Metung Fishing Guide

Welcome to the Metung Fishing Guide. Metung is an exceptional all year round fishing destination located on the Gippsland Lakes in East Gippsland, Victoria. Found between Bairnsdale and Lakes Entrance, Metung is a beautiful getaway only a few hours’ drive from Melbourne. It is known for its breathtaking views and easy access to the water for the family to enjoy water sports, amazing fishing, boating, kayaking, and a vibrant township. Metuung is an exceptional bream fishery home to many bream tournaments; however, what’s truly amazing about this region is the dusky flathead and kingfish fishing in late December through to late February, and this is only getting better and better.

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Things to do at Metung

Anglers are drawn to Metung’s relaxed village lifestyle with moored yachts alongside the water. Plenty of 5-star lakeside luxury accommodations, villas, and powered sites exist. Metung is home to roughly 4,000 people and welcomes many tourists annually. Indulge in the local day spa, enjoy the boutique stores, dine in fresh seafood, and drink local wines. Choose from waterfront restaurants and cafes, or stop at the village green to enjoy a picnic while overlooking the pelicans.

You can hire a boat, yacht, or motor cruiser or go on a fishing charter. You can also take a stunning walk around Bancroft Bay along the Metung Boardwalk for a different pace while viewing Legend Rock, a meteorite entrenched in Gunaikurnai mythology. You can also follow the creek along Boxes Creek Walking Trail while taking in the views, native birdlife, or fishing opportunities. The farmer’s market is also held on the second Sunday of each month.

Watch as Al fishes from Metung to catch big dusky flathead and bream

Fishing Metung

Here, you can target

Bream
Flathead
Dusky Flathead
Kingfish
Australian Salmon
Silver Trevally
Tailor

Metung forms part of Gippsland Lakes and is an exceptional bream fishery and home to many fishing tournaments locally, including the Vic Bream Classic, Hobie Fishing series and ABT Australian Bream Tournaments. The choice of bream lures is almost endless to make things easier 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. This system has also 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.

In Metung, you will find yellowfin bream, black bream, trophy-size dusky flathead, luderick, King George whiting, salmon, garfish and tailor. Moving further up towards the river, you will also find estuary perch and bass. Towards the entrance, you will find mulloway, pinkie snapper and silver trevally, particularly within the deeper sections. Metung offers a wide variety of fishing options for boats and kayaks. For those who will be land-based fishing, there are plenty of fishing platforms. Good baits include sandworms, prawns, muscles, crab, frozen options, and blue bait. 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 here 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.

Much of the river is shallow and weedy, so surface lures, shallow diving hard body lures, shallow diving cranks, and very lightly weighted soft plastics will work well. Usually, I use a 1/16 jig head and higher. Bream will congregate within the weed, edges and drop-offs, so these are good targeted areas. In extremely weedy areas, surface lures work slowly and work a treat. You will also catch tailor and estuary perch with this method. When using lures and plastics, you will need an ultralight spinning outfit. This would start with a light rod around 7 feet long, either a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo class. There are so many great options in this range, which can be quite confusing for beginners. When choosing a reel, pick a 1000, 2000 or 2500 best size, 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.

If you plan on fishing with baits, we highly recommend using Sandworms, maggots, scrub worms, pilchards, mussels, yabbies, and chicken. Again, for bait fishing, 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.

Places to fish near Metung

Not far from here, you can also try fishing at these destinations

Rod & Reel Setup for Metung

Bream is generally the desired target species at this location, so when fishing here with lures and plastics, we recommend a light spinning outfit. A 1-3kg or 2-4kg spin rod around 7 feet in length paired with a 1000, 2000 or 2500 spin reel spooled with a 4-8 lb braid and finished with a 1-rod length of 2 or 4 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. If you are fishing with baits a 2-4 kg rod paired with a 2500 size reel spooled with a 6-8 lb line would be a great option and beginners can go a little heavier with a 3-5 kilo rod.

If you plan to target bigger fish species, such as dusky flathead, you will want to fish with a heavier rod and reel combo. This may be a 2-5 or 3-6kg spin rod paired with a 2500 size reel or a Meduim or Meduim/Heavy Baitcast paired with a 150 baitcast reel that’s capable of casting heavy lures, soft plastics, swimbaits and glidebaits. How heavy you go will depend on the lures and soft plastics you’re casting. Big swimbaits and glide baits will require a significantly heavier combo.

Recommended baits Metung

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 Metung

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

Artificial reefs at Metung

Targeting Bream at Metung

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 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 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 structures such as jetty pylons and stumps. Enticing them away from the structure onto your lure will take 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 lures is almost endless. To make things easier, we created a detailed video on the best lures and how to use them.

Targeting Dusky Flathead at Metung

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 Metung

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 a 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 Metung

Estuary Perch

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. 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 wide range of lightly weighted soft plastics. 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 with 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 long. Coupled with a 1000 or 2000 size reel spooled with 2-8 pound line and equivalent fluorocarbon leader. Use a 2-4 kilo rod around 7 feet in length when bait fishing. Coupled with a 2500 size reel, either a float or small running sinker to a swivel and very fine leader.

Targeting Poddy Mullet at Metung

Poddy Mullet

Poddy Mullet are a fascinating species. They school up in massive numbers and grow up to 75cm in length. They frequently jump out of the water, creating 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 successfully used small paddle tails and grub soft plastics with a scent applied. Catching them with light spinning gear is great fun, and they will put your reel through its paces.

Targeting Tailor at Metung

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 or bait fishing from the banks or surf. 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 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 Metung Fishing Guide are Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Metung 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

Metung Fishing Guide