Venus Bay

Welcome to the Venus Bay Fishing Guide. Venus Bay is a popular and scenic surf destination, roughly 2 2-hour drive from Melbourne. Heading towards South Gippsland, it is not too far from neighbouring areas such as Phillip Island and Wilson’s Promontory. This area consists of several different beaches surrounded by both the Bass Strait and Anderson’s Inlet. With clear waters, scenic views and great bushwalking options available. This makes it a popular holiday destination for families with a pleasant township and accommodation options. It also has excellent surfing and is popular with anglers looking to flick metal lures and baits for schools of salmon throughout winter. It’s a very shallow system with some noted gutters; it’s great grounds for Salmon fishing in winter. It also offers inshore fishing in nearby areas such as the Tarwin River.

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Things to do at Venus Bay

Ample parking towards the beach entrance. Venus Bay is full of open, clean beaches, surfing, bushwalking and good local accommodation. It’s also close to areas that are very popular holiday destinations, such as Phillip Island and Wilson’s Promontory. However, Venus Bay is a lovely beach that can get quite windy, creating a strong rip and large waves. If you plan on taking children down there, then keep a close eye on them.

Salmon fishing can be frantic, check out FishingMad getting stuck into an awesome bustup

Fishing at Venus Bay

Venus Bay is a salmon hotspot in the Winter months. You can also catch a variety of sharks, flathead, Snapper, and Whiting. When you arrive, take a moment to look for the gutters. These are deeper pools and channels that Salmon like to swim through. There are two gutters located in the central area, to the left and right of the main staircase. Some rocky gutters are good for fishing, but they’re prone to snags. This is a great section to target. We love to flick big metal lures in this area; it’s a great way to target salmon. Have a look at this guide on surf fishing tips and lure choices. When bait fishing, bluebait, whitebait and pilchards are the bait of choice in this area. We recommend a Paternoster rig with a large star sinker to allow you to cast far. The rig will generally be holding 2 whole blue baits or 2 half pilchards. You can buy pre-made surf popper rigs, which are a great choice. Don’t forget to add a surf popper to the top of your rig, as it surprisingly gets plenty of bites. This spot can be quite weedy, so sometimes it pays to have the hooks a little higher in the paternoster rig.

When bait fishing for salmon, we believe the best setup is a Paternoster rig with a star sinker. As shown in the image below. This gives you 2 separate baits at different heights. You could also attach a surf popper to further increase your chances.

Another significant variation is to present 1 whole bait with double snelled hooks. This rig is perfect when targeting multiple species such as salmon, mulloway and gummy sharks.

If you plan on fishing the one spot, then berleying up is a great idea. You can buy pre-made berley or make your own with pellets, pilchard and tuna oil mixed up. This can be placed into a bag or sack and left for the surf to do all the work. It all depends on whether you are bait fishing or throwing metal lures. At least a 10-foot rod is required to cast far and to keep the line above the crashing waves. For flicking lures, a 12-foot rod, with a 4000-size reel spooled with 12-pound line and a strong leader is a great option. If bait fishing, a 12-15 foot rod, coupled with a 6000 size reel spooled with 20-pound line and a strong leader.

This is a very shallow system, and flicking metal lures and casting baits can be very challenging at the peak of low tides. That’s why we would recommend fishing between incoming high tide and the peak of high tide, this is when Salmon are more likely to enter the gutters. It’s best to follow the tides, and the incoming High tide is always good for Salmon. Also, sundown and sunrise seem to bring on the bite. In the cooler months, schools of salmon are common. It always pays to have some long casting metal slugs and long rods suitable for casting them.

 

Best Baits fishing at Venus Bay

• blue bait
• pilchard
• pipis
• silver whiting
• garfish
• raw chicken strips
• prawns
• squid

Best Lures and soft plastics for Venus Bay

• Savage Gear Missile
• Halco twisty
• Ecogear Teibo
• JM Gilles pilchard baitfish
• Rapala X-Rap SXR
• Lazer spoons
• Halco laser pro
• Berkley gulp turtleback worm
• Zman slim Swimz
• Berkley powerbait grub
• Gulp 3 inch minnow
• Zman grubZ
• eco gear ZX40
• Daiwa Double Clutch
• EcoGear SX40
• Squidges biotough grub
• Zman StreakZ
• Munroes 3.75 inch paddle tails
• Kietech swim impact fat
• Zerek fish trap
• Samaki Vibelicious

Targeting Salmon at Venus Bay

I prefer targeting Australian Salmon with light spin gear. It makes the experience enjoyable and easy to use. A 7-foot 2-5kg spin rod paired with a 2500 or 300 size reel and 12lb braid and leader works excellently. When schooled up and actively feeding, they will smash soft plastics, ideally 4″ paddletails and curltails in natural colours, which imitate a baitfish that they are feeding on. They will also happily take staple baits like pilchard and squid from a pasternoster rig or running sinker rig. . Winter is a great time to target salmon as they’re active and schooling up in big numbers. Salmon is a powerful sports fish that punches well above its weight. When hooked, they produce intense bursts of speed, powerful runs, and vigorous head shakes. Do keep an eye out for gutters, which are patches of deeper water that Salmon will swim through in schools. The darker colour of the water can identify these. When bait fishing, pick a surf rod between 12-15 feet in length, which allows for long casts with heavy sinkers, and keeps your lines high above the crashing surf. These will be 6-10 kilo class. We recommend a Paternoster rig with a star sinker. Giving you 2 baits at different heights. You could also attach a surf popper above.

When lure fishing, first consider what weight lures you are likely to be casting. We would recommend rods between 9-12 foot in length in 5-10 kilo class paired with a 3000 size reel spooled with 15-pound braid. Good lure options include Savage Gear Missile, Halco twisty, Ecogear Teibo, JM Gilles pilchard baitfish, Rapala X-Rap SXR, Lazer spoons, Zman slim swimz, trick swimz, Halco laser pro.

Check out this video of a crazy salmon school we recently encountered.

Targeting Gummy Shark at Venus Bay

We recommend targeting gummy sharks with a 7-foot, 8- to 15-kilo rod paired with a 4000 to 6000 size reel spooled with 20 to 40-pound line. Finished with a strong leader ranging from 40lb through to 60 pounds. Ideal rigs include a running sinker rig single or double snelled rig or a paternoster rig. You can use an Ezi rig, attaching a sinker to the clip and then tying on a pre-made double snelled rig. Octopus or circle hooks from 5/0 to 7/0 are preferred for presenting chunks of salmon, trevally, squid, mackerel, Eel, mullet, pilchard, yakka’s, & garfish.

learn to make your own snapper and gummy shark rigs by watching this video

It can get quite windy, and the surf rip can be powerful, so be careful. Also, watch out for surfers who often stray from the pack and end up close to fishing lines. Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. All other images and videos shown on the Venus Bay Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Venus Bay Fishing Guide. If you believe this location guide is missing key information or requires corrections, please email our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au with specific details. Please also feel free to share any fishing pictures you have from this location with us. Thank you