Smiths Beach

Smiths Beach is the surf beach on Phillip Island's south coast below the Smiths Beach village, and with Woolamai it is the island's go-to for surf fishing. It is shorter than Woolamai, with rocky ground at the ends that helps form gutters and white water close in — good salmon country. Snapper and gummies are a night-time possibility for the patient. It is also a popular surfing and family beach, so timing matters. In summer the surfers get the waves, the swimmers get the flags and the angler gets 5.45 am.

Find the gutters at low tide, then fish them on the rising tide with a paternoster rig and pilchard, pipi or squid, or cast metals into the wash when salmon are showing. Dawn and dusk are the windows; mid-morning in summer belongs to surfers and swimmers. At night, a fresh fish fillet in the deepest gutter is the gummy play.

Salmon are the mainstay (21 cm, combined bag 20 with Australian herring). Snapper (28 cm, bag 10 with no more than three at 40 cm or over) and gummy sharks (45 cm partial length, two gummy and/or school shark combined) are occasional night fish. Flathead (27 cm, combined bag 20) turn up on the sand.

Fish from the sand. Sunderland Bay, the next bay east, and the other south-coast spots at Cowries Rock, Kitty Miller Bay and Pyramid Rocks are all compulsory-lifejacket rock-fishing zones — anyone fishing those rocks must wear an AS 4758 Level 50S or greater lifejacket, and children Level 100 or greater. Stay out of the surfers' way in the break.

Smiths Beach Road leads down to the village, the general store and beach access tracks. Parking fills on summer days, and the walk to the sand is short. On a good swell day the roof racks carry surfboards, and a rod holder is the odd one out. Check whether the beach is patrolled before anyone swims.

The beach faces south into Bass Strait and takes swell from the south-west, so it is rarely flat; a moderate swell with a northerly breeze is ideal. Big swells close out the gutters and make the reef ends dangerous. Weed piles up after southerly storms.

Smiths Beach has rips and rocky ground, especially near the ends; never wade deep to cast. The rock platforms along this coast are washed by swell without warning, and several nearby are compulsory-lifejacket zones. Swim only between the flags when patrolled.

Yes. Smiths Beach is one of Phillip Island's surf-fishing beaches, mainly for salmon in the gutters on the rising tide, with snapper and gummies an occasional night catch.

If you fish the rocks, yes in several places: nearby rock-fishing spots including Sunderland Bay, Cowries Rock, Kitty Miller Bay and Pyramid Rocks are compulsory-lifejacket zones (AS 4758 Level 50S or greater; Level 100 or greater for children). Wear one on any rock platform, zone or not.

Dawn or dusk on a rising tide, in a moderate swell. Salmon are best from about March to September.