Victoria’s most popular surf fishing beaches – Part 2

by Jarrod Day on 28 Jul 2013 Anzacs/Cape Woolamai: Anzacs Beach and Cape Woolamai are the same beach located around a kilometre from one another. Anglers can walk along the sand from one to another searching the gutters for where the fish are schooled up. These beaches are extremely popular with surfers throughout the year which can make fishing a challenge if your set up right in front of the surf life saving club rooms. If there are surfers about, it may pay to walk down the beach and find another gutter.

Tackle and tactics:
Being a popular fishing/surfing beach, some of the deepest gutters can be found at Anzacs. To the right of the path the gutter is lined with reef and rocks which keep this gutter a constant depth. Due to the waves crashing on the rocks, a white foam often covers the surface providing salmon with somewhere to hide and hunt baitfish.

Fishing around the rocks can lead to snags and bust offs in which a paternoster rig tied from 20lb fluorocarbon will benefit. To further avoid snagging, it pays to use spoon sinkers. These have no sharp edges and can be pulled from rocky crevices rather than becoming snagged.

Berley works very well along this stretch of coast and considering the length of the beach is around three kilometres, berley will attract the fish to the gutter your fishing rather than having to go in search for them. Berley methods should be undertaken in the same manner as with the other beaches. These beaches also have a large population of resident sand crabs which can cause problems stealing baits. It is best if you place either a blue/white or red/white surf popper on the bottom dropper to prevent them from taking your offerings. The most productive fishing is during the rising tide and in particular on days where it is overcast. This will keep the fish in close rather than scattered along the entire beach.

Lure fishing is also productive with both soft plastics and metal lures. Some of the gutters are quite deep right up to the shore break allowing anglers to flick soft plastics into deeper water. Another effective fishing method is to cast metal lures down the berley trail. When you have an established trail, the fish will swim right into the shore break looking for the food source. In this case, discarding the bait rod and using a lure rod can be highly entertaining.

Gunnamatta:
Located on the Mornington Peninsula, Gunnamatta surf beach is hugely popular with surf fishing anglers and fishes considerably well throughout the season. This beach has around 15 kilometres of fishable beach with plenty of deep gutters.

Gunnamatta can be accessed by parking at the surf life saving club at the end of Truemans Road.

Walking over the hill, anglers have good visibility along the beach to choose which gutter to begin fishing. One such gutter that is the deepest and always produces good catches of salmon can be found approximately 700 meters to the left of the walkway.

Tackle and tactics:
Being such a long beach, Gunnamatta is quite popular during the season and while salmon are a popular target, after dark anglers also target gummy sharks.

The gutters to the left of the beach tend to be quite deep and the further to the left you walk; you will find that ones nearer the rocks tend to hold a better class of fish. Anglers fishing this stretch of coastline are advised that berley is essential mainly due to the many gutters in which the fish can be schooled up in. Berley will place a scent in the water that the fish will search for. Providing you keep this berley trail constant, you will find success will be imminent. The most productive technique is to use a paternoster rig tied from 15lb fluorocarbon leader with two droppers each containing a 1/0 bait holder hook. The sand crabs aren’t that bad along here so surf poppers are only an option not a requirement.
Blue bait, white bait and pipi are all worthy baits to use.

After dark, gummy sharks are a common catch for those fishing the high tide on the lead up or down to a full moon.
A light berley trail is required to attract gummies to the area fished. This can be done by using an onion bag with a pre-purchased frozen tuna log placed into it. Secured off to a rod holder, this berley can wash around in the surf attracting fish.

The most effective rig is a fixed sinker rig tied from 60lb trace. The reason for such heavy leader is to aid when dragging the fish through the shore break. Most of the time fish are lost when a waves dump on them in the shallows. The ideal hook is a Black Magic 6/0 KL circle so the fish can hook itself. Gummies respond well to a wide variety of baits but where possible, fresh trevally fillet, salmon fillet or calamari is by far the most effective.

Gearing up for the surf:
Victorian surf fishing tends not to warrant the elite in fishing gear but due to the high salinity of the beaches, the constant spray of salt and sand can take its toll on rods and reels if they don’t receive regular maintenance.
The basic outfit is a 10-12ft rod rated 8-10 kilos and while the fish won’t reach this size, the reason for such a heavy rod is to support a heavy casting weight. More of the beaches will require star sinkers in either a five or six ounce weight to combat side wash with appears during a strong blow.

If you’re into spinning with lures then a much lighter rod will be required. Rods in a 9ft length with a casting weight of 60 grams will allow more control of the lure on the retrieve.

When it comes to matching a reel to your chosen rod, you will require something that is going to last. For most of the beaches listed above, smaller reels in a 6000 series will fit the bill and hold more than enough line required. In the past, anglers once used reels capable of holding 400 meters of 25lb monofilament whereas nowadays a reel that holds 300 meters of 20lb braid will suffice. If you’re targeting gummy sharks you may want to grab a larger reel with something in the 8000 or 10,000 series that’s capable of holding at least 300 meters of 50lb braid. When it comes to spinning you only need a smaller sized reel with something in a 4000 series that is loaded with 10lb braid.

Fishing with the right gear can make fishing a lot more enjoyable rather than just skull dragging fish up the sand. If you are thinking of heading to one of the mentioned beaches, lighten you tackle, grab some berley and you’ll be sure to find salmon in no time.