Welcome to the Gippsland Lakes Fishing Guide. This fantastic system is home to some of the country’s best dusky flathead and bream fishing. It also has a solid run of kingfish fishing from late December through late February, which is only improving. Gippsland Lakes is a labyrinth of lakes and lagoons in east Gippsland that spans over 354 square kilometres. The largest lakes are Lake Wellington, Lake King, and Lake Victoria. The Avon, Thomson, Latrobe, Mitchell, Nicholson and Tambo rivers engage the lakes. These lakes are separated from the ocean by the dunes of Ninety Mile Beach. It’s an exceptional all-year-round fishing destination.
BECOME A FISHINGMAD MEMBER AND UNLOCK ACCESS TO
Weekly Fishing Reports | GPS Marks | Workshops | Giveaways | Podcasts | Competitions | Forums | Maps | Rigging Tutorials | Sounder School | Exclusive Footage | Tackle Talks | Gear Guides | Kayak Club & Much more….
Things to do at Gippsland Lakes
Gippsland Lakes is roughly a 3 1/2 hour drive from Melbourne. A beautiful part of Victoria that spans popular townships including Lakes Entrance, Metung, Paynesville, Loch Sport and Seaspray. These townships offer excellent accommodation, cafes, boutique shops and access to the water. Popular activities in this area include visiting a 90-mile beach, boating across Raymond Island, hiking, camping and an unlimited amount of recreational water activities, particularly fishing, kayaking, and boating. Further up from Gippsland Lakes, you have fishing delights like Marlo, Lake Tyers and the Bemm River.
Watch the following video of FishingMad catching huge bream while fishing at Gippsland Lakes.
Fishing in Gippsland Lakes
At Gippsland Lakes, you can target
- Bream
- Flathead
- Dusky Flathead
- King George Whiting
- Australian Salmon
- Garfish
- Estuary Perch
- Australian Bass
- Poddy Mullet
- Trevally
- Tailor
- Mullet
- Luderick
Gippsland Lakes is a large body of water starting at Hollands Landing and finishing near Lakes Entrance. There are so many fishing possibilities, and at first, it can be overwhelming to work out which parts to fish with success. Overall, it’s one of the country’s best bream and dusky flathead fisheries. It is only improving with commercial netting removed and the introduction of dusky flathead slot size limits. There is an exceptional bream fishery, and the area is home to many fishing tournaments locally, including the Vic Bream Classic, Hobie Fishing series, and ABT Australian Bream Tournaments. Here, you will find yellowfin bream, black bream widespread across the entire system, and some huge ones. Notable areas include Hollands Landing, Paynesville, and Metung home, some exceptional bream fishing, and many rivers that flow directly from Gippsland Lakes, including the Nicolson and Tambo. There can be some exceptional bream fishing in the shallow flats outside the mouths of the Nicho, Tambo and Mitchell river entrances. Not to be outdone by the styraights at Hollands landing which is home to some of the biggest bream in the state.
This system has become one of the country’s best dusky flathead fishing locations. There is an abundance of dusky flathead between 50 and 90cm from Paynsvillee trough to Lakes Entrance. Read our detailed guide on how to catch Dusky Flathead here. These big fish are growing in numbers and popularity and will reside in the shallows, typically less than 2 meters deep. Those with boats can work the shallow edges of several of the larger scattered islands in this system, including Raymond Island, Flannagans Island, Rigby Island, and Mcaullifs Island. These are often home to good volumes of bream and dusky flathead. You will also catch Luderick, King George Whiting, Australian salmon, garfish, and tailor. Moving further up towards the river, you will also find estuary perch and bass. Towards the entrance, as you make your way beyond Metung and closer to Kalimna and Lakes entrance, you will discover mulloway, pinkie snapper, and silver trevally, particularly within the deeper sections. There is a wide variety of fishing options for boats and kayaks. For those who will be land-based fishing, there are plenty of fishing platforms.
Watch as Al from FishingMad targets Dusky Flathead in the Gippsland Region.
The number of lures and soft plastics you can use in this system is almost endless. You must hone in on what to use for a specific target species. For example, you might use 2.5-inch grubs/paddle tails or small shallow diving lures/cranks for bream, whilst you might use 4″ soft plastic paddle tails and larger swimbaits and glide baits for dusky flathead. Fishing with vibes and blades is a great option here as it allows you to target multiple species simultaneously, including bream, flathead and tailor. These cast a fair distance, work well along drop-offs and can be fished slowly with hops, lifts, and pauses. Good options include eco-gear VX35s, Strike Pro micro vibe, Berkley big eye blades, and TT switchblades. Lightly weighted soft plastics work well in the shallows, where you flick towards the banks or areas between 3 and 5 meters deep. Shallow diving hard body lures also work well but will attract lots of attention from the aggressive tailor. Good baits include sandworms, prawns, muscles, crab, frozen options, and blue bait.
