Inverloch Surf Beach

Inverloch Surf Beach is the ocean-facing beach in front of the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club, running west from town toward Flat Rocks. It is the town's surf-fishing beach, and the stretch is a standard South Gippsland salmon beach: open sand, gutters that move with the swell, and schools of salmon working the wash through the cooler months. The beach is also the frontline of one of Victoria's best-known erosion problems. In recent years the dunes have been cut back hard, sandbag walls have been built and extended around the surf club, and access tracks between Ozone Street and the club have been closed at various times. The fishing is fine; getting onto the sand is the part that needs a little planning.

Walk the beach at low tide first and pick a gutter — a darker, deeper channel running along or out from the shore — then come back to fish it as the tide pushes in. The standard rig is a paternoster with a star sinker heavy enough to hold, carrying two baits of bluebait, whitebait or half pilchards, often with a surf popper above the top hook. When the salmon are on the surface, a metal slug cast long and wound fast saves a lot of bait. It also warms you up, which on a Gippsland winter beach is not a small thing. After dark, a running sinker rig with a fresh fish fillet or squid on a bigger hook is the gummy approach. Keep the session mobile — the gutters near the sandbag walls are not the place to stand, and the better water often lies a few hundred metres west.

Australian salmon are the fish this beach is known for, schooling along the gutters through winter and running into spring. Flathead turn up on the sand year-round, and yelloweye mullet and silver trevally are the smaller regulars on light bait rigs. Gummy shark are the night prize, more likely on a rising tide after dark when the beach is quiet. Victorian limits: salmon 21 cm with a bag of 20 combined with herring; gummy shark 45 cm partial length and two a day combined with school shark; flathead 27 cm with a combined 20. Gummies must be kept whole until you are off the water.

Check the current access situation before loading the car: works on the sandbag walls and dune renourishment have closed the main track at the surf club and several tracks between Ozone Street and the club at different times, with fishers sent to the next open track to the west. Use only signed, open tracks — a closed track on an eroding dune is closed for a reason. Fish away from the flags when the surf club is patrolling in summer. Flat Rocks is just outside the Bunurong Marine National Park, but Eagles Nest is not: the park starts about 700 m west of Flat Rocks and takes in the water off Eagles Nest and the coast west toward Cape Paterson. All fishing is banned inside it, so don't cast from Eagles Nest.

The Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club off Surf Parade is the landmark, with parking around the club and along Surf Parade. Beach access is by sand tracks over the dunes, and the number of open tracks has changed repeatedly with erosion works — expect detours, fencing and the occasional steep or temporary track. That makes this a poor choice for anglers with limited mobility or for wheeling heavy gear. Toilets are at the surf club area; the town centre with bait, tackle and food is a short drive away. There are no fees.

The beach faces south into Bass Strait, and the prevailing south-westerly swell and wind wrap along the coast onto it. A moderate swell of around a metre carves workable gutters; a big south-westerly swell closes the beach out, pushes water up into the eroded dune face and makes the beach dangerous to walk. Light northerly or north-easterly winds lay the surf down and clean the water. The rising tide into dusk is the classic salmon window. After storms the beach changes shape quickly, so a gutter that fished last month may be gone.

Erosion is the specific hazard here. The dune face has collapsed in places, leaving drops of several metres from paths to the sand, and sandbag walls and works zones are not fishing platforms — keep off the bags and out of fenced areas. Like any Bass Strait surf beach it has rips and strong currents; do not wade deep to cast and never turn your back on the surf. A big swell on a high tide can push water to the dune face and cut off retreat, so watch the tide if you walk any distance. Wear a lifejacket that meets AS 4758 (Level 50S or greater) if you fish from the rocks or exposed surf in rough weather. West of Flat Rocks the shore becomes rocky, and the water off Eagles Nest is inside the Bunurong Marine National Park, where all fishing is banned.

The beach is open, but erosion and coastal protection works have closed several access tracks at different times, including the main track at the surf club during works. Use the signed open tracks — at times only Ozone Street and tracks to the west have been open — and stay out of fenced works areas.

Yes. Australian salmon school along the surf beach gutters in the cooler months, with winter the main season. Fish a rising tide into dusk with a paternoster rig and bluebait or pilchard, or cast metal slugs when they show on the surface.

Flat Rocks is just outside the park, but Eagles Nest is not: the Bunurong Marine National Park starts about 700 m west of Flat Rocks and takes in the water off Eagles Nest and the coast west toward Cape Paterson. All fishing is banned inside it, so don't cast from Eagles Nest. Check the Parks Victoria boundary signs or the VFA's app before you cast anywhere west of Flat Rocks.

Wear one if the surf is up. It is an exposed Bass Strait beach with rips and strong currents, and an eroded dune face behind it limits your escape route at high tide. A lifejacket that meets AS 4758 (Level 50S or greater), cleated or grippy footwear and staying out of the water are the basics.