Merimbula Lake (Market Street Bridge)

The Market Street bridge carries the main road across the narrows of Merimbula Lake, where the water squeezes between the top lake and the bottom lake, and the banks either side of it are the most convenient estuary fishing in town. The narrows run hard on every tide and hold bait, which is why the channel around the bridge is a regular pick for dusky flathead, bream, trevally and flounder. Merimbula Lake is a reliable shore fishery for flathead, whiting and trevally. It is right beside the town centre, with shops, bait and food a short walk away.

Anglers fish the banks either side of the bridge, casting lightly weighted baits or soft plastics into the deeper channel and working them back along the drop-off. Flathead respond to soft plastics and small blades hopped along the bottom, and bream and trevally take prawn, nippers or pilchard pieces fished on a light running sinker. The channel below the bridge fishes well around low tide. Nippers can be pumped on the sandflats at low tide.

Dusky flathead are the main target — only those between 36 cm and 70 cm may be kept, with a bag of 5. Yellowfin bream (25 cm, bag of 10 shared with tarwhine) and silver trevally (30 cm, bag of 10 across the trevallies) work the channel all year. Sand whiting come onto the sand in the warmer months at 27 cm, with a bag of 20 shared across the whiting. Flounder and luderick round out the list.

The NSW tide tables put the Merimbula Lake bridge about 1 hour 30 minutes behind Fort Denison for both high and low water, and the lake itself lags further — so do not rely on an ocean tide time. Fish light: the water is clear and the fish see heavy leaders. Keep clear of the boat ramp and moored boats nearby, and never cast across the channel when a boat is passing. Below the causeway bridge no shellfish of any kind may be taken by any method, and hoop and lift nets are banned across Merimbula Lake. Oyster leases are part of the lake, so keep off any lease infrastructure.

Market Street crosses the lake on the western side of the Merimbula town centre. There is parking off Market Street on the northern (town) side of the bridge, and a boat ramp reserve on the western shore nearby. The banks either side of the bridge are a short walk from the car, though the rocky edge of the causeway is uneven. The lakeside boardwalk and Spencer Park are nearby for a walk if the fish are slow.

The narrows are sheltered from ocean swell, so this is a fishable spot in most weather. A strong westerly or nor'easter funnels along the lake and puts chop on the channel. Heavy rain in the catchment dirties the lake and can push fish towards the channel, while clear water and a light wind are best for bream and whiting.

The channel at the bridge is deep and runs fast, so keep children back from the edge. The causeway rocks are uneven and slippery. Market Street is a busy road — do not fish from the bridge deck or its footpaths, and cross carefully. Boats use the channel and the nearby ramp, so watch for traffic before casting. Stingrays lie on the sand flats.

The banks either side of the Market Street bridge, where the lake narrows between the top and bottom lakes, are the most convenient spot. Fish from the banks, not the road bridge.

Dusky flathead, bream, silver trevally, whiting, flounder and luderick are the regular catches around the bridge. Flathead are 36–70 cm with a bag of 5.

The NSW tide tables put the Merimbula Lake bridge about 1 hour 30 minutes behind Fort Denison for both high and low water. Within the lake, high water is about 2 hours behind and low water 3 to 4 hours behind.

Prawning is popular along Spencer Park on the lake. Dark-moon nights in the warmer months are the time; winter is poor. Hoop and lift nets are banned throughout Merimbula Lake, and below the causeway bridge no shellfish may be taken by any method.