Lake's Entrance, VICTORIA
Airing Date: May 22nd, 2006
For over 100 years the seaside charm of Lakes Entrance has been one of Victoria's most popular holiday spots. Located on the edge of Ninety Mile Beach where the Gippsland Lakes meets the Southern Ocean, many of the local activities are, obviously, water based.
Spanning an area of nearly 400 km, with a total shoreline of 320 km, The Gippsland Lakes is Australia's largest navigable inland waterway - comprised of three lakes, rivers, creeks, coves and backwaters. These coastal lagoons were formed when the ocean's sand deposits created lengthy sandpits, low-lying sand islands and dunes which eventually formed a barrier (Ninety Mile Beach) separating Bass Strait from the calmer waters they enclosed. The catchment covers 10% of Victoria (or 20 000 km) - that's an area 5 times the size of Sydney Harbour! The Lakes extend 90km down the Victorian coastline and the depth varies from 1 - 6 m. If you want to go exploring, a boat is definitely the way to do it as many parts of the Lakes are only accessible via water.
Lakes Entrance is located 319km east of Melbourne. It has a population of around 7000, although this number soars tenfold to about 70,000 in the holidays, so you get an idea of how much Victorians like coming here... and it must be alright if they keep coming back after 100 years! Within the Gippsland Lakes and estuarine sections of several major tributary rivers, good fishing is available year-round. The major holiday centres, like Bairnsdale, Paynesville, Metung and Lakes Entrance, make great bases from which to explore the lakes. In the lakes, black bream is the species sought after by recreational anglers - they are excellent fighters and a superb table fish. Particularly well regarded areas for bream include Hollands Landing, Paynesville and Lake King. Aside from bream, anglers can expect to catch flathead, tailor, mullet, salmon, whiting and trevally.
Andersons Inlet and Venus Bay are excellent destinations for families and surf anglers looking to wet a line for flathead, salmon, tailor, whiting and trevally. Catches of flathead, salmon and whiting can be found at nearby Waratah Bay and Shallow Inlet, though a boat is recommended for more effective fishing. Snapper can be caught in the area, usually near the inlet entrance.
The Lakes Entrance Fisherman's Co-operative handles more than nine million kilos of fish each year with a wharf value of about $40 million. More than 80 different species are handled including Flathead, Scallops, Trevally, Morwong, Shark, Gurnard, Blue Grenadier, Orange Roughy, John Dory, King Prawns, and when in season the famous Southern Rock Lobster. It supplies approx 35-40% of all the fresh fish at Melbourne's Wholesale fish market and 20% to the Sydney Fish Market.
Further Information
3 hour fishing tour from $40 for an Adult and $20 for a Child.
Charter Boat Mulloway
03 5155 3304
Shac Du Lac from $230 a night. Sleeps up to 8.
Holiday Makers
03 5156 2243
Prices correct at 22/5/06
