Fishermans Landing (Lake Tyers)

Lake Tyers is a bush-fringed estuary east of Lakes Entrance, usually closed to the sea, with a well-deserved reputation for trophy bream, dusky flathead and a surprising population of large tailor. Fishermans Landing sits on the Toorloo Arm, and its jetty is a family-friendly facility with ample parking and a fishing platform. Whiting, luderick, salmon, prawns and silver trevally also live in the lake. In spring, bream feed around Mill Point, trevally hit natural-coloured soft plastics and flathead take plastics and lures. It is the kind of place where the bream have more patience than the anglers.

Shore-based anglers soak baits for bream and flathead — the popular technique from the arms — or cast unweighted prawns from the bank. Soft plastics cast and worked while walking the shallows find flathead and bream. For trevally, try natural-coloured soft plastics in the faster-flowing areas. Fish the jetty platform edges and nearby drop-offs rather than the shallow flats in the middle of the day.

Black bream are year-round and can run large, with dusky flathead the other headline fish. Tailor, silver trevally, luderick and whiting are caught in the lake, and estuary perch hold in the upper arms near snags. Lake Tyers is not part of the Gippsland Lakes for the bream rules, so black bream here are 28 cm minimum with no maximum and a combined bream bag of 10, kept whole until you are off the water. For regulation purposes, any flathead caught in Lake Tyers or any estuary east of it counts as a dusky flathead: 30–55 cm, bag of 5, kept whole until you leave the water.

Bait nets are banned in the Toorloo and Nowa Nowa arms of Lake Tyers, and Fishermans Landing is on the Toorloo Arm, so bring bait. Cast nets are illegal everywhere in Victoria. Soak baits patiently for the big bream and flathead, and keep a soft plastic rod ready for anything moving in the shallows. Fisheries has built artificial reefs in Lake Tyers, including one off Mill Point in the Toorloo Arm, for anyone with a kayak. The lake is usually closed to the sea, so its fish are residents rather than tourists.

Fishermans Landing is on Fishermans Landing Road on the Toorloo Arm, a short drive from Lake Tyers Beach and Lakes Entrance. There is ample parking, a fishing platform and a boat ramp at the landing. The jetty suits families and is easier going than most of the lake's bush banks. Supplies are in Lake Tyers Beach and Lakes Entrance. No fee applies.

Lake Tyers is sheltered by its steep, timbered arms, so it fishes when wind blows out the open lakes and the surf. Some mornings the loudest thing on the Toorloo Arm is a kookaburra having a laugh at your cast. Because the entrance is usually closed, there is little tide; wind, light and water temperature matter more. In summer, flathead push into the shallows; in cooler months, fish drop-offs and keep baits near the bottom. Heavy rain raises the lake and can occasionally open the mouth.

Low-risk lake fishing from a jetty and platform. Watch edges, wet surfaces and boat ramp traffic. Snakes are possible on bush banks in summer. Bring sun protection and insect repellent. Lake levels can rise after heavy rain and cover low banks.

Yes. The Fishermans Landing jetty is a family-friendly facility with ample parking and a fishing platform, popular for soaking baits for bream and flathead.

Lake Tyers is not part of the Gippsland Lakes for the bream rules, so the general limit applies: 28 cm minimum and a combined bream bag of 10. Fish must be kept whole until you are off the water.

Yes. For regulation purposes, any flathead caught in Lake Tyers or estuaries east of it is treated as a dusky flathead, with a 30–55 cm slot and a bag of 5.

Usually not. Lake Tyers is generally closed to Bass Strait and only occasionally opens with high water levels or intervention.