Fairhaven Beach

Fairhaven Beach is the long surf beach that runs south-west from Aireys Inlet towards Moggs Creek and Eastern View, under the Great Ocean Road. It holds good numbers of salmon, and whitebait is the bait. Further along, the Moggs Creek mouth is a very popular salmon spot, with mullet, and the Moggs Creek–Eastern View stretch adds snapper when the tide drops far enough to reach deeper water. It is a classic surf-salmon beach with a postcard backdrop, and the salmon chase whitebait with the single-mindedness of a Geelong supporter in September.

Fish the gutters — the darker, deeper water between the banks — rather than the open shore break. Whitebait on a paternoster is the salmon bait; metals at first and last light cover more ground. At Moggs Creek and Eastern View, fishing is best on the rising tide, especially into the evening and after dark. Snapper come into range on the bottom of the tide when it is far enough out to reach deep water.

Australian salmon are the main catch, with mullet around the creek mouths and snapper a possibility on the low tide further west. Victorian limits: Australian salmon 21 cm with 20 combined with Australian herring, mullet no minimum and 40 combined, snapper 28 cm and 10 (no more than 3 of 40 cm or over). Snapper must be kept whole until you leave the beach. Release what you will not eat; salmon are best bled and iced straight away.

Eagle Rock Marine Sanctuary off Split Point at the Aireys Inlet end is no-take, so keep your fishing to the beach west of the lighthouse rocks. The Fairhaven surf club patrols part of the beach in season — fish well away from the flags. The best salmon sessions are often in the first hour of light before the surfers and walkers arrive.

Parking is along the Great Ocean Road and at the Fairhaven Surf Life Saving Club, with short sandy tracks onto the beach. Moggs Creek has its own roadside parking further west. The walk is short but the sand is soft, so pack light. Aireys Inlet, a few minutes back up the road, has the shops and facilities. On a summer weekend the drive home along the Great Ocean Road moves at the pace of the slowest caravan, so leave before the day-trippers do.

The beach faces south-east into Bass Strait, so a moderate south-westerly swell wraps in and builds gutters without closing the beach out. A strong south-easterly or a big swell makes it dumpy and dangerous. Northerly winds blow offshore and clean the water up. Rising tides into dusk are the productive window.

This is an open surf beach with rips, and it can be dangerous with any decent swell — do not wade out to cast. The rocks at the Aireys Inlet end are wave-washed; if you fish any rock, wear a lifejacket (AS 4758, level 50S or above). Watch for traffic when crossing the Great Ocean Road from roadside parking. Nesting shorebirds use the upper beach in spring and summer; stay below the high-tide line.

Yes. It holds good numbers of salmon; fish whitebait on a paternoster or cast metals through the gutters at first and last light.

The Moggs Creek mouth is a very popular salmon spot, and the Moggs Creek–Eastern View stretch fishes best on a rising tide into the evening.

Occasionally. At Moggs Creek and Eastern View the bottom of the tide produces snapper, but only when the tide is far enough out to reach deep water.