Warrnambool

[GTSHoon]

Hey fellas,
Heading out west this weekend for the first time to check out the university i will be atteneding in 2017 and of course im going to take the rods down. Will probably only get 4-5 hours of fishing and honestly have no idea where to start?
So any suggestions as to what to target and an idea of where to start would be hugely appreciated!
Im happy to chase everything from bream through to salmon and anything else you can think of, so anything will do
Thanks in advance
Cam

[ChrisD]

Hey Cam - been a while but last time I was there I fished from the breakwall, back towards the beach. We ended up catching quite a few cuttlefish, but that was about all. Did hear of bream being caught in the river, but didn't get time to try it myself.

[4liters]

Isn't there EPs in the lake in the park? I imagine the coastline around there would be pretty productive as it wouldn't get pressured nearly as much as places closer to Melbourne.

[fitzy90]

Hey Cam,

Plenty of great spots to fish for a few hours, ill give you a few:

Hopkins bridge:
The bridge over the hopkins is great for bream and mullet, i have had a few mulloway runs as well however couldnt stop them on the bream gear. Fish in the middle of the bridge on the opposite side to the mouth.

Boat ramp / breakwall:
You can catch silver whiting off the boat ramp / breakwall in shallow, use a bit of chicken for bait.

Logans beach:
gummies and salmon, a bit hit and miss

If i was to pick a spot for a few hours i would go the bridge.

[tdpat]

I'd hit the bridge or walk the banks between the Hopkins River bridge and the mouth of the river for bream, ep, mulloway or salmon. Lake Pertobe is good for eels if you go at night around the back of the lake. Merri River is good for bream and trout anywhere from the mouth all the way up the river to bushfield. The breakwater is a hit and miss, mainly a miss though.

[GTSHoon]

Well had a good weekend, awesome place and pretty excited to think that system will be on my door step, only got 4 hours fishing in 3 just walking the mouth and 1 on the bridge casting at the pylons. Final count 14 baby salmon to me on little slugs and bream gear and 2 salmon and one dropped ep for my dad on a 2" zman grub in motor oil. So pretty good fun even if the bream didnt play the game. All i can say is i will definitely be back and will next time have a real explore!
Thanks everyone for the advice
Cam

[Fish-Hunter]

Nice place Warrnambool, good surf beaches to fish for Salmon & the Hopkins for Bream. I haven't fished the area a great deal, as am always passing through the town & heading further on to Portland etc. :cheers:

[mazman]

Well had a good weekend, awesome place and pretty excited to think that system will be on my door step, only got 4 hours fishing in 3 just walking the mouth and 1 on the bridge casting at the pylons. Final count 14 baby salmon to me on little slugs and bream gear and 2 salmon and one dropped ep for my dad on a 2" zman grub in motor oil. So pretty good fun even if the bream didnt play the game. All i can say is i will definitely be back and will next time have a real explore!
Thanks everyone for the advice
Cam

A good little trip considering it wasn't really a fishing trip, If you have a bit more time next visit I think getting the yak down there would really open the fishing up.

[ncr1]

It's a little bit scary the similarities Cam!

I went to the Deakin open day in Warrnambool in '97 and also went for an exploratory fish down near the river mouth. And yes, all we caught was little salmon.

Needless to say, I ended up studying there and having many more opportunities to suss out the local fishing. The bream fishing is like most rivers - it can be very hot and cold and will often depend on which section of the river they are feeding at the time. My best catches were with unweighted prawns under the bridge pylons or in the shallows on the Deakin campus itself.

EPs can be really thick during the warmer months. I remember one weekend where we had them tailing on the surface up at Tooram Stones. They weren't big (up to 10-35cm), but we caught over 100 of them over two nights (all released). Great fun.

There can be some bloody nice trout in the upper reaches of the hopkins as well. Try walking downstream and casting lures from Junction road above the falls.

[4liters]

Dunno why you wouldn't just go to the burwood campus. It has a carp infested creek running through it, what more could you want?