Is there a flat in Vic for surface lure fishing?

[Sebb]

Inspired by a recent report, I went and bought bassday sugapen surface lure. Along with storm, atomic and sammy I already have. Normally I would use them for aussie bass, now I'm intending to get other species like EP, breams and whitings, or any other.

Did few research and watched some YouTube, mostly they're in NSW and QLD or North East corner of Vic, catching whitings/breams on sand flat.

Is there a place in Vic for such fishing? A flat that seems to be less than a meter and hold fish, and possible to catch on surface lure.
Years of fishing and I never heard any.

[mazman]

Not much for whiting because we don't get the right species for the majority of the state. For bream however there are tons of flats you can catch them on surface and plenty more places that aren't flats where they take surface as well. Pick your peak times, change of light, high tides etc. and get out there throwing surface.

[Sebb]

Not much for whiting because we don't get the right species for the majority of the state. For bream however there are tons of flats you can catch them on surface and plenty more places that aren't flats where they take surface as well. Pick your peak times, change of light, high tides etc. and get out there throwing surface.

Thanks mazman.
And how deep should I be fishing? Yarra, Nong and Docks mostly drop straight to easily 2 metres on the edge.
Should I be looking 1 metre or less to cast to?
I might try Anglesea.

[Windknot]

You will find flats at or near the mouths of most natural estuaries. For surface lures, you want the water to be 5 feet deep or less. Bream wont come up from the bottom in water any deeper than that usually. The best time of day by far, is dawn and dusk. I have caught bream on surface lures in the Anglesea River in the past, but that was before the last big fish kill. There are some back in there now though, I believe. The best time of the year for fishing the flats with surface lures is from summer up until around about now.

My favourite places for this type of fishing are Marlo and Mallacoota, where you have more flats than you can walk in a day. Near the mouth of the Glenelg at Nelson is good too. I have other smaller locations that I'm hesitant to mention, but they're quite common. My avatar photo is of a 44cm bream, which was taken on a surface lure on the flats at Marlo.

[Sebb]

You will find flats at or near the mouths of most natural estuaries. For surface lures, you want the water to be 5 feet deep or less. Bream wont come up from the bottom in water any deeper than that usually. The best time of day by far, is dawn and dusk. I have caught bream on surface lures in the Anglesea River in the past, but that was before the last big fish kill. There are some back in there now though, I believe. The best time of the year for fishing the flats with surface lures is from summer up until around about now.

My favourite places for this type of fishing are Marlo and Mallacoota, where you have more flats than you can walk in a day. Near the mouth of the Glenelg at Nelson is good too. I have other smaller locations that I'm hesitant to mention, but they're quite common. My avatar photo is of a 44cm bream, which was taken on a surface lure on the flats at Marlo.

Thanks for the info. I live in point cook, I guess Anglesea is the closest. Metro bream spots doesn't really have a 'flat'.

Best time is summer to autumn, is it because of the water temperature or clearer water?
I noticed that in summer days with no rain, the water is usually clear and breams visible on surface.

[Tim399]

You will find flats at or near the mouths of most natural estuaries. For surface lures, you want the water to be 5 feet deep or less. Bream wont come up from the bottom in water any deeper than that usually. The best time of day by far, is dawn and dusk. I have caught bream on surface lures in the Anglesea River in the past, but that was before the last big fish kill. There are some back in there now though, I believe. The best time of the year for fishing the flats with surface lures is from summer up until around about now.

My favourite places for this type of fishing are Marlo and Mallacoota, where you have more flats than you can walk in a day. Near the mouth of the Glenelg at Nelson is good too. I have other smaller locations that I'm hesitant to mention, but they're quite common. My avatar photo is of a 44cm bream, which was taken on a surface lure on the flats at Marlo.

Thanks for the info. I live in point cook, I guess Anglesea is the closest. Metro bream spots doesn't really have a 'flat'.

Best time is summer to autumn, is it because of the water temperature or clearer water?
I noticed that in summer days with no rain, the water is usually clear and breams visible on surface.

Since your from point cook is it worth trying sanctuary lakes? I know it is fairly shallow and I have heard of bream being caught in there. Could be worth launching your yak and scouting the place out

[Sebb]

You will find flats at or near the mouths of most natural estuaries. For surface lures, you want the water to be 5 feet deep or less. Bream wont come up from the bottom in water any deeper than that usually. The best time of day by far, is dawn and dusk. I have caught bream on surface lures in the Anglesea River in the past, but that was before the last big fish kill. There are some back in there now though, I believe. The best time of the year for fishing the flats with surface lures is from summer up until around about now.

My favourite places for this type of fishing are Marlo and Mallacoota, where you have more flats than you can walk in a day. Near the mouth of the Glenelg at Nelson is good too. I have other smaller locations that I'm hesitant to mention, but they're quite common. My avatar photo is of a 44cm bream, which was taken on a surface lure on the flats at Marlo.

Thanks for the info. I live in point cook, I guess Anglesea is the closest. Metro bream spots doesn't really have a 'flat'.

Best time is summer to autumn, is it because of the water temperature or clearer water?
I noticed that in summer days with no rain, the water is usually clear and breams visible on surface.

Since your from point cook is it worth trying sanctuary lakes? I know it is fairly shallow and I have heard of bream being caught in there. Could be worth launching your yak and scouting the place out

Yeah, been thinking of that. Most of the lake edges are private properties. Also, there was a fish net bust out by the fisheries couple months ago killed thousands of breams. Put me off a bit.
But guess I can try.
Be a good start actually to practice walk the dog retrieve.
Thanks

[rb85]

What about the Werribee river EP's are they worth a go?

[Windknot]

Summer is the best time because the bream are usually spread out throughout the entire estuary and they're actively feeding after spawning. Clear water conditions are also an advantage at this time of the year.

Let Google Maps be your friend. You can check out various locations and the sand flats are very obvious in the photos when you zoom down. You can see where it's deeper and where it's shallower. You can also find the best access points.

Fish the tides. A rising tide is usually best. A rising tide that coincides with dawn or dusk is what you want. A tiny bit of wind is good, but too much wind isn't good, as your lure tends to disappear in the chop and the bream can't see it. Some tidal movement is a necessity. I will often catch fish one after the other and then at a certain time, about an hour after dawn, it's like a switch has been turned off. The bream go completely off the bite. That's the time to change to diving lures.

You will come to love this style of fishing. In my opinion, it's the best form of fishing out there.

[Windknot]

I wouldn't worry about trying Angelsea right now as the mouth of the estuary is blocked and there's no tides. You might still catch fish, but they will be far less likely to be on the flats. The Painkalac Creek at Aireys Inlet is also closed and the fishing there is also very quiet. There are a lot of flats around the mouth of Thompsons Creek at Breamlea, but they're usually too shallow except on the highest of tides. You could try Lakers Cutting at Point Lonsdale. Lakers is a great spot, but the bream aren't in there all of the time, but when they are the fishing can be fantastic. You can often see their tails in the shallow water and they're actively feeding in just a foot or two of water. You've just got to be there at the right time, which is the hard part. Further afield, you have one of the best places on the west coast for flats fishing in the Curdies River at Peterborough.