Many rivers are shallow and weedy, so surface lures, shallow diving hard body lures, shallow diving cranks, and very lightly weighted soft plastics will work well. Usually, use a 1/16 jig head and higher. Bream will congregate within the weed edges and drop-offs, which are good targeted areas. In extremely weedy areas, surface lures work slowly. You will also catch tailor and estuary perch with this method.
Places to fish near Gippsland Lakes
Not far from here, you can also try fishing at these destinations
- Lake Tyers
- Lakes Entrance
- Tanboon Inlet
- Marlo
- Broadribb River
- Metung
- Hollands Landing
- Mallacoota
- Mitchell River
- Bemm River
Rod & Reel Setup for Gippsland Lakes
Multiple target species are at this location, all requiring quite different setups. We recommend a light spinning outfit for bream with lures and soft plastics. A 1-3kg or 2-4kg spin rod around 7 feet in length paired with a 1000 or 2000 spin reel spooled with a 4-8 lb braid and finished with a 1-rod length of 3 or 5 lb fluorocarbon leader. Join the braid and fluoro using an FG, double uni or your preferred knot. Some tournament anglers may choose to fish with straight-through fluoro for extra finesse. The range of rods and reels on the market is massive, and the budgets vary greatly, so pick something to match your skill level and budget.
For dusky flathead, we recommend 3-6 kilo spin rods paired with a 2500 size reel spooled with 10-15lb braid and 8-15lb fluorocarbon leader. If you’re casting bigger and heavier lures such as swimbaits and glidebaits, then use an M MH baitcast paired with a 150 baitcast reel spooled with a 20lb braid and 15-20lb fluorocarbon leader. I’ve also caught many dusky flatheads on bream gear as bycatch. In these situations, don’t panic. Just work the fish slowly.
If you are fishing with bait, a 2-4 kg rod paired with a 2500-size reel spooled with a 6-10 lb line would be a great starting option. Beginners can go a little heavier with a 3-5 kg rod.
Recommended baits Gippsland Lakes
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 Gippsland Lakes
- Blades such as Ecogear VX35 and ZX35, TT Swithprawn, StrikePro cyber vibe
- Shallow and mid-diving Cranks such as Jackall Chubby, Breamin 45, Cranka Crank, Double Clutches, Spike 44
- Zman Slim Swimz
- Zman grubZ
- Cranka crab
- Mussel Vibes
- Clone Prawn
- Berkley powerbait grub
- Damiki Monster Miki 2.5 sp
- Squidge wrigglers
- Daiwa Double Clutch
- EcoGear SX40
- Nories laydown minnow
- Pro lure live Yabby
- OSP bent minnows
Targeting Bream at Gippsland Lakes
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, an exciting form of fishing with light gear. Bream is all about finesse fishing so that 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 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 are targeting bream with bait, we 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 encourage you to read our detailed guide on Bait fishing for Bream.
The choice of bream lures is almost endless. We created a detailed video on the best bream lures and how to use them. We also recommend reading our guide on the best lures to catch bream.
Targeting Dusky Flathead at Gippsland Lakes
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 Gippsland Lakes
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 Estuary Perch at Gippsland Lakes
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 to the sound of breaking water, which indicates that 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, and 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 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 feet in length, coupled with a 1000 or 2000 size reel spooled with 2-8 pound line and equivalent fluorocarbon leader. When bait fishing, use a 2-4 kilo rod around 7 feet in length, coupled with a 2500 size reel, either a float or small running sinker to a swivel and very fine leader.
Targeting Poddy Mullet at Gippsland Lakes
Poddy Mullet are a fascinating species. The school up in massive numbers and grows up to 75cm in length. They frequently jump out of the water and create an amazing spectacle for onlooking anglers. They are a dream to catch as they are strong, fast and like steam trains go on massive bursts of big runs of energy. The fascination for the species is how to catch them. I have seen schools of thousands of poddy mullet swim right past a well-presented bait or lure right in front of them. However, we have had some success using small paddle tail and grub soft plastics with scent applied. Catching them with light spinning gear is great fun, and they will put your reel through its paces.
Targeting Tailor at Gippsland Lakes
Tailor is an aggressive predatory fish with sharp teeth with great fighting qualities. 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 there feeding. You can catch them trolling, casting lures or bait fishing from the banks or surf. Small metal slugs, curl tail soft plastics, paddle tail soft plastics are great choices. So are staple baits like pilchard mullet, blue bait, and garfish. Either on a single hook, ganged hooks or even on light wire trace if there 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 slightly stronger leader. If you are 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 Gippsland Lakes Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Gippsland Lakes 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
