Lakes Entrance - Fishing from boat

[re-tyred]

Not many prawns in the Lake. Can buy a feed off the trawlers as they are catching them offshore. Luderick can be found along the rock walls and cliffs at Kalimna. Salmon sometimes come along in the same area. look for the birds working.

[rogs]

Thanks heaps re-tyred it's been a while since I've been there....will do some surf fishing in eastern beach as well for salmon..catch you later mate.

[Robbie1950]

Ok, boat ramp is near Apex Park next to the hwy bridge on the western end of town. Fishing in the lake around lakes is quite challenging at times. King George whiting have been around at the barrier landing. Best is local prawn or squid. You can buy green prawns from some of the trawlers. You can also buy cooked ones for a feed.
You may find salmon around the entrance channel and up the lake towards Metung. You can also catch KGW around Metung and further up the lake. Look for sandy areas close to weed patches. Early morning or late afternoon has been better for whiting. You can pick up flatties drifting almost any area but they have been slow this year.
You can also go out to Lake Tyers. Flatties and bream have been ok out there. Usual prawns and Pillies or lures soft plastics.

Geeze, reading this makes fishing around Lakes Entrance seem a little depressing and slow. Is it slow because its been over fished or for other reasons?

[Fishbref]

HI Guys
If you get out onto Lake Tyers have a try trolling for Tailor using metal slices - They are monsters and very exciting. Over the Labor Day weekend we caught over a dozen and released all but 1 none were less than 60cm the one pictured below went to 75cm.

Godzilla!

[Fishbref]

Thanks heaps re-tyred it's been a while since I've been there....will do some surf fishing in eastern beach as well for salmon..catch you later mate.

I did well on salmon at Eastern Beach week before Easter; interestingly almost all caught on pippies. I was using a three hook paternoster set-up for coverage; top ganged 4/0s with half pilly, middle single 2/0 baitholder with chicken strip, and bottom single 1 baitholder with pippi/squid. I was half hoping to snag some sand whiting on the bottom hook but all the salmon came thataway; samples up to 60cm.

Foulhooked some plate-sized crab also; annoying buggers...

[ango]

Hey Robbie 1950, decades of "sustainable" netting have no doubt taken their toll along with environmental degradation and changing salinity profiles which affect the breeding of some species. The other issue is the lakes are vast, and everywhere looks "fishy", but the fish are like cows in a paddock. If you fish where the "cows" are you can do all right, but they are only in isolated pockets at any time and move about constantly. This year the whiting fishing has been the best I remember, while the dusky flathead have not come down from the rivers into the lakes, probably due to cold weather. The yellow eye mullet did not show in Paynesville last winter but the previous winter they were often around, and good size too. If you come down for a holiday for a week or so it can be a difficult fishery to crack.

[Troy McLure]

Good analogy Ango, I must be fishing the biggest cow paddocks because I’m ****** if I can find them.

[re-tyred]

Fishing anywhere you are not familiar with can be challenging. In the lakes you have a vast area and the fish are strongly influenced by time of year, water temperature and the amount of freshwater coming down the rivers. On top of that there are a huge number of visitors who often don't have any idea where to fish, so they fish near other boats and make it look like the fish must be on in that spot.
A few rules that help. Use local bait. Prawns, mussels squid for KGW. Prawns for bream. Pillies will catch you a flatty and gurnard. Lures are good for Taylor and salmon..
Ocean fish are very effected by the fresh water so will be found closer to the entrance when it has been raining a lot. KGWs move into the lake in October and up the system as it warms up, then back down the system as it cools off. So Kalimna banks , the barrier and Nungurner channel are the first and last places to target. When they go off around Xmas holidays go further up the system, Carstairs bank etc. This of course is screwed up if you get a wet summer.
Spring and early summer is the time to target dusky flathead in the shallows with soft plastics. Mid summer and autumn look in deeper water.
Taylor and salmon, look for bait balls and birds working. They tend to move with the tide following the boarder between the new salt water entering and the dirtier lake water. They also follow the edges of the channels where the bottom slopes steeply. Use Navionics maps to identify steep drop offs.
The wide open areas of flat bottom are mostly desert. There is nothing there to attract fish. Weed only grows from approx 3 MTRS inwards. Fish alongside weed lines. These can be seen on your sounder.