Jan Juc Beach

Jan Juc is the open surf beach just west of Torquay, a crescent of sand under the cliffs between the surf club and the bluff at its southern end. The best water is between the surf club and the bluff, and salmon and gummy sharks are the two fish that matter. Winter is salmon time, with snapper and gummies in the warmer months. The water off Bells Beach, a few minutes further on, is inside Point Addis Marine National Park and is no-take, so keep your rods at Jan Juc.

Walk the beach at low tide first and pick the gutters — the darker, deeper channels between the sandbars are where salmon run and where gummies feed at night. Long-casting metal lures worked through the gutters at sunrise or sunset are the quickest way to find salmon. For bait, a paternoster rig with a star sinker heavy enough to hold the surf, baited with pipi, bluebait or pilchard, covers salmon and the odd flathead. Gummies are best fished after dark on fresh salmon fillet or squid, which is when the beach empties of surfers anyway.

Australian salmon are the bread and butter, from school fish to the bigger winter runners. Gummy sharks come after dark, snapper turn up in the warmer months, and flathead are possible in the gutters through the year. Victorian limits: Australian salmon 21 cm with 20 combined with Australian herring, gummy shark 45 cm partial length with 2 combined with school shark, snapper 28 cm and 10 (no more than 3 of 40 cm or over), flathead 27 cm and 20 combined. Gummies and snapper must be kept whole until you leave the beach.

The incoming tide around dawn or dusk is the most reliable window for salmon. Point Addis Marine National Park starts about 3 km west of here and takes in the water off Bells Beach and the coast to Point Addis — it is no-take, so do not drift west along the cliffs looking for a quieter gutter. Point Danger Marine Sanctuary is the reef off Torquay to the east.

Parking is along the Jan Juc foreshore near the surf club, with a short walk down onto the sand. If the surf club's beach ramp or nearby car parks are fenced off for works, use the signed alternative beach access points close by. The Surf Coast Walk runs along the clifftop above the beach. The beach is steep in places and the sand is soft, so it is a carry-everything trip rather than a trolley one. Dogs, surfers and swimmers share the beach, and off-lead dogs have been known to take an interest in bait buckets.

Jan Juc faces Bass Strait and takes the south-westerly swell full on. A small to moderate swell carves the gutters that hold fish; a big swell makes it dumpy, weedy and dangerous. Offshore northerly winds clean the water up nicely, while a strong south-westerly blows it out. Low light on a rising tide is the pick.

This is an open surf beach with large waves and strong rips, and the rip channels are the same gutters that hold the fish — do not wade out to cast. The cliffs at the southern end shed rock, so stay off the base of the bluff. Surfers drift close to lines, so keep an eye out and give them room. If anyone is caught in a rip, call 000 and throw something that floats rather than going in after them.

Australian salmon year-round (best in winter), gummy sharks after dark, snapper in the warmer months and flathead in the gutters.

Between the surf club and the bluff at the southern end.

No. The water off Bells Beach is inside Point Addis Marine National Park, where all fishing is prohibited. Jan Juc, just east, is outside the park.

An incoming tide around sunrise or sunset, with winter the best season for the larger salmon.