Mallacoota Foreshore & Wharf (Bottom Lake)

Mallacoota Inlet is the far-east corner of Victoria, and its bream and flathead fishing is hard to match — top of the list among East Gippsland's estuaries for quality and quantity. The bottom lake has a boat ramp with fish cleaning tables, a wharf and ample parking, and luderick live around the ramp and wharf. Shore-based anglers have dedicated fishing platforms along the western side through to Stingray Point. Bream regularly top a kilogram, and dusky flathead up to a metre move in the warmer months, with fifty-centimetre fish common. It is six hours from Melbourne, and the fish seem to know it.

From the wharf and foreshore, fish lightly weighted baits for bream close to structure, and float weed for luderick around the ramp and wharf. Flathead take paddle-tail soft plastics worked along the edges of the sandy flats. Sand flats opposite the boat ramp hold flathead and sand whiting for lure anglers who can reach them. Trevally, salmon and tailor sit in the deeper channels toward the mouth — best when the entrance is open and the tide is running, though they tend to stay there even when it closes.

Bream and dusky flathead are the stars, with luderick around the wharf and trevally, salmon, tailor, mullet and estuary perch in the system. Mulloway, flounder and sand whiting are also in the system. Black bream here fall under the general rule — 28 cm minimum and a combined bream bag of 10 — and must be kept whole until you leave 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. The metre-long flathead the inlet is famous for are, under that 55 cm maximum, strictly a photo-and-release proposition.

Fish the warmer months for flathead — the big fish are on the move from November to April. Paddle-tail soft plastics along the edges of the sand flats are the current go-to. For bream, bass yabbies and prawns are the baits, with the top lake best for those who can get there. A bait net may be used in the Lower Lake, but at least 30 m from any jetty or pier and 400 m from any creek or river mouth.

The bottom lake boat ramp and wharf area is off Buckland Drive on the Mallacoota foreshore, with ample parking and fish cleaning tables. Foreshore fishing platforms continue along the western shore toward Stingray Point and Karbeethong. The wharf and foreshore paths are mostly flat. Mallacoota is reached via the Princes Highway to Genoa, then the Mallacoota Road. No fee applies.

The bottom lake is a big, open body of water that can get choppy, but sheltered corners can be found in most winds. The entrance opens and closes; when open, tides bring salmon and trevally into the deeper channels near the mouth. Shifting sand and shallow banks are common. Heavy rain in the Genoa and Wallagaraugh catchments discolours the inlet.

Wharf edges, wet boards and boat ramp traffic are the main hazards; keep clear of launching boats. Supervise children around deep water. Some Parks Victoria jetties further around the inlet in Croajingolong National Park have been closed for safety, so obey closure signs. Mallacoota is remote — carry essentials.

There are ample shore-based opportunities on the western side of the bottom lake, with the wharf and boat ramp area and dedicated fishing platforms through to Stingray Point.

Big dusky flathead, up to a metre long, are on the move in the warmer months from November to April, with fifty-centimetre fish common.

No. Any flathead caught in an estuary east of Lake Tyers counts as a dusky flathead, with a legal slot of 30–55 cm and a bag of 5, so the big ones go back.

Only in the Lower Lake: one bait net of up to 6 m per person, at least 30 m from any jetty or pier and 400 m from any creek or river mouth. Cast nets are illegal everywhere in Victoria.