Lynch Bridge Flemington Racecourse

Welcome to the Lynch Bridge Flemington Fishing Guide. Lynch Bridge is located along with the iconic Flemington Racecourse. Lynch Bridge offers ample parking, dense structure & plenty of fish species to target. You’re most likely to be catching Bream & Mullet. However, in the warmer months, both pinkies and estuary perch liven up and make their way into the channel. The bridge pylons provide terrific structure, shade and hiding grounds for bream, but be aware that this area is very snaggy. In the warmer months, this can be a very popular fishing spot, with masses of people up and down the banks fishing. If you are fortunate and very persistent, you may snag yourself a prized and elusive Mulloway. I still remember this day back in 2016, fishing near Flemington with a few good mates. We fished only for a couple of hours, yet landed several large bream. It highlights that on its day, it can be an excellent fishing system.

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Things to do at Maribyrnong River

The Maribyrnong River is a scenic system that stretches 40 kilometres, starting near the Docklands from the Yarra River. You can take a cruise along the river. It also has kilometres of concrete walking tracks, which are very popular with locals, walking, jogging, and fitness groups. It’s also popular with rowing clubs, bird watching and fishing. There are many parks and ideal locations for a picnic with the family. The river at Flemington flows directly past the Flemington racecourse, which hosts the world-renowned Melbourne Cup and spring carnival each year. Footscray Park is also a popular destination to watch the fireworks during New Year’s Eve celebrations. Closer to the entrance, you are only a few kilometres away from the Melbourne CBD, Dockland shopping precinct, and the Queen Victoria market.

Watch our step-by-step instructional guide on how to rig up and catch bream.

Fishing the Maribyrnong River

Ample parking is available; drive over the bridge, turn left towards the racetrack, and park. Do be wary of the water quality here; probably isn’t the greatest. There are pipes running from the racetrack to the estuary directly, which is a waste wash from washed down horses at the race track. There is also a powerful tidal flow, particularly after periods of rain. The area is very snaggy, so be prepared with extra rigs and lines. You can fish this system anytime. Sometimes the best time to fish is during overcast condition,s where the Bream seem a little more confident. On the Nong, you will encounter bream, estuary perch, mulloway, snapper ( pinkies ), trevally, salmon & mullet. The upper reaches of the river also include redfin, carp and tench. This area has and will continue to be heavily stocked with estuary Perch as part of the state government’s initiative to target 1 million by 2020 and a stock of 10 million by 2022 initiative there are some great fishing upgrades planned for the Maribyrnong River.

Fishing with bait can be very productive. Baits that you should consider using will include yabbies, scrub worms, prawns, sandworms, maggots, mussels, & chicken. For more information on bait fishing on the Nong click here for our detailed guide on bait fishing for Bream and watch our step by step instructional guide on how to rig up and catch bream. When it comes to lures the choice of bream lures is almost endless. We recommend reading our guide on the best lures to catch bream. Options include imitation crabs, grub style soft plastics, minnow style soft plastics, shallow diving hard body lures, blades and vibes. To make things easier we created a detailed video on the best bream lures and how to use them.

The choice of lures is almost endless. To make things easier, we created a detailed video on the best lures and how to use them.

To fish the Maribyrnong River successfully, you will need a finesse rod suited for bream fishing. We would suggest a light 7-foot rod 1-3 or 2-4 kilo capacity coupled with a 2000 size reel. Spool the reel with 6 or 4-pound braid finished with a rod length of 4 pounds or 6 pounds of fluorocarbon leader. There is plenty of ultra-light and affordable bream rods and reels on the market. The choices here are endless and constantly expanding so do some research on something that fits within your budget. Generally, we found the peak of tide changes is the best. Fish are more active during tidal movements. High tide is always favourable as the bream will come closer in to feed on the weed of the rock beds.

Rowers & floating debris are likely to collect your fishing lines. You may also experience frustration as your lines get picked by small baitfish and starfish. The Maribyrnong River is home to 4 species of snake, including the Tiger, eastern Brown, Copperhead and red-bellied black.

