Welcome to the Nicholson River Fishing Guide. The Nicholson River is a diverse fishing location that offers estuary fishing near the mouth and freshwater fishing in the upper reaches. It is known as a wonderful bream fishery and is home to national events such as the Hobie Classic. It’s a lovely fishing destination around east Gippsland, around a 3-hour drive from Melbourne and only a short distance away from the township of Bairnsdale. The river feeds Gippsland lakes past the Princess Highway and spans for 83 kilometres whilst feeding into the Mitchell and Tambo rivers. It’s a great place for families and a good place to stay is at the Nicholson River holiday park which offers cabins and camping right along the water.
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Things to do at Nicholson River
East Gippsland is a beautiful location surrounded by beaches, lakes and rivers. It’s a magnificent location for those who love the outdoors, camping, scenic views, mountainside walks and recreational water activities. A good range of shops, cafes, restaurants and accommodation is nearby. There are many playgrounds for the kids, including Patterson Park. Nearby attractions include the Lakes Entrance beach, Buchan Caves, Footbridge Mini Golf Centre, Art Gallery, Wyanga Park Winery, Lakes Entrance boat cruises and fishing charters, Griffiths Seashell Museum, and Raymond Island. Nearby townships include Lakes Entrance, Paynesville, Bairnsdale, Metung,
Watch as Al fishes Gippsland Lakes and the Nicholson River for bream and big dusky flathead
Fishing Nicholson River
Here, you can target
- Bream
- Australian Bass
- Flathead
- Dusky Flathead
- Australian Salmon
- Silver Trevally
- Tailor
The Nicolson River feeds directly off Gippsland Lakes. This is the most popular area fished on the lake, and here you can target species such as bream, bass, mullet, flathead, trevally, and tailor near the river entrance. As you move up the river, it becomes freshwater, where you can target trout and redfin. The Nicholson River is synonymous with kayak fishing for estuary species. The fish can be quite finicky, and it does take some time to work out what type of lures, soft plastics, crab imitations or surface lures will work on the day. There is also plenty of land-based fishing with accessible river banks. Here, you can target bream, estuary perch, and mullet with shrimp, yabbies, scrub worms, prawns, sandworms, maggots, mussels, & chicken. Click here to see our full guide for bait fishing for Bream.
However, many will be fishing this area with lures and soft plastics on light gear. Targeting the edges, bridges and any areas with noticeable drop-offs or structures. Even rolling crank and hard body lures in open water can be effective here. When it comes to lure,s 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.
Places to fish near Nicholson River
Not far from here, you can also try fishing at these destinations
- Lake Tyers
- Gippsland Lakes
- Lakes Entrance
- Tanboon Inlet
- Marlo
- Broadribb River
- Hollands Landing
- Mallacoota
- Mitchell River
- Bemm River
Recommended baits Nicholson River
At this location, we highly recommend the baits suggested below. There are several ways to present baits, including a running sinker rig, paternoster rig, or dropper rig. The rig and sinker choice will depend on your target species and conditions such as wind and tidal strength.
- yabbies
- Scrub worms
- sandworms
- maggots
- mussels
- pilchards
- prawns
Please read our detailed guide on Bait fishing for Bream.
Recommended lures and soft plastics for the Nicholson River
- 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
Targeting Bream at Nicholson River
This is a great location to target bream with lures and soft plastics. The options are almost endless, so read our guide on the best lures to catch bream. Recommended options include crab imitation, shallow diving cranks, paddle tail soft plastics, curl tail soft plastics, minnow imitations, vibes, and blades. Also, try your luck with surface lures, 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,t and budgets vary greatly depending on your skill level and spending habits.
Bream reside within structures such as jetty pylons and stumps. Enticing them away from the structure onto your lure will take some time to master. Remember to slowly work your lures and plastics and mix the retrieval techniques. If you’re 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 encourage you to read our detailed guide on Bait fishing for Bream.
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.
Targeting Estuary Perch at Nicholson River
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 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 playing around 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 foot in length. Coupled with a 1000 or 2000 size reel spooled with 2-8 pound line and equivalent fluorocarbon leader. When bait fishing uses a 2-4 kilo rod around 7 foot in length. Coupled with a 2500 size reel either a float or small running sinker to a swivel and very fine leader.
