Welcome to the Erskine River Fishing Guide. The Erskine River is a small water system located at the entrance of Lorne. It’s a very scenic area with lovely walking tracks, bridges and entrances to Lorne Beach. It’s very easily accessible and you will often see campers along this river strip with rods set up outside their tents and vans. The river is murky but chock full of small Bream and Mullet. A great fishing spot is at the entrance near the bridge above or further down near the weed beds.
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Things to do Lorne Erskine River
A scenic area and the kids will enjoy the walk up and down the wooden walking paths, bridges, and playgrounds along the area. And the beach is a small walking distance away. Parking is available in the information outlet car park just as you head into the Lorne township or opposite La mantra accommodation resort.
Lorne is a very popular holiday destination with plenty of outdoor activities for the family. There are many clean beaches including the main beach which is monitored by the local life-saving club, then there is Scotchman’s hill beach and Shelly beach. Then you can explore Lorne’s natural beauty and wonders with some amazing waterfalls including Erskine Falls, Won Wondah falls, Henderson falls, Phantom falls, Sheoak falls & Cumberland falls. There are plenty of beautiful scenic walks including Teddy’s lookout, Queens park walk, St Georges river walks, Stony Creek walk, and the historic bridge walk. There are also many places perfect for a picnic or BBQ.
Lorne is also well known for the great ocean road which was finished in 1932. A 243-kilometer winding road carefully built between hillsides and surf beaches is a true wonder of Victoria. Starting from Torquay and finishing near Warnambool. Along the journey, you will pass beautiful beaches, remarkable lookouts, vibrant townships, waterfalls, and light towers, and finish near the 12 apostles.
Fishing Erskine River
At Erskine River, you can target
- bream,
- estuary perch
- mullet
The most popular form of catching bream here is with lures and soft plastics. Do make sure you read our guide on the best lures to catch bream. Some recommended options would include Cranka Crabs, shallow diving crank lures, small paddle tail soft plastics, small curl tail soft plastics, minnow imitations, vibes and blades. It’s also a great spot for surface lures which can be one of the most fun forms of fishing with light gear. When flicking lures and plastics you will need an ultralight spinning outfit. This would start with a light rod around 7 feet in length either a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo class. There are so many great options to choose from in this range which can be quite confusing for beginners. When choosing a reel make sure you pick a 1000, 2040 or 2500 size that is best, spooled with a 4-6 pound braid and finished with a 2 or 4-pound leader. Again the range of reels on the market is amazing and the budgets vary greatly depending on your skill level and spending habits.
The choice of lures is almost endless we created a detailed video on the best lures and how to use them.
If you plan on fishing with baits then we would highly recommend using Sandworms, maggots, scrub worms, pilchards, mussels, yabbies, & chicken. For bait fishing again a light rod setup is best. A 2-4 kilo class rod with a 2500 size reel would be a great option spooled with a 6-pound line. Beginners can go a little heavier with a 3-5 kilo rod.
Recommended baits Erskine River
At this location, we would 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 be dependent on the species you are targeting and the conditions such as wind and tidal strength.
- yabbies
- Scrub worms
- sandworms
- maggots
- mussels
- prawns
- pilchards
Watch how to catch bream with bait or read our detailed guide on Bait fishing for Bream.
Best lures and soft plastics Erskine River
- 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
- Daiwa 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 Erskine River
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 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 a 6-pound line. We would encourage you to read our detailed guide on Bait fishing for Bream.
Targeting Estuary Perch at Erskine 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 mullet at Erskine River
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 a 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.
Any time of day, though some fish will be more active at Dawn and Dusk. Like all rural areas always take notice of areas that might hold snakes. There are many signs around the area warning of hazardous bacteria in the water. So it would be best not to eat anything caught out of the Erskine River and to wash your hands thoroughly after fishing this area.
Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. All images and videos shown on the Erskine River Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Erskine River Fishing Guide. If you feel this location guide is missing any key information or needs any corrections made, then please let us know by emailing our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au with specific details in the email. Thank you