Corner Inlet and the South Gippsland region offers some of Victoria’s best fishing, especially for largerpink snapper, king george whiting, flathead, kingfish and gummy sharks.
The area that makes it great is the large Corner Inlet north of Wilsons Promontory, which extends east to McLoughlins Beach township.
McLoughlins can be reached from Yarram on the South Gippsland Highway.
The jetty near the McLoughlins boat ramp is a good spot, and those who make the 3km walk to the sea entrance will find great surf fishing, with the chance of a snapper or large salmon.
The inlet has large flathead, spotted whiting, big garfish, mullet and flounder.
Yabbies can be pumped on the flats and beach worms can be caught.
Fishing is best in summer, with mainly trevally, salmon and tailor in winter.
Robertsons Beach has good landbased fishing on the Tarra River channel at low tide, with big flathead and spotted whiting, and mulloway at night.
Port Albert is a great access point for boaters, and there are jetties that can be fished on the run-in tide for most species.
The upper Albert River has estuary perch.
Its mouth, called Old Port, produces occasional snapper, with flathead and whiting the usual catch.
A reliable spot for big snapper is the Snake Channel inside Snake Island, fishing at night and at dawn.
Big snapper are caught as far in as Old Port in Nov/Dec.
On the western side of Snake Island is Singapore Deep, which drains much of the inlet.
This channel reaches 34m depth and has strong currents.
Fish the Singapore Deep on small tides for big snapper and gummy sharks.
Don’t ignore shallow areas through the inlet, as big flathead, whiting, squid and gar are common.
Port Welshpool has an excellent boat ramp, which is near the best sea access from Corner Inlet, through Singapore Deep, though it is by no means a safe passage, with a runout tide and southerly swell quickly creating bad conditions.
Huge snapper live in the Deep, and a great many species are found just offshore, including kingfish around the islands, and thresher sharks.
The Lewis Channel out of Port Welshpool is well marked, and can be fished by foot at low tide.
Kingfish are a regular catch around the markers.
At Toora, the boat ramp dries at low tide. Fishing around Toora Channel produces most species, including snapper and gummy sharks in summer.
Further to the west is Yanakie, which has a boat ramp useable from half tide up.
The western inlet comprises sandflats and weedbeds drained by channels, with big flathead and whiting in summer.
The channels run into Franklin Channel, which runs into Singapore Deep.
Weather
The boating weather to be expected is much like that around Melbourne.
At Melbourne Airport the mean wind speed is between 20km/h and 24km/h through the year, with April, May and June being calmest and August and September the windiest.
Melbourne winds tend to blow northerly in winter, and southerly in summer.
Winter fronts bring gales, while summer brings strong afternoon sea breezes.
Victoria’s tidal range is small, with most boat ramps useable throughout the tidal range.
Here is a list of recommended tackle for Victorian waters.
Port Welshpool tides
Victorian stocked fishing spots
Port Phillip fishing spots
Western Port fishing spots
Melbourne dam levels
VIC fishing regulations
VIC marine parks
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