Targeting Dusky Flathead at Nicholson River
Please note the legal size and catch limits for Dusky Flathead typically caught in the East Gippsland region from Lake Tyers to Mallacoota Inlet. Minimum legal size 30cm – Maximum legal size 55cm – Bag Limit of 5 between 30 and 55cm. Any flathead caught in Lake Tyers or any estuary east of Lake Tyers will be considered a dusky flathead for regulation purposes.
Dusky Flathead Fishing has greatly improved in recent years, thanks to commercial netting restrictions and slot limits. These fish thrive in areas around East Gippsland, such as Mallacoota, Lake Tyers, and Gippsland Lakes, and it’s common to catch them in good numbers between 50 and 90cm. These fish are primarily targeted in the warmer months and caught in shallow waters and sandy flats. Here are some amazing options to catch Dusky Flathead. At Lakes Entrance, you can catch massive dusky flathead up to 95cm between the entrance and up through to Metung and Paynesville. Dusky Flathead will take a variety of larger soft plastics, lures and swimbaits, and it’s best to throw these around with an M or MH baitcast or M to MH Spin Rod. Some of our best lures for them include Shimano Arma Joint Flash Boost Minnow 190SF, Berkley Nesse Swimbait, Keitech Swing Impact “5.8 soft plastics, EverGreen ES Drive Swimbait, Sugapenn 120, Berkley 120mm Bender, Catch Black Label 6” Curl Tail soft plastics and Nomad Vertrex Soft Vibes.
Targeting Flathead at Nicholson River
We encourage you to read our guide on How to catch Flathead. Flathead is a year-round prospect that can be caught at any time of the day. They are an ambush predator that waits in disguise for smaller fish to swim by for easy feed. This highlights the importance of keeping your baits and soft plastics towards the bottom. If fishing from a boat or kayak, we would recommend drifting around the sandy flats until you find a good patch of them. Also, keep an eye out for depth drop-offs, which are great locations for an ambush predator to be waiting.
We recommend targeting flathead with a 7 foot 2–4 or 3-5 kilo fishing rod paired with a 2500 or 3000 size reel spooled with 8-12lb braid and an equivalent leader. You can go lighter, but flathead has bristly teeth that can compromise your fishing line. Flathead is not fussy and will happily go at various soft plastics and lures. We highly recommend reading our detailed guide on the best lures and soft plastics to catch flathead. Top choices include worm and yabby imitations, paddle tail soft plastics, curl tail soft plastics, deep diving hard body lures, vibes, swimbaits, and blades. If you target flathead with bait, we recommend using a paternoster rig or running sinker rig. Use a small ball sinker to swivel, then 50cm of 8-12 leader to a size 6 long shank hook. Good bait choices include pilchards, mussels, squid, chicken, white bait, Pipis, blue bait, and prawns.
Targeting Tailor at Nicholson River
Tailor is an aggressive predatory fish with sharp teeth that fight hard. They have a similar profile to a salmon and leap out of the water when hooked. They school up in big numbers, hunting baitfish in packs and breaking water, often a sign that they’re feeding. You can catch them trolling, casting lures, bait fishing from the banks, or surfing. Small metal slugs, curl tail soft plastics, and paddle tail soft plastics are great choices. So is full pilchard mullet, bluebait and garfish. Either on a single hook, ganged hooks or even on light wire trace if they’re cutting through your leaders. Picking a suitable outfit for tailor can be tricky as they have sharp teeth and can shred your leaders with ease. When fishing in estuary systems, we would typically use a 7-foot rod in a 2-4, 3-5 or 4-6 kilo class, paired with a 2500 or 3000 reel spooled with 6-8-pound braid and a slightly stronger leader. If your targeting them in the surf then a long casting surf rod spooled with 14-20 pound braid and equivalent leader would be suitable. Handle them carefully; they have sharp teeth that can do some damage. If you’re getting hook-ups but dropping a lot of fish then consider using a stronger leader or light wire trace.
Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. All other images and videos shown on the Nicholson River Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals.
Thanks for reading our Nicholson River Fishing Guide. If you feel this location guide is missing key information or needs any corrections made, then please let us know by emailing our team at [email protected] with specific details in the email. Please also feel free to share any fishing pictures you have from this location with us. Thank you
