near steep drop offs has been landing them on the deck. Shallower waters are filled with ambush predators. Casting out paddle tail soft plastics in greens, golds and browns are resulting in a delicious feed of flathead.

Port Fairy anglers are reeling in gummy shark the size of jaws on salmon chunks and whole squid. Closer inland there’s plate sized trevally and tasty Aussie salmon in fast moving waters on metal lures. Or fish the banks of the Moyne River equipped with imitation crabs and tailor strips for a chance to reel in a nice bream or mulloway.

š€š«šØš®š§š š­š”šž šššš²š¬
Black Rock pinkies are nipping at angler’s heels and with the right bait you’re guaranteed to peel some line! Squid cubes, pilchards and mullet are this week’s favourite cuisine for these juvenile snapper! Squid are also inundating the area with natural coloured 3.5 sized jigs easily delivering good results!

Queenscliff is buzzing with activity with ink-credible squid swarming sandy shallows and w**d beds. Dark coloured jigs are best used when fishing sandy areas while white glow has been a clear standout when targeting w**d beds. For fast paced action switch to curl tail soft plastics and get stuck into a wide variety of flathead, trevally and pinkies.
Snapper are absolutely dominating Western Port with large catches across the bay. Peak bite times have been on tide changes especially on a run in tide. Target shallow flats as water moves in equipped with fresh baits like pilchards, squid strips and yakka chunks. These are active feeding grounds and will give you the best chance of earning a trophy fish!

The bottom end of Western Port is producing solid gummy shark and kraken squid. Drifting jigs around the bottom of French Island is a sure-fire way to hook in to some tasty squid! Deeper waters near the mouth are where gummy and school shark are feeding. Squid strips and mullet on paternoster rigs are reeling in quality catches!

šˆš§š„ššš§š
Lake Eppalock is becoming the worst kept secret with anglers boasting epic native fish catches! Trolling with bibbed hardbodies is productive way to fish deep lake edges and reel in some cracking cod! Yella’s have been inhaling worms and can often be found as a welcome bycatch for those chasing cod. In amongst the action anglers have been hauling in decent feeds of redfin to take home to the family. The key to fishing Eppalock is hitting the water at sunrise to cash in on the morning bite!

As we hit mid-October there’s no other place to fish like Lake Hume. The yellowbelly being caught are wider than they are long and are actively feeding. Worms, yabbies and shrimp are the best bait option when it comes to enticing a big bite! Small bibbed lures have also proven effective in securing a catch.

Lake Dartmouth is consistently producing quality brown trout with a few rainbows in the mix. Inline spinners are switching on aggressive bites from brown trout especially near structured areas. Worms, mudeyes and Powerbait are best used when fishing through daylight hours as the rainbows switch on to feed.

The Wimmera River is a spring fishing hot spot, as the weather heats up so does the fishing! Dark coloured spinnerbaits are as effective as a metal detector when it comes to finding gold with class yellowbelly feeding along the riverbank. Casting out worms is securing a catch with both reddies and catfish on the chew.

Tight lines – Mr. Percy!

15/10/2026

Got time for a longer lunch break today? Head down to the FREE Melbourne Boat Show at Docklands. You may just find your next dream boat. šŸš¤šŸ˜‰

šŸ•’ SHOW HOURS šŸ•’
Friday: 10am–6pm
Saturday: 10am–6pm
Sunday: 10am–4pm

Head to Melbourne Boat Show page or tap the link below to get your free tickets:

šŸ”—melbourneinternationalboatshow.com.au

15/10/2026

Ever wondered how we harvest tiny Murray cod fingerlings from massive plankton ponds? Jarryd from our Arcadia Native Fish Hatchery, near Shepparton, explains.

These are fish we’ll stock this coming summer to bolster Murray cod populations in Victoria’s lakes and rivers.

Fishing means more than just the catch.Early mornings become memories. Quiet moments become stories.The days spent toget...
14/10/2026

Fishing means more than just the catch.

Early mornings become memories.

Quiet moments become stories.

The days spent together will mean more than you ever knew.

So take your kids fishing because one day, they’ll be all grown up.

Take your mate fishing because there’s always more to talk about than life leaves time for.

Take your parents fishing because they miss you.

Take someone you love, just because you can.

There’s something special about sitting side by side with a line in the water.

With something to do and nowhere to be, conversations flow.

You catch up on their world and share a little more of yours.

This Gone Fishing Day, tag someone you’d love a day on the water with. šŸŽ£ā¤ļø

14/10/2026

Springtime at Arcadia can only mean one thing. The birds and the bees…or more accurately, nesting boxes and cod! šŸ‘€

Our Arcadia Native Fish Hatchery team are seeing plenty of Murray cod spawnings already, which is great news for the season ahead.

Stay tuned for when these little babies hatch from their eggs!

National Barramundi Day is coming to Melbourne! And of course it is, because we’ve got world-class barramundi grown righ...
14/10/2026

National Barramundi Day is coming to Melbourne! And of course it is, because we’ve got world-class barramundi grown right here in Victoria by Infinity Blue Barramundi!

If you get in quick this Friday, you can grab a delicious barra burger and chips cooked up by Ben Shewry.

Celebrate local, celebrate Victorian barramundi!

It’s official, CSIRO has genetically confirmed the first Pacific bluefin tuna caught in Victoria! Back in July 2026, two...
14/10/2026

It’s official, CSIRO has genetically confirmed the first Pacific bluefin tuna caught in Victoria!

Back in July 2026, two large tuna caught off Western Port by Jack Agius and Fin Chaser Fishing Charters were observed by Jonah Yick, Dave Standing, and other fishers to have some differences in their appearance.

So, samples were sent off for testing by Dr Peter Grewe, lead geneticist working on tuna genomics at CSIRO in Hobart. It has now been confirmed they were indeed Pacific bluefin tuna!

CSIRO are now testing the recent suspected Pacific bluefin caught off Lakes Entrance to see if we’re potentially seeing more of these incredible fish turning up in our state.

Stay tuned for more results to come!

The Pacific and southern bluefin tuna look very similar to the naked eye; DNA screening answered the question.

Address

Pyalong, VIC

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+61136186

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Victorian Fisheries Authority posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Victorian Fisheries Authority:

Shortcuts

Share