Top 5 Victorian Saltwater Fishing Spots
If you’re like me you probably enjoy fishing at some of the great saltwater fishing spots in Victoria. But – it’s often a question of where?
Where are other people going? What are their favourite places?
While you could ask other people you know there’s a good chance they’re not going to want to tell you. Not because they’re mean, but in fishing, let’s face it… One’s company and two’s a crowd. Right?
Of course, it is. We’re all a bit like that. No need to Go GetSalty about it all!
Still. It’d be nice to know. It’s true.
So. How about getting the skinny on the prefered Top 5 Saltwater Fishing Spots in Victoria? Do you want it? We’ve got it. With full credit to the VFA government survey.
| Location | Percentage | From Melbourne |
|---|---|---|
| #1 Port Phillip Bay | 52.2% | 4.6 km |
| #2 Western Port Bay | 28.1% | 81.4 km |
| #3 Gippsland Lakes | 11.5% | 277 km |
| #4 Phillip Island | 10.3% | 142 km |
| #5 Lakes Entrance Coastal | 8.6% | 320 km |
The good folks at the VFA asked 10,314 Vic Fishing license holders what their favourite Saltwater Victorian fishing spots were. Painstakingly fed the results into their number-crunching machine – and out popped…
Port Phillip Bay, Western Port Bay, Gippsland Lakes, Phillip Island and Lakes Entrance Coastal.
To the right (below if you’re on a mobile phone), we’ve assembled their discoveries for you.
Getfished has put it into a quick view saltwater chart, a grid showing how far you need to travel – and put the top salty spots onto a map.
Clicking the map will open a new window with an interactive map you can play with.
Bonus points if you guessed Port Phillip Bay was going to be number one!!
Top 5 Victorian Favorite Saltwater Fish
Do you like snapper? How about flathead?
“Huh!”, you say, “Is water wet?”
You love ’em we’ve got them – and more.
The good folks at the Victorian Fisheries Authority included that information in their 2018 survey of 10,314 license holders, too.
To make it easy to read we’ve assembled it into charts and tables. Including the fish species and some recommended bait, you can try. Some of the things that have worked here at Getfished and other people we know about.
So, firmly holding our breath, they are…Snapper , King George whiting , Flathead (other than Dusky) , Squid and Gummy Shark .
On the right of this text it’s available in the tabs.
Don’t forget to check out the Melbourne Snapper Fishing Report page, too. As well as our general Victorian Fishing Reports page.
| Species | Places | Prefer |
|---|---|---|
 Snapper |
Port Phillip Bay ,
Western Port Bay , Apollo Bay , Mallacoota Inlet , Warrnambool / Port Fairy , Lake Tyers , Portland , Barwon River Estuary , Lakes Entrance Coastal , Phillip Island |
44.8% |
 King George Whiting |
Port Phillip Bay ,
Western Port Bay , Phillip Island , Barwon River Estuary , Lakes Entrance Coastal , Apollo Bay , Lake Tyers , Portland , Warrnambool / Port Fairy , Mallacoota Inlet |
39.3% |
 Flathead (other than Dusky) |
Port Phillip Bay ,
Western Port Bay , Gippsland Lakes , Phillip Island , Lakes Entrance Coastal , Barwon River Estuary , Portland , Apollo Bay , Lake Tyers , Warrnambool / Port Fairy , Mallacoota Inlet |
37.5% |
 Squid |
Port Phillip Bay ,
Western Port Bay , Phillip Island , Gippsland Lakes , Lakes Entrance Coastal , Portland , Apollo Bay , Warrnambool / Port Fairy , Mallacoota Inlet |
24.0% |
 Gummy Shark |
Port Phillip Bay ,
Western Port Bay , Phillip Island , Lakes Entrance Coastal , Portland , Apollo Bay , Warrnambool / Port Fairy , Mallacoota Inlet |
21.9% |
| Species | Bait |
|---|---|
 Snapper |
Pilchards ,
Bluebait ,
Whitebait , Squid , Soft Plastics , Hard Bodied Lure , Prawns , Chicken |
 King George Whiting |
Pippis ,
Bluebait ,
Whitebait , Prawns , Pilchards , Mussels , Chicken |
 Flathead (other than Dusky) |
Soft Plastics ,
Prawns ,
Pilchards , Bluebait , Whitebait , Pippis , Mussels , Chicken , Beachworms , Squid |
 Squid |
Squid Jig |
 Gummy Shark |
Squid , Pilchards |
Top 5 Victorian Freshwater Fishing Spots
Ever wanted to know some inside information on where people choose to fish freshwater in Victoria?
