The historic Victorian settlement of Portland has great fishing within Portland Bay, and provides safe sea access for boaters to productive offshore grounds.

A feature of this area is a consistent run of big southern bluefin tuna from about March to August, along with albacore.

The tuna are generally caught by fast-trolling skirted lures.

The harbour produces mainly squid, whiting, garfish, small salmon, trevally and mullet.

The long harbour rock walls have great fishing at times, with a chance of snapper and gummy sharks.

Minerva and Julia Reefs about 3km offshore produce snapper, kingfish, crayfish and more.

December to March are the best months for yellowtail kingfish.

Snapper are usually best from October to March.

Mako and thresher sharks are caught just 5km or so offshore.

Between the boat harbour and Snapper Point are grounds that produce snapper, flathead, king george whiting and mulloway.

For landbased fishos, the rock wall along Dutton Way produces snapper after storms in spring, as well as salmon and whiting.

The Fitzroy, Surrey and Glenelg Rivers, and Yambuk and Bridgewater Lakes, are popular destinations within reach of Portland.

Makos and thresher sharks are targeted by Portland sportsfishermen, with blue and gummy sharks, whalers and school sharks also available.

A popular offshore species is blue morwong, with the deeper grounds also producing Tassie trumpeter, knifejaw, snapper nannygai and blue-eye trevalla.

Torpedo and calamari squid are abundant around Portland, best in calm warm weather.

Whale watching is popular off Portland in winter.

Freshwater and estuary fishing locations in this general region include …

Aringa Reservoir, Port Fairy – off the Port Fairy-Hamilton Road, 6.5km from Port Fairy, through private property. Follow track to the left past house and through two gates. Brown and rainbow trout and redfin. Stocked regularly with brown trout and rainbow trout.

Branxholme Reservoir, Branxholme – a 1ha waterway about 2.5m deep, bank fishing only, redfin.

Bridgewater Lakes, Cape Bridgewater – 200ha, has smelt, galaxias, pygmy perch, blackfish, redfin, tench. Formerly stocked with trout.

Eumeralla River, Codrington – flows to Yambuk Lake, contains eels, tench, goldfish, congoli, river blackfish, galaxia, pygmy perch, gudgeon. May have brown trout. The estuarine section has estuary perch, salmon, yellow-eye mullet and black bream.

Fitzroy River, Heywood – public access to riverbank at Heywood, the Princes Highway bridge and boat ramp at river mouth. Contains eels, congoli, river blackfish, lamprey, galaxias, gudgeon, pygmy perch. The estuary section extends 16km and has black bream, estuary perch, flounder, yellow-eye mullet, salmon and sea mullet. Some brown trout. There is access to the estuary through private property at Wrights Bridge but ask permission.

Moyne River, Port Fairy – eels, congoli, tench and brown trout, along with galaxias, gudgeon, lamprey and pygmy perch. The estuary extends 4.8km, with estuary perch, mullet,salmon, bream, barracouta, flounder, snapper, whiting, yellow-eye mullet, silver trevally and mulloway. There is plenty of space for bank fishing.

Shaw River, Yambuk – as well as native fish there are some brown trout.

Surrey River, Heywood – access is restricted to road crossings. Occasional brown trout and river blackfish. The estuarine section extends 3km and has bream, yellow-eye mullet, flounder and salmon.

Yambuk Lake, Yambuk – 80ha, an estuary fed by the Shaw and Eumeralla Rivers. Boat and bank fishing for black bream, yellow-eye mullet, salmon, estuary perch, flounder, eels.

Portland tides
Portland coastline
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Glenelg River is a hugely popular fishing destination that flows to sea near Nelson, meandering through both South Australia and Victoria.

The estuary extends about 60km upstream, with most of it located inside the Lower Glenelg National Park.

The Glenelg is Victoria’s third longest waterway at 350km, yet the sea entrance occasionally closes over at the mouth, which causes the river level to rise.

This relatively deep river is about 50m or so wide in the lower section, with scenic cliffs and forest along the lower reaches.

The south-west walking track follows 40km of river.

There are 29 launch sites along the river for small vessels, along with formed boat ramps for trailerboats, and many sites have picnic facilities.

Some of the more popular launch sites are Nelson, Isle of Bags, Simsons Landing, Donovans Landing, Sandy Waterholes, Sapling Creek, Wilson Hall, Pritchards and Saunders.

Boats can be hired at Nelson.

Tidal influence reaches to above Saunders, when the waterway becomes more difficult to navigate, becoming narrower, with plenty of submerged timber.

South Australian boating regulations apply in the SA section.

Twenty five fish species have been recorded in the estuary, with black bream, yellow-eye mullet, salmon, estuary perch, mulloway, luderick, flathead and flounder the most common.

Baits recommended are sandworms, peeled prawn, whitebait, crabs and clickers.

Big bream and school mulloway are the main interest to fishermen, but there are a great many small picker bream to get through.

Mulloway are best from September to December, but can be caught from November to May, with a few stragglers caught outside these times.

The river’s mulloway tend to be on or off, possibly with the presence of a school(s) determining whether there is much action or not.

Heavy rain will flush small fish down the river and mulloway will usually be waiting in the lower section.

Glenelg mulloway are smallish fish, with the occasional specimen cracking 10kg. Livebait works best on them.

The beach at the river mouth looks shallow but can be a mulloway hotspot at times.

Mulloway are most often caught in the estuary up to around the highway bridge.

For mulloway, also try the caves region. Use pilchard, fresh squid or live mullet baits at night.

Major bream competitions are held on the Glenelg River.

Typically, bream fishos cast small lures to bankside and other structure.

In winter the bream school in deeper areas, while in summer they move upstream.

The best area for bream is from the river mouth upstream to Pritchards, with the better fish often caught in the Sapling Creek region.

During holidays there is a lot of boat traffic and better bream fishing is usually had in the early morning, late evening and night, or by travelling far upriver.

There are landbased fishing opportunities along the river around Nelson but a boat or yak is needed to fish the best spots in the river.

Surf beaches at nearby Nobles Rocks and Swan Lake near Nelson produce salmon, school mulloway and gummy sharks after dark, with occasional school sharks.

Browns and Piccaninie Beaches also produce gummy sharks and mulloway after dark. Fish a big high tide at night in summer for the best chance of success.

Glenelg River entrance tides
Glenelg River region beaches
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Danjera Dam is 20km west of New South Wales’ Nowra.

The dam was built in 1971 on Danjera Creek, a tributary of the Shoalhaven River.

Though only a relatively small dam at 90ha in area, it is a scenic spot and can fish well, making it popular.

The dam contains stocked bass and rainbow trout, and a natural stock of eels.

Most fishos target the bass, which often respond well to lures, especially in warm weather.

The rainbow trout take up the slack in cooler weather.

There are camping areas, toilets, barbecues, firewood, water and bins.

The dam is up to 30m deep, with an average depth of around 15m.

Only electric motors, sail or oar powered vessels are permitted, so it is a peaceful place to fish.

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