Kennington Reservoir is a small stocked water in the City of Greater Bendigo, and the reason to go is rainbow trout: the Victorian Fisheries Authority has put them in year after year, so there are fish here most seasons.
It is one piece of still water. There is no river to follow and no stretch to pick.
The first trip, and the easiest, is a cool-season morning after rainbows. From late autumn into spring, in our experience, stocked trout on a reservoir like this cruise the edges, and a slow Woolly Bugger on a floating line finds them. No water-specific rule was found, so the current Victorian freshwater guide sets your licence, bag and size limits; check it before you go.
The second trip is a warm evening for redfin. They are recorded in the reservoir, and in our experience redfin school up through summer, so when the trout go deep and quiet, a small streamer stripped in short bursts is a good bet. Stay for dusk if mudeyes are about along the margins.
The third is a long shot. Golden perch, silver perch and Murray cod have been stocked recently, so treat any of them as a bonus on a trout rig rather than a reason to drive over.
Pack a five weight, a floating line and a box of buggers, and go on the next cool, still morning.
Water and habitat
A small reservoir like this has one main feature for a fly angler: its edge. Weed beds, a drop-off close to the bank, or a point where the wind pushes food together are where fish feed, and the open middle is where they rest.
The City of Greater Bendigo has received Victorian Fisheries Authority funding to improve fish habitat and access at the reservoir.
Fish and forage
Rainbow trout are the fish the stocking is built around, and the chart shows how steady that stocking has been. Redfin and tench are recorded here. Goldfish and flathead gudgeon are recorded as well; the gudgeon are small fish, and in our read they are part of what redfin and larger trout hunt along the weed.
Golden perch, silver perch and Murray cod have all been released in recent years. The stocking chart has the dates.
For a fly box, that mix points one way: small baitfish imitations and buggers first, a few midge emergers and a mudeye pattern second. Big, bright dries are rarely the answer on a still reservoir.
When to fish it
Late autumn through spring is, in our experience, the best window for stocked rainbows in central Victoria. The water is cool, the fish are active in the shallows and a slow fly across the edge does the work.
Summer belongs to redfin and to the last hour of light. Trout tend to drop deeper in the heat, so fish early or late, and switch to redfin tactics through the middle of the day.
Spring and autumn mornings with no wind are the time for small dries and emergers, when midge come off the flat water and trout sip them close in.
How to fish it
A five weight with a floating line covers almost everything here. Carry a slow intermediate line for the days when the fish sit a little deeper.
Walk slowly and watch before you cast. A cruising trout on a small reservoir often shows as a bulge or a ring well before it reaches you; put the fly a few metres ahead of it and let it sink.
When nothing shows, count a lightly weighted Woolly Bugger down near the bottom off the edge and retrieve it in slow, long pulls with pauses. Olive and black in size 8 or 10 are a good start. For redfin, speed up and shorten the strip; they chase what flees.
On a calm morning with fish sipping, go down to a size 16 midge emerger on a long, fine leader and cast only to moving fish.
Access and safety
We have no confirmed access point or track to give you for Kennington. Read the signs at the water and fish only where they allow it. As on any small reservoir, keep off steep or crumbling edges, watch for other walkers when you back-cast, and take your line and tippet offcuts home with you.
Regulations
No water-specific rule was found for Kennington Reservoir. Check the current Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide from the Victorian Fisheries Authority for licence requirements, bag and size limits before you fish, and read any signs at the water.
