Surf & Beach Fishing Guide: Choosing the Right Setup

Beach fishing is the most accessible saltwater fishing in Australia. There's no boat to launch, no ramp to queue at and no fuel bill. Just a rod, a bucket of bait and a stretch of sand. Perth is lucky: from Yanchep to Mandurah and beyond, we have hundreds of kilometres of beach holding tailor, herring, whiting, salmon, mulloway and more, most of it a short drive from home.

This guide covers how to fish from the beach and choose the right surf fishing setup: what you can catch and when, how to read a beach, the best beach fishing rigs, the best bait and lures, surf rod and reel setups for every target, and the techniques that turn a day on the sand into a feed.

What You Can Catch From the Beach

Around Perth and the south-west, the main beach species are:

• Tailor: the classic Perth beach fish. Hard-fighting, aggressive and great fun on bait or lures. The metro peak is March to July, with the biggest fish (greenbacks) usually from May to August.
• Australian herring: the perfect fish for kids and beginners. Caught year-round, with the best runs through autumn and winter.
• Whiting: yellowfin whiting feed in the shallow gutters in the warmer months. See our whiting fishing guide.
• Australian salmon: big, powerful schooling fish that run along the south coast and up to Perth's beaches in autumn.
