Bullock Island (Lakes Entrance)

Bullock Island is the working end of Lakes Entrance — home to a large portion of the commercial fleet — and it sits on the main channels just inside the entrance. The water under the bridge to the island and the nearby Reeve Landing jetty are the places to fish. Salmon smash metal lures here on the incoming tide, with luderick around the island and garfish showing in autumn. It is deeper, faster water than the town foreshore, with rock edges and pylons rather than sand. Trawlers unloading in the background are part of the charm, and occasionally part of the berley.

The classic approach is to fish the incoming tide from the bridge approaches and rock edges, casting a metal lure across the current for salmon and trevally. Bream and luderick live around the pylons and rocks, so fish a lightly weighted bait close to the structure rather than out in the channel. Luderick specialists float green weed or cabbage along the rock edge on the tide. Flathead hold on the edges of the drop-offs and can be worked with a soft plastic down the slope. When the tide runs hard, use just enough weight to hold near the structure and fish the slack water either side of the change.

Australian salmon are the headline catch on the run-in tide, with tailor and silver trevally mixed through them. Black bream and luderick are resident around the bridge pylons and rocks, garfish turn up in autumn, and dusky flathead sit on the channel edges in the warmer months. Black bream inside the Gippsland Lakes and their tributaries carry a slot — 28 cm minimum and 38 cm maximum — and a bag of 7, and they must stay whole or in carcass form until you are off the water (filleting on a boat-ramp cleaning table is fine). Salmon have a 21 cm minimum and a combined bag of 20 with Australian herring, and luderick a 23 cm minimum and bag of 10.

Time it for the incoming tide — that is when the cleaner ocean water and the salmon come through. This is a working port, so stay off the commercial wharves and well clear of vessels manoeuvring, mooring lines and unloading crews. Gippsland Ports manages a Transit Only Zone where the entrance channel meets the Narrows, Reeve Channel, Hopetoun Channel and Cunninghame Arm — the busiest boat traffic on the lakes — so cast with that in mind. Dredging and training-wall works have run from Bullock Island in 2025–26, so obey any fencing or signage you find. Keep bream whole until you leave the water.

Bullock Island is reached by Bullock Island Road off the Princes Highway at the western end of the Lakes Entrance Esplanade, with a short road bridge onto the island. There is parking around the island and the boat ramp area, and the town centre with its toilets and food is a short drive or a longer walk east. The bridge approaches are mostly flat, but the rock edges are uneven and not suitable for limited mobility. It suits older kids under supervision more than toddlers, given the traffic and deep, fast water. There is no fee to fish.

Being close to the entrance, Bullock Island gets the full strength of the tide and the cleanest water in the lakes on the flood. The run-in tide is the prime time; the run-out carries dirtier lake water and stronger flows that make holding bottom hard. Westerly and south-westerly winds blow straight down the channels and make lure casting harder, while easterly weather is more comfortable. A stiff westerly down the channel turns your best cast into a polite suggestion. After big seas, sand moves across the bar and the water at the island can stay discoloured for days.

This is deep, fast-flowing channel water next to an operating fishing port: tides run hard, and falling in here is far more serious than on the town foreshore. Rock edges are uneven and slippery when wet; wear grippy shoes, and a lifejacket is strongly recommended on any rock wall at the entrance — AS 4758 level 50S or greater for adults, level 100 or greater for children. Watch for trawler and recreational boat traffic, mooring lines and forklifts on the working wharves. The entrance and bar can be dangerous, with strong tides; do not wander out along the training walls in rough weather, and check Gippsland Ports notices for works closures.

Fish the water under the bridge to the island and the nearby Reeve Landing jetty. Fish the incoming tide and stay off the commercial wharves where the fishing fleet works.

Salmon on metal lures are the main event on the incoming tide, with tailor, silver trevally, black bream, luderick, garfish, mullet and dusky flathead also caught around the bridge and rock edges.

Anglers do fish the training walls at the entrance, but both walls have been under remediation and further access works are planned, so foreshore areas may be fenced off. Check Gippsland Ports notices before you go, never fish them in big seas, and wear a lifejacket.