Inland waters

The Southern Ocean can be wild and inhospitable which can keep fishers on shore for weeks at a time with strong winds and big swell. This means it’s great to have a backup plan and the far west coast is blessed with amazing opportunities including the Glenelg and Hopkins River systems.

Glenelg River

The Glenelg River is one of Victoria’s longest at more than 350 kilometres, flowing from the Grampians all the way to its entrance with the Southern Ocean at Nelson.

At one point the river flows into South Australia before hooking back into Victoria. While the entrance often closes over, estuarine waters continue upstream for approximately 60km providing a huge fishing zone accessible from Nelson and the Lower Glenelg National Park. Better yet, it’s deep and wide for a good distance.

The Glenelg offers great fishing, kayaking, and family recreation with access to the river off Portland-Nelson Road and Wanwin Road with several camping areas.

Large boats can be launched comfortably at Nelson and it only gets busy during major holidays.

The most sought-after species in the Glenelg include bream, mulloway, and estuary perch.

Mulloway are best from September to December but can be caught year-round by keen fishers determined to endure the cold. Like mulloway in a lot of places, in the Glenelg they tend to be biting or not, so persistence can be key or switch to bream or perch.

Heavy rain will flush small fish down river and mulloway will usually respond and be waiting in the lower section to take advantage. Glenelg mulloway are often smaller fish, with the occasional prize specimen of 10 kilograms or more. Live mullet baits work best for mulloway as well fresh squid and pilchard baits or soft plastic lures.

The best area for bream is from the river mouth upstream to Pritchards campground, with the better fish often caught in the Sapling Creek region. There are land-based fishing opportunities along the river around Nelson but a boat or kayak is needed to fish the prime spots.

Good baits for bream include sandworms, peeled prawn, whitebait, crabs and bass yabbies.

Many fishers use light gear and a stealthy approach, casting vibes into the deeper sections, small soft plastic lures and small crankbaits around the snags and edges. The same tactics can be applied to estuary perch, which tend to school up in big numbers at certain times of the year.

Click here for information on boat ramps at Kellett Street, Pilchards Landing and Sandy Waterholes Track.

Hopkins River

The Hopkins River is one of the most popular waterways with fishers in western Victoria. At almost 300km long, the estuarine water extends a short distance from its ocean entrance at Warrnambool to Allansford, a journey of about 9km.

The system is well serviced by multiple boat ramps and there are many places for shore-based fishing. It’s worth noting the entrance is only periodically open to the ocean.

The river has significant deep holes, weedy edges, flats and reef sections, all providing a wide range of habitats for popular species in the estuarine reach such as bream, estuary perch and mulloway. In the freshwater section upstream, excellent fishing for stocked brown trout can be had.

Bream are available all year and are the most sought-after species by far. During heavy rain events bream move into the lower reaches and can concentrate in big numbers. In summer bream often push up onto the edges to feed on crabs, shrimp and worms and can be seen on the shallow flats cautiously moving around.

Estuary perch can be found near the same structure that bream favour, though will commonly lay in deep holes during the day along with mulloway, only moving into feeding mode at night.

Good baits for bream and estuary perch include sandworms, peeled prawn, whitebait, crabs and bass yabbies.

Many fishers use light gear and a stealthy approach, casting vibes into deep sections as well as small soft plastic lures and small crankbaits around the snags and edges.

For mulloway it is hard to beat using mullet that you can catch in the system or 3.5-inch soft plastic lures.

In the freshwater reaches boats are unsuitable and some amazing shore-based fishing is available for quality brown trout walking the banks and casting soft plastic lures and bibbed crankbaits.  Be prepared to walk a few kilometres fishing pools and runs. The annual closed season for trout during the cooler month does not apply to the Hopkins so consider it a year-round trout fishery.

Click here for information on boat ramps at Jubilee Park Road, Mahoneys Road, Otway Road and Simpson Street.