Shallow Inlet & Waratah Bay

[Omer]

Hey all, decided to get back into the lovely sport of fishing after a looong time.

Headed down to the Waratah Bay area. Stayed at the caravan park there, met Jimmy the owner, seems like a top bloke. All the fishing happened the next day. Had 3 sessions in the one day with my good mate, as it was a short camping trip, we tried to squeeze in as much as we can. Everything on Thursday (26th)

Casted some surf rods at Waratah Bay during the sunrise, hoping to get some decent Salmon. Sauries and blue bait were used. No luck. However, my mate landed a solid yellow-eyed mullet, probably the biggest mullet i've seen (used it as bait later on) and a couple of baby salmon. 2-3 hours sesh. It was time for brekky and some rest.

During the day we drove down to Shallow Inlet. First time there, drove up on the sand bank thats exposed during the low tide. I think we got there around 2. We spent about 45mins pumping some bass yabbies and used them as bait, hoping to chase some whiting. It was our first time there, driving onto the sand (with my Mazda 3), so we ended up getting some info from a local on what to watch out for regarding the tides. So we baited up the yabbies, walking up and down the flat, probs the deepest I walked in was about thigh deep. We landed an undersize flatty and whiting, wasn't looking promising. We fished for about 3 hours with no luck. Eventually, found a pocket of KGW and landed 2 within 15mins (the last 15 mins of our session unfortunately). The 'walk out' to where they were and walking back to the bucket and bait was a small hike (and workout), plus trying to make sure we were watching the time for the tides, so we decided to pack up and leave as to not risk getting stuck there. We probably had about an hour to work with, but with the tide slowing coming in we decided to be better safe than sorry. If i had more personal experience with the area, I would have felt more comfortable to risk it. Better than nothing. Awesome place though.

During sunset, we went back out to Waratah Bay to try and chase a Gummy. Never caught one myself before. We used Sauries and the mullet we caught earlier. My mate, as lucky as he is, ended up bringing in 4 Banjo's for the session. What a face palm. Just as we decided to pack up, my rod went off and I brought in my first ever Gummy. A little over legal size, which I didn't mind as it was my first ever. So super happy with that. We fished from around 8.30pm to 12.30.

All in all, a good getaway with a good mate. Really liked the area, I'd definitely go back one day.

[e.welch]

Good on ya at least you got a feed

[Troy McLure]

I checked it out at the start of the year, looks very promising. Definitely on my to do list. I want to checkout near the mouth, must be some decent flatties in there.

[Sebb]

Congrats on the gummy

[Texas]

Enjoyed your report Omer
A beautiful part of Gippsland, fish or not
Congratulations on your first gummy & therefore a pb
Your mate is like me, catches the rubbish so others can catch a good fish
Gra

[GusG]

Great report Omer, sounds like a good trip. Pretty adventurous driving the Mazda 3 on sand, good effort! Congrats on the gummy

[Lightningx]

Congrats on your first gummy mate
Cheers

[Omer]

Thanks guys!