With the commencement of Autumn, the last two months of the 2025-26 brown trout season are now upon us. Traditionally this is a great time of year for trout fishing as water temperatures cool and fish feed heavily to put on condition prior to spawning.

Fishing reports from Yingina / Great Lake continue to be consistent, with great catches of both brown and rainbow trout. Trolling has produced good results, particularly around the weed beds. Lures with a bit of ‘flashy gold’ on them have been among the best. Most of the fish currently being caught are coming from down deep, so if you are planning on doing some trolling it pays to have at least one lead-line out. Fly anglers continue to report good rises in low wind conditions at dawn and dusk, with fish also up in the wind lanes through the day. Bait fishing from the shore has been tougher, but fish have still been caught. Generally, shore-based bait fishing becomes tough when the lake is dropping, and this year appears to be no exception.

Penstock Lagoon has continued to fish well through the Summer due to the cooler conditions. There have been reasonable insect hatches and rising fish noted by fly fishers. Some anglers have also reported catching good fish in Little Pine Lagoon at dawn and dusk, whilst fishing through the day has been more challenging.

Mixed reports have come from Woods Lake and Arthurs Lake. Some fly anglers have been successful in the marsh areas fishing both wet and dry flies, whilst trollers have also had good catches on some days, with others quiet.

In the Western Lakes, fly anglers are reporting polaroiding reasonable numbers of fish in sunny conditions. Lure anglers have had success throughout overcast and windier conditions. Lure fishing has been challenging on sunny days.

Bronte Lagoon has been producing good brown and rainbow trout, with fish in outstanding condition. Trolling has been the most successful method, although fly anglers have done well with rising fish on light wind days. Persistent anglers have also been rewarded with some outstanding fish from Dee Lagoon, which is always an excellent late season option.

Lake Mackintosh and Lake Burbury on the west coast have been rewarding. Midge feeders of a morning have been a highlight for fly anglers. Lure anglers have also had success trolling both surface and deeper lures. We are also still receiving reports of the occasional brook trout being taken from Lake Plimsoll.

Anglers at Talbots Lagoon have been rewarded. All methods have been successful. Spinner / Dun imitations have been the flies of choice, whilst mudeyes have been the best bait. Soft plastics and hard body lures have also accounted for quality fish.

Lake Crescent has been quiet, however some shore-based anglers that have put the time in have been rewarded both in the main lake and at the outlet. Low water levels have made launching a boat and navigating the canal difficult, so boating is not recommended until levels have risen.

Lake Sorell has also been challenging this season. We are however optimistic that this will improve in the last month of the season. Last year anglers did exceptionally well from mid-April through to the closure of the season trolling along the northern shore.

Tooms Lake and Lake Leake on the east coast are starting to improve as water temperatures cool into Autumn. One party of 2 anglers recently caught four browns from Tooms Lake by drift spinning around the shore, averaging 4 lb in weight.

Rivers around the state have continued to show signs of improvement with good recent reports coming from the Meander, Leven, St Patricks and Tyenna Rivers.

As we draw towards the end of the 2025-26 brown trout season, there is still some fantastic trout fishing to be enjoyed. The tagged fish promotion is still active, with the grand $25,000 prize for the first tagged fish caught out of Yingina / Great Lake this season still on offer!