Of course you do!
In 2018 the Victorian Fisheries Authority conducted a survey of state fishing licence holders.
You are not going to get much more “inside” than that!
They crunched the numbers from 10,314 respondents to the survey.
They found the top 5 most popular Victorian freshwater fishing locations were (drumroll):
Murray River (NSW), Lake Eildon, Goulburn River, Yarra River and Lake Eppalock.
In the tabs to the right, you’ll find some of the data they found.
Getfished has put it into a quick view chart.
A grid showing how far you need to drive
Finally the top spots have been placed onto a map.
For the latest info check out our Fishing Reports Page.
| Location | Percentage | From Melbourne |
|---|---|---|
| Murray River (NSW) | 27.2% | 223 km |
| Lake Eildon | 24.7% | 235 km |
| Goulburn River | 17.6% | 115 km |
| Yarra River | 10.8% | 6.9 km |
| Lake Eppalock | 8.6% | 128 km |
Top 5 Victorian Freshwater Fish Species
Let’s face it. Life can be pretty tough for the weekend warrior fisho.
Not only have we got to work out where to go fishing – but we’ve also got to work out what to go fishing for.
Yes. These things are sent to try our mortal fishing existence.
The experts tell us to go out targetting a specific freshwater fish.
Rather than try and catch anything. Thus improving our chances of success.
But, which fish?
Starting out with a list of the most popular freshwater fish in Victorian rivers, creeks and lakes would be a good place to start.
Right?
So, Getfished is going to help you with that.
Thanks to the state’s very own Victorian Fisheries Authority and their helpful survey of license holders.
Let’s take a captain cook at the results…
Their results, after surveying 10,314 fishos, gives us an insight into the top 5 most popular Victorian freshwater fish.
Which are:
Murray cod, Rainbow trout, Brown trout, Redfin and Golden perch (Yellow Belly).
We’ve compiled these into tabs containing a handy chart.
A table with photos of the species.
Plus a tab dedicated to our own recommendations for bait you can try for each fish.
It is available in the tabs to your right of this text (above on a mobile device).
| Species | Bait |
|---|---|
 Murray cod |
Hard Bodied Lure ,
Yabby ,
Scrub Worm , Bardi Grub , Cheese , Chicken , Freshwater Shrimp |
 Rainbow trout |
Hard Bodied Lure ,
Freshwater Shrimp ,
Yabby , Crickets , Chicken , Scrub Worm |
 Brown trout |
Hard Bodied Lure ,
Freshwater Shrimp ,
Yabby , Chicken , Scrub Worm |
 Redfin |
Hard Bodied Lure ,
Yabby ,
Chicken , Scrub Worm , Bardi Grub , Freshwater Shrimp |
 Golden perch (Yellow Belly) |
Yabby ,
Freshwater Shrimp ,
Chicken , Bardi Grub , Scrub Worm , Hard Bodied Lure |
| Species | Places | Prefer |
|---|---|---|
 Murray cod |
Murray River (NSW) ,
Lake Eildon , Lake Mulwala (NSW) , Goulburn River |
40.7 |
 Rainbow trout |
Lake Eildon ,
Blue Rock Lake , Yarra River , Lake Purrumbete |
39.8 |
 Brown trout |
Lake Eildon ,
Lake Eppalock , Yarra River , Lake Purrumbete , Blue Rock Lake |
39.5 |
 Redfin |
Murray River (NSW) ,
Lake Mulwala (NSW) , Lake Eppalock , Blue Rock Lake , Ovens River , Mitchell River , Lake Eildon , Yarra River , Lake Purrumbete , Goulburn River |
38.3 |
 Golden perch (Yellow Belly) |
Murray River (NSW) ,
Lake Mulwala (NSW) , Lake Eppalock , Lake Eildon , Goulburn River , Yarra River , Ovens River |
19.8 |
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