The Merri above the old weir is a farm river, and it asks to be fished like one. It is small,
slow water an hour from anywhere in the south-west, a bridge from the car, and on a still spring
evening with a brown rising under the willows it is as good a small river as the coast has.
The stretch is thirty-four kilometres from the headwaters down through Grassmere and Woodford to
Wollaston, where Bromfield Street Weir used to stand. The weir came out in 2024, but Victoria
still draws its line at that site, so this page is the freshwater river and the trout rules, and
the water below it is the estuary. The river winds across the volcanic plain in deep pools
between short riffles, the banks cut into dark soil, willows and reeds along the edge and dairy
paddocks to the fence.
The trout are brown, wild and wary. The survey record carries them from every decade since the
1980s, with the 2020s the strongest decade of all, and whatever was stocked over the years, the
browns here now are breeding. They live under the undercuts and in the shade, and the first cast
to a pool is the one that counts.
Spring is the trip, September to December, while the pools are full from winter and the water
is cool. Fish a parachute Adams to the fish that show and a slim nymph along the undercut when
nothing does. From Christmas a hopper tight to the grass in the afternoon. Summer thins the
riffles and warms the pools and turns it into a first-light river, and autumn is a quieter
second season. The road bridges at Grassmere, Woodford and Wollaston are the natural ways in; a
gate and a fence are the answer, and a bridge is not a right to walk the paddock beyond it.
The Woodford gauge reads flow and height two-thirds of the way down the stretch, and its readings
sit under Conditions. After rain the Merri colours and rises, and a few dry days settle it. Read
it the day before you drive.
Water and habitat
Slow water on the volcanic plain: deep pools between short gravel riffles, cut banks, willows and
reeds, and a bed that holds depth through a dry summer when the riffles between the pools run thin.
The river opens out through the Grassmere and Woodford farm country and tightens again toward
Wollaston. The Woodford gauge reads flow and height about two-thirds of the way down the stretch.
The old weir sat downstream of this stretch, near Wollaston Bridge. It is gone. The cut between this
page and the lower river is still that named site, because Victoria still draws its line there.
Fish and forage
Brown trout, wild and breeding. The survey record for the river carries
them from gill nets and electrofishing in the 1980s and 1990s through boat electrofishing in the
2000s, 2010s and 2020s, with the 2020s the strongest decade in the record. Rainbows appear only as an
old release and a single record. Redfin share the pools. The Victorian Fisheries Authority's guide
notes stocking on the river over the years; what is there now is what the surveys found, and treat a
day on the water as the count.
The trout eat caddis in the riffles at dusk, small mayfly on the slow pools, and
from Christmas the grasshoppers off the paddocks.
When to fish it
Read the Conditions card on this page before you drive. After rain the river comes up and colours;
give it a few dry days. If it is up or dirty when you get there, that is the answer for the day.
September to December is the season: pools full from winter, water cool, fish feeding. Summer runs
the riffles thin and warms the pools; fish the first and last hours, keep fish wet, and leave the
middle of the day to the estuary. Autumn is quietly good until the trout season closes on classified
waters, and the current Victorian guide says whether this is one.
How to fish it
Slow water and wary fish. A four or five weight, a long leader to keep the fly line off the glassy
pools, and an upstream approach that puts your shadow behind you. A parachute Adams
or a Klinkhammer for the fish that show, an Elk Hair Caddis
in the evening riffles, a hopper tight to the grass in summer. When nothing is
showing, a slim Pheasant Tail under a small dry as a
dry-dropper, drifted along the undercut. When the river is carrying
colour, a small Woolly Bugger or a worm pattern through the deeper pools.
Fish the shade and the undercuts. The open middle of a pool is for the first hour of the morning.
Access and safety
Mixed banks through dairy and grazing country. The road bridges at Grassmere, Woodford and Wollaston
are the natural ways in; a gate and a fence are the answer, and a bridge is not a right to walk the
paddock beyond it. Confirm who holds the bank before you walk it. The Victorian Fisheries Authority's
angling guide for this basin lists access along the river; a pin is not a right of entry.
Soft cut banks and deep pools under the willows are the hazards. Wade only where you can see the
bottom.
Regulations
Victorian rules apply. Victoria classifies the Merri differently above and below Bromfield Street
Weir, and this is the water above that named site, so the freshwater trout rules govern it. Take the
season, size and bag from the current
Victorian recreational fishing guide.
The dates and numbers move. Do not take them from this page.