Recommended baits Lynch Bridge Flemington Racecourse

Prawns are often the go-to bait of choice around the Gippsland region. Various other baits like sandworms and maggots will also work very well. There are several ways to present baits including a running sinker rig, paternoster rig, or dropper rig. The rig and sinker choice will be dependent on the species you are targeting and the conditions, such as wind and tidal strength. Ideally, using the smallest sinker you can. 

• prawns
• yabbies
• scrub worms
• sandworms
• maggots
• mussels
• pilchards

Recommended lures and soft plastics Lynch Bridge Flemington Racecourse

The number of soft plastics and lures to choose from is almost endless. Lightly weighted soft plastics like 2.5-inch grubs and paddle tails are an outstanding choice, as are shallow-diving hard body lures, surface lures, and crab and yabbie imitations. 

• Cranka Crabs
• Mussel Vibes
• OSP bent minnows
• Soft plastics such as Zman grubZ, Zman slim Swimz, Berkley powerbait grub, Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5-inch grub, Squidge wriggles, Damiki Monster Miki 2.5 sp
• Shallow diving hardbody lures such as Jackall Chubby, Breamin 45, Daiwa Double Clutch, Atomic cranks, Savage Gear Fathead Crank
• Blades such as EcoGear VX range, TT Switchblades, Berkley big eye blades
• Yabby imitations such as Pro lure live Clone prawn, Zman TRD Craw
• Vibes

You can catch dusky flatheads using the soft plastics and lures above but you may also consider bigger soft plastics, glide baits, and swimbaits. 

Targeting Bream at Lynch Bridge Flemington

This is a great location to target bream with lures and soft plastics. The options available are almost endless, so make sure you read our guide on the best lures to catch bream. Recommended options include crab imitations, shallow diving cranks, paddle tail soft plastics, curl tail soft plastics, minnow imitations, vibes, and blades. Also, try your luck with surface lure,s which is an exciting form of fishing with light gear. Bream is all about finesse fishing so you will need an ultralight spin outfit. We recommend a 7-foot rod in a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo class, paired with a 1000, 2000 or 2500 reel spooled with 2-6-pound braid and equivalent leader. There are so many amazing bream outfits on the market, and budgets vary greatly depending on your skill level and spending habits.

Bream reside within the structure, such as jetty pylons and stumps. Enticing them away from the structure onto your lure will take some time to master. Remember to work your lures and plastics slowly and mix up the retrieval techniques. If you are targeting bream with bait then we would highly recommend sandworms, maggots, scrub worms, mussels, yabbies, & chicken. A 2-4 kilo class rod paired with a 2500 size reel would be a great option spooled with 6-pound line. We would encourage you to read our detailed guide on Bait fishing for Bream.

Targeting Estuary Perch at Lynch Bridge Flemington

Another highlight of fishing in this area is targeting Estuary perch with surface and shallow diving lures. The action can be frantic on warm, balmy evenings with low wind. Listen for the sound of breaking water, which indicates EPs are feeding. The excitement an angler gets from an EP smashing a surface lure on light gear is something that truly needs to be experienced. It almost catches you by surprise when that aggressive strike comes. Small surface poppers, cicadas, blades, surface minnows and pencil lures work well here. So do shallow diving hardbody lures. Noteworthy options include bent minnows, Rapala countdown series, nories laydown minnows and shallow diving cranks. Basically, anything that doesn’t dive too deep and makes a good vibrating action will work well. You can use any colour choice. We often start with silvers that mimic small baitfish or mullet.

EPs also respond incredibly well to a whole range of soft plastics that are lightly weighted. Including curl tails, paddle tails and minnow imitations. The trusty 2.5-inch grubs and minnows are an excellent choice. These imitate small baitfish, which the EPs are actively feeding on. We would recommend mixing up the retrieval speeds and pauses, and experimenting with different colours. Where possible, fish along the structure and stay alert for signs such as breaking water. Fishing for Estuary Perch requires finesse. We recommend an ultralight fishing combo consisting of a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo spin rod around 7 feet in length. For bait fishing, use a 2-4 kilo rod around 7 feet in length, paired with a 2500 size reel. Attach a float or small running sinker to a swivel and fine leader.