Phillip Island, fishing and a whole lot more

by Jarrod Day on 3 Nov 2011 Located approximately 124km south of Melbourne on the entrance into Western Port, Phillip Island is home to many holiday makers year round. From motor sport viewing to an evening on the beach watching the fairy penguins return home from a long day at sea, Phillip Island has a whole lot more to offer than meets the eye, oh yes, and did I mention the fishing!

Land based adventures:
Lined by basalt boulders and golden sandy beaches, Phillip Island’s land-based options are endless. The great thing about the fishing on the Island is regardless of which direction the wind is blowing, fishing from the shore is still possible; there is always a place to escape the wind.

Depending on what species you’re interested on targeting some of the best locations are, Cleeland Bight, night time squid fishing here is at its best on a high tide, cast a baited silver whiting out into the channel and wait until it disappears below the surface.

Cape Woolamai Surf Beach is another prime location if you’re in search of Australian Salmon. This stretch of pristine beach produces the most number of salmon captures each season than on any of the other surf locations. A paternoster rig and blue bait works best here. Otherwise, for that adrenalin rush battle from a big fishy with teeth; try ballooning out a big bait from the rocks at Cowrie Beach on a northerly easterly breeze.

If trudging across the sand or rocks isn’t your thing then one of the three main piers maybe. Cowes, Newhaven and Rhyll may be a good option. They all have many species available to the weekend angler. Silver trevally under the pylons love to steal the easy offerings as do barracouta, flathead and salmon. But still there are numerous rock ledges and beach’s around the Island that all fish extremely well throughout the year. If you’re into the challenging battle form a King-George whiting then amongst the boulders at kitty miller bay could be your style, otherwise hooking into a big snapper from the beach at cat bay might just give your heart an extra beat or two. Just don’t forget the berley. In season, most land-based anglers take pride in targeting elephant sharks. This is due to their ease of catch ability. Most land-based anglers tend to concentrate their efforts for these amazing fish on the Western Port side of the Island.

For the boaties:
For those willing to dabble out a bit then you’ll experience some of the best fishing both the Port and Bass Strait has to offer. Year round XL gummy sharks can be targeted and are more common than some might think. The summer snapper run continues to please with fish up to and over 8 kilos taken each season. Other than head thumping runs from those two, King-George whiting, salmon, silver trevally and numerous species of assorted reef fish are all willing to take a bait.

The most highly prized species is the mulloway. These elusive fish can at times be hard to find but the patient angler fishing in the Corinella region can find success surrounding a full moon. Live baits become the bait of choice or fresh squid proving just as effective.

An unusual catch that occurs between February and April each year is the migration of Elephant Fish into the port.
Many anglers travel to Phillip Island just for a glimpse of the elephant fish and the majority anglers who do make the trek to lock horns with one, actually do so.

The drop off’s just out from the Rhyll channel are a great location for boaties in trying their luck during the elephant migration. One of the most popular elephant haunts is happily named the Elephant Triangle. To find it, take a map of Western Port and draw a faint line from Corinella to Tortoise Head then from Tortoise Head to Rhyll and back to Corinella. Although there isn’t much structure in this location, elephant fish breed on the mud flats, thus, this location is an ideal location to start your search. The next highly prized species is the gummy shark. Since the reduction in commercial fishing for these sharks, gummies have come back in a big way, nowadays fish up to 20 kilos seem to have become quite common with regular catches being reported, they actually grow up to and just over 30 kilos. The much bigger beasties such as Mako and Blue sharks inhabit the offshore waters during the warmer months in Bass Strait. It is as simple as heading out to the 50m line, starting a berley trail, setting out your baits and berleying like crazy. This style of game fishing is for the experienced so make sure your up to speed on the ins and outs of shark fishing. You don’t want to lose an arm on a fishing trip.

Ramps:
Access into either Western Port or Bass Strait can be done fairly easy. There are three boat ramps on Phillip Island. The ramp at Cowes is a sand ramp and care is required on launching but gives direct access into Western Port and its prime fishery, a 4WD is necessary for launching at this ramp. Another ramp located at Rhyll provides access into the Elephant Triangle and surrounding whiting territory while the Newhaven ramp gets very popular during summer for game anglers heading into Bass Strait in search of big toothy sharks.

As Western Port is heavily influenced by tidal variation, it is advisable boat angler’s launch during a mid-tide or high-tide. Launching during a low tide can cause problems, if you own a fairly large boat. During low tide some of the ramps might not have any water at them or they may be less than 1 metre deep. Launching mid or high tide will give you no problems, this also means that after a day’s fishing timing your return is also as important so to retrieve your vessel.

Simple bait collection:
We have all heard the saying ‘fresh is best’, collecting you own bait for a fishing adventure will always better your chances. If you want fresh mullet fillet concentrating your efforts in the shallows on any of the beaches will provide a good catch, berley is essential with small hooks, size 10 is adequate, a paternoster and small pieces of pipi as bait.

One of the best fresh baits for gummy sharks and snapper is the humble squid; the squid fishery around Western Port isn’t taken advantage of too often providing anglers with a good source of accessible bait. Cowes Pier, Newhaven Jetty, McHaffie Point and Cleeland Bight are all good squid habitats. Night fishing is preferred with silver whiting on a squid prong suspended under a float is the most widely use rig.

For those avid whiting anglers, bass yabbies are by far the best bait hands down. As Western Port contains a heavy silt bottom, nippers otherwise known as Bass Yabbies inhabit the intertidal zones. A simple bait pump and sieve is required to pump nippers on a half tide. Find the mud and you’ll find fresh bait.

For other baits such as blue bait, white bait, pilchards and pipi’s the local tackle shop can fulfill your needs, they might even let you in on a few hidden secrets within the port.

The basic essentials:

Rock – Rock fishing warrants some degree of care so don’t forget to wear the correct foot attire on your journey. Basic 3.6m rods will be adequate with a suitable 6000 series reel. There is plenty of snags so take along some extra sinkers and hooks just in case. The preferred rig is the paternoster and by using a mainline of around 20lb you should successfully land most species. Look for areas where there is cover for fish to hide, sudsy foam, kelp beds and reef are all worth concentrating your efforts on. An onion bag secured onto the rocks full of pilchards, bread and tuna oil will attract a wide range of species to the area.

Beach – If you want to target one of the many species available, basic surf style outfits are essential. In locating a deep gutter look out for dark patches of water, these areas harbour fish and 20 lb mainline will be most suitable. Berley is a must to attract fish to your area and star sinkers are required if there is a strong side wash.

Salmon will be your main catch but whiting, trevally and mullet will also snap up a bait. Small hooks ranging in size from 8 to 2/0 should work best.

Boat – A running sinker rig is most widely used when in search of gummy sharks or snapper. Western Port is heavily influence by tidal flow, so sinker weight is imperative to keep you baits on the seafloor, taking an assortment of weights is highly recommended. 10 kilo fishing rods with overhead reels loaded with 20 to 30 pound mainline is best suited unless your targeting bigger sharks, in this case heavy game tackle is required such as either 15 or 24kg outfits are required. Oh and by the way, watch out for those teeth!

Lighter tackle can be used for elephant sharks and other reef species, an 8 kilo outfit will suit best. If you’re an avid whiting angler, a 2-4kg nibble tip rod will allow the smallest of bite detection and 2500 series reel with 6lb braided line works best.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than driving to a new location to explore. The best part about Phillip Island is not just the variety of species that can be captured but also the amount of different locations that are all easily fishable.

Regardless of what you do or where you go, Phillip Island should be very high on the next 'where to holiday next' list. It is truly a paradise not worth to be missed.