Fishing Victoria Forum

We went down to Karkarook Park today that got stocked with 2000 Rainbow Trout earlier this week and from the moment we got there to the moment we left we would see schools of about 30 and fish would jump all over the lake 5m from the bank or in the middle of the lake but they wouldn’t take powerbait, maggots, grubs or worms. I only caught one little guy for the day any tips?

The local Pensioners and white bucket brigade clean up all the fish before the kids have a chance to actually catch them..
Try some lures next time, a spinnerbait should do, available at Kmart.

They'll be stressed from the move/restocking and won't be feeding much/will be super wary for a few weeks mate

Good bait for stocked trout is corn,dough or power bait if its clear water use the red power bait or muddy water use the orange one

LachyBell wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 11, 2019 4:01 pm

We went down to Karkarook Park today that got stocked with 2000 Rainbow Trout earlier this week and from the moment we got there to the moment we left we would see schools of about 30 and fish would jump all over the lake 5m from the bank or in the middle of the lake but they wouldn’t take powerbait, maggots, grubs or worms. I only caught one little guy for the day any tips?

there pretty easy to catch are you taking your kid,s down if so send me a pm i will give you some tip,s

Powerbait in orange or brown colour usually works well. Use running ball sinker and a leader about 30-40cm. Use #2 hook.
Try to use nibble tip rod, their bite can be very subtle.
Or use worms, who knows you'll catch other species.
Throw burley trout pellets to get them come to you if you fancy burleying.

Mate I've had the same issues at Lilydale Lake. I've had fishermen tell me they don't bite at first as they are still adapting to their new environment, others say they get cleaned out by all the fishos who get there first, and I reckon the cormorants get to a lot of the stocked trout before us humans do! My recommendation is to try a few different techniques; I've personally had the most success with the colour pink (tassie devil or Berkley Gulp 3-inch Pink Lemonade Power Minnow if they still sell it).