Tidal River

[bilby]

Has anyone fished in Tidal River (estuary) any time in the last 12 months? I may be going down to Wilsons Prom soon and thought I'd give it a go for perch. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has experience with this spot - I haven't been there for years!

[fishmagnet]

yep! I went down early December for a few days and was very impressed with the fishing. we caught loads of trevally, bream salmon and a few mullet. not heaps of size to them but great fun on light gear. we caught all of them off the little jettys that have been built up near the caravan park. little pieces of blue bait on a size 6-10 long shank will do the job. also some good sized salmon off the main beach near the rocks. as for perch have no Idea but spoke to some people who have caught them before but didn't tell me the bait/lure etc...

good luck!

sam

[DougieK]

I haven't personally fished it but I have on good money that surface poppers after dark are the way to go.

[bilby]

Thanks for the responses! I'll post a report in a couple of weeks' time if all works out.

[claretone]

Yeah plastics up the river around the snags perch a plenty on any colour wriggler

[bilby]

So, after spending couple of nights down at the prom. here is the promised report. This is such a spectacular place to be in - we saw many wombats, wallabies, deer and other wildlife over the course of four days, and explored some fantastic beaches and bush environments.

On the first afternoon after the drive down, I wandered down to the boardwalk and after some time, caught a couple of nice bream, 29cm and 33cm respectively. The bigger fish caught me by surprise just on dusk as I had only been catching small (under 20cm) fish before then. The next morning, I headed out with the surf gear to the mouth of Shallow Inlet - a good 50 min walk in very cold and windy conditions. I tried everything, but only managed a couple of tiny flathead! It's been a great spot for me in the past, but this time - nothing. Not even a decent bite. Somewhat disheartened, I tried for bream again in the afternoon just on dusk again, catching a very silver coloured (for Tidal River) 28cm fish.

On the second last evening on the river, I gave the soft plastics a go - I hardly ever use lures and have never really had much luck with them at all. On the first cast I hit a tea-tree. On the second, the wind blew the lure back onto the bank I was casting over. The third cast I pulled the lure straight into a bed of reeds and got snagged. You get the idea.

So I decided to move spots to somewhere less risky, choosing a spot with a clearer zone of water to cast over. On the first cast, I managed to put the lure right on target near the opposite bank - very elegant! A few more casts and I was into the swing of it - but no result, of course. Then, to my astonishment, on the next cast the rod buckled over and the drag started zinging - after a bit of a battle the fish came to the edge. I had of course forgotten my net, which made things tricky, but again, to my surprise, an estuary perch glowed from deep down in the tea-coloured water. As it emerged on top, I found a good thumb grip and was able to carefully hold up the fish. It measured 33cm - I was rather pleased with the result! Incredibly, over the next hour and a half the same thing happened another 6 times on the same lure. The largest fish measured in at 35, 38 and a 42cm beast. Thanks to the guy from Yarragon, too, who helped me land some of these with his landing net - a very generous angler!

The next night I tried again, being very hopeful of some action. After about 20 casts I hooked a large fish that took some time to land. In the end, it went 41cm. For the next two hours I kept casting, but found no more interest. In my experience from past years at Marlo, this is not unusual with EP fishing - one day a particular spot can hold good numbers of fish, and the next they move on elsewhere in the system. I was land based, so couldn't explore any further afield.

On the last morning, I tried again. This time, no touches at all.

So, all up, a fantastic trip, fishing wise, and a magnificent spot for beach and bush walking.


Success!

[DougieK]

42 is a freaking fantastic EP well done mate!

Did you get a chance to look at tongue point or any other ledges?

[bilby]

No, unfortunately despite the reasonable weather (except for day two when it rained) there was a sizeable swell running, so wasn't game to go near the rocks. They were certainly some of the biggest perch I've caught, although I'm yet to top a memorable specimen at Marlo from years back @50 cm.

[BIG GAV]

Yeah mate them some cracker ep's in anybody's books hats off!

[poodoo]

Great sized perch mate!