Brown Trout Fishing in WA

It does. Trout have been stocked in WA for over 100 years, run today through DPIRD’s Pemberton Freshwater Research Centre. Brown trout (Salmo trutta) went into the south-west streams from the early 1900s and built small self-sustaining populations in the Donnelly, Warren and Lefroy Brook systems before the rainbow programme took over the heavy lifting.

The headline numbers today are rainbow trout — tens of thousands released each year ahead of the season. Browns still feature in some release years, but most caught now are wild-spawned holdover fish, which is part of their appeal. They run larger on average than rainbows, hold tighter to cover, and feed more selectively. They are harder to catch, and that is the point.

Here is the one that trips people up: you need a licence, but only one. A South-West Freshwater Angling Licence from DPIRD is required for all freshwater angling south of Greenough (29°S) above the tidal limit — every lake, dam, river and tributary in trout country. Unlike Tasmania, WA does not charge a separate inland angling fee on top; the one licence covers you. Under-16s do not need it, and you do not need a Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence to fish freshwater from a powered vessel. Marron, in their short summer season, need a separate licence again.

On the limits: current DPIRD rules set a daily mixed bag of 4 fish combined across brown trout, rainbow trout and freshwater cobbler, with a minimum size of 300mm. Note that the Shannon River is closed at all times, as are all Water Corporation drinking-water supply dams. Regulations and season dates change, so pull the current numbers from the DPIRD south-west freshwater guide before you drive down. Don’t take a number off a blog — including this one — as gospel against a fisheries officer.

The brown trout heartland is the Pemberton/Donnelly catchment, but the fishery spreads from Dwellingup down to Walpole. Order here is roughly by drive from Perth.

Light tackle, and lighter than you think for browns.

• Spin: a 6–7ft, 2–4lb light spin rod — the same outfit you would use for bream or herring — with 4–6lb mono or 8lb braid and a 6lb fluorocarbon leader. Browns are notoriously leader-shy; drop a tippet size in clear water.
• Lures: small hardbodies (Rapala CD-3, suspending minnows), 40–55mm bibbed minnows in rainbow and brown patterns, small Celta-style spinners, and 2–3” soft plastics on light jigheads. Go darker on overcast days — a black lure throws a stronger silhouette.
• Fly: a 4–5 weight rod with a floating line is the stream standard; wets and dries both produce on the slower runs and pool tails.
• Bait: scrubworms, mudeyes under a float, small yabbies and garden worms on the streams; PowerBait off a sliding sinker on the dams for stocked fish.

On the streams, work upstream, casting tight to cover — undercut banks, log jams, the deep pool below a riffle. Browns hold in shaded ambush water and feed selectively, so presentation beats covering water. On the dams, slow-troll suspending hardbodies along the points and inflows through winter. Either way, dress dull and move quietly: a brown that sees you is a brown you won’t catch.

The trout fishery is a cooler-months affair. Late winter into spring — roughly August to October — lines up with good stream flows and the post-stocking releases biting freely, while autumn (April to June) fishes well on the dams. First light, last light, and grey overcast days are when the bigger fish commit. Mid-summer warms the water and slows everything down — which makes this the perfect thing to do when the metro coast is blown out or baking.