May 8, 2024
In a move that will thrill many Victorian Murray cod fishers, the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) have removed the closed season from a trio of lakes in central and northern Victoria.
The annual 3-month Murray cod closed season (1 September to 30 November inclusive) will no longer apply in Lake Eppalock, Cairn Curran Reservoir and Lake Nillahcootie.
It’s a massive win for recreational fishers and will provide enhanced freshwater fishing opportunities in central and northern Victoria.
Earlier this year, we asked recreational fishers to share which waterways they’d love to see opened up year-round to Murray cod fishing. Lake Eppalock, Cairn Curran Reservoir, and Lake Nillahcootie were in the top four waters identified by more than 1,000 recreational fishers.
The three lakes will join Lake Eildon and waters in the Wimmera and Millicent Basins (excluding the Wimmera River) such as Rocklands Reservoir and Taylors Lake as year-round cod fisheries.
These waters are stocked with thousands of Murray cod annually, creating put-and-take fisheries where natural recruitment is typically very low. This means the closed season has very little benefit in these waters.
To protect any small amount of recruitment from inflowing rivers, and to provide clarity to recreational fishers, fixed river-lake markers will be signed at Eppalock and Cairn Curran to maintain the closed season in key inflowing rivers. View the Nillahcootie map.
Opening up the trio of lakes will also take pressure off nearby rivers such as the Loddon, Campaspe and Broken, where cod breeding and recruitment does occur. And, provide a boost to regional businesses through increased fishing tourism visitation between September-December.
Public consultation was held by fisheries managers last month. More than 90 per cent of submissions received by the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) supported the move, which has been advocated for by VRFish and prominent Murray cod fishers for several years.
The VFA will re-consult with recreational fishers on maintaining these regulations in 2025.
In recent years, the VFA, with support from VRFish and recreational fishers, have opened selected waterways to year-round Murray cod fishing (removed the Murray cod closed season).
In 2016, the VFA removed the Murray Cod closed season at Lake Eildon, and in 2023, the VFA removed the closed season for all waters of the Wimmera and Millicent basins, except the Wimmera River.
Removing Murray cod closed season at Lake Eildon and waters in the Wimmera and Millicent Basins (excluding the Wimmera River) has eased fishing pressure and provided fishers with a place to fish during spring when Murray cod naturally breed in our rivers.
