Woolamai Surf Beach

Woolamai Surf Beach is the longest and most exposed beach on Phillip Island — 4.2 km of sand facing south-west into high waves and westerly winds — and it is home to the island's only surf lifesaving club. For anglers it is the island's salmon beach: the gutters and holes that the swell carves hold schools of salmon, especially in the cooler months, with snapper and the odd gummy a bonus for those who put in the time. It is a surfers' beach first, so the fishing is a matter of picking the gaps.

Walk the beach at low tide to find the gutters, then fish them as the tide rises. Salmon take metal slugs cast into the wash or a pilchard or pipi on a paternoster rig; you need a proper surf outfit to reach them. At night, bigger fish baits fished into a deep gutter give a chance at a gummy or a snapper. Fish well away from the patrolled area and the surfers.

Australian salmon are the reliable fish (21 cm minimum, combined bag of 20 with Australian herring). The winter fish can be big, big enough to make the cold walk back to the car feel shorter. Snapper (28 cm, bag 10 with no more than three at 40 cm or over), gummy sharks (45 cm partial length, two gummy and/or school shark combined) and flathead (27 cm) are occasional.

Expect to share the beach with surfers — dawn, dusk and wild winter days are when the anglers get it to themselves. Bring a sand spike and keep the rod in sight and within 50 m. If the swell is big and the gutters are full of foam, head round to Cleeland Bight on the sheltered side instead.

Woolamai Beach Road leads to the surf club and main car park. The beach is reached over dune tracks — stick to the formed paths. Lifesaving patrols run only in season; outside it there are no services on the beach. There is little shade.

The beach faces south-west into the prevailing swell and westerly winds, so it is rarely flat. A moderate swell and an offshore (north-easterly) breeze make for the best fishing; a big south-westerly swell makes it unfishable and dangerous. Rips form along the gutters and move with the banks.

This is a dangerous, exposed surf beach with strong rips — never wade deep to cast, and never turn your back on the sea. Swim only between the flags when the beach is patrolled; out of season there are no lifesaving services. Rock platforms at the Cape Woolamai end are washed by swell; stay off them in any sea, and wear a lifejacket (AS 4758) if you fish from rock.

Yes — salmon are the main fish on Woolamai Surf Beach, best from autumn through winter. Use a long surf rod to reach the gutters, and fish metals or pilchard baits into the wash.

It is an exposed surf beach with strong rips and big waves. Fish from the sand, don't wade deep, and keep away from the Cape Woolamai rocks in any swell. There are no lifesaving services outside the patrol season.

The sheltered Cleeland Bight beaches on the eastern side of the cape, and the jetties at Cowes, Rhyll and San Remo, all fish when the surf beaches are blown out.