Canning Reserve

Fishing at Canning Reserve

At Canning Reserve, you will encounter bream, estuary perch, mulloway, snapper ( pinkies ), trevally, salmon & mullet. Vic Fisheries stock Canning reserve with Estuary perch as part of their 10 million by 2020 initiative. There are some great fishing upgrades planned for the Maribyrnong River.

Fishing with bait on the Maribyrnong River

Bait fishing this stretch is a great option. Baits that you should consider using will include shrimp, yabbies, scrub worms, prawns, sandworms, Maggots, Scrub worms, Pilchards, Mussels, Yabbies, & Chicken. For more information on bait fishing on the Nong click here for our detailed guide on Guide on bait fishing for Bream.

Or watch our step by step instructional guide on how to rig up and catch bream

Fishing with lures on the Maribyrnong River

When it comes to lures the choice of bream lures is almost endless. Some of the best options include imitation Crabs ( such as Cranka Crab ), grub style soft plastics ( such as Z-man grubZ, squidgy wrigglers and Savage Gear pro grubs ), minnow style soft plastics ( such as Z-man slim swimZ, Savage Gear slim minnows), shallow diving hard body lures ( such as EcoGear SX Range, Daiwa Double-clutch, Nories laydown minnow, Jackall Chubby, Atomic Hardz, OSP Bent Minnows, Savage fathead cranks, range of shads ), Blades and Vibes ( such as Strike Pro Hummer, Ecogear ZX, Berkley Big Eye blades & 3B crank, Hurricane Vibe, Savage gear blades ).

To make things easier we created a detailed video on the best bream lures and how to use them.

To fish the Maribyrnong river successfully you will need a light 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 pound or 6 pound Fluro carbon leader. There is plenty of ultra-light and affordable bream rods and reels on the market. Some good rod choices include Daiwa Gen black series, Savage Gear LRF series, Shimano Jewel or Raider. Some good reels include the Shimano Stradic, Daiwa Sol3, Savage Gear stealth. 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. With fish more active on tidal movement. High tide is always favourable as the bream will come closer in to feed on the weed of the rock beds.

Recommended baits Canning Reserve

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

Best lures and soft plastics Canning Reserve

• Cranka crab
• Zman slim Swimz
• Damiki Monster Miki 2.5 sp
• Jackall Chubby
• Savage Gear Fathead Crank
• Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
• Gulp 3 inch minnow
• Dawia Bait Junkie paddle tail minnow
• Zman grubZ
• Squidge wrigglers
• Daiwa Double-clutch
• EcoGear SX40
• Nories laydown minnow
• StrikePro cyber vibe
• Pro lure live yabby
• OSP bent minnows

Targeting Bream Canning Reserve

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 imitation, shallow diving cranks, paddle tail soft plastics, curl tail soft plastics, minnow imitations, vibes, and blades. Also, try your luck with surface lures 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 a 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 target 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 a 6-pound line. We would encourage you to read our detailed guide on Bait fishing for Bream.

Targeting Estuary Perch Canning Reserve

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 an excellent choice. These imitate small baitfish that 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 Trevally Canning Reserve

Trevally pound for pound is one of the best fighting fish. In certain parts of Australia surface popping for Giant Trevally is one of the bucket list fishing experiences that you must tick off. However, in Victoria, you will mainly be catching the much smaller silver trevally. Good bait options include blue bait, whitebait, raw chicken, pilchards, pippies, squid and mussels. Trevally will also take a range of soft plastics including worm and minnow imitations, small surface poppers, and small metal spoons.

We recommend targeting trevally with a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 2000, or 2500 reel spooled with 4-8-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader. If there are larger trevally in the area than you can go heavier moving up the scale to a 3-5 kilo class spin rod spooled with fine 8-12-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader.

Targeting mullet at Canning Reserve

This is a great location to mullet a bread and butter species that school up in big numbers. They are fun to catch on light spinning gear and a great fish species to introduce beginners to fishing. Mullet respond well to berley, so berley an isolated area with a mix of bread, tuna oil and chook pellets. Good baits include bread, dough, live maggots, pilchard, and prawns. remember that Mullet have small mouth so remember to cut these baits up into small pieces. You can also use soft plastics small minnow and grub style soft plastic with a slow constant retrieve. Scents such as S-Factor or Procure certainly helps.

Most mullet are quite small therefore 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.

Here are some helpful tips on catching Mullet with soft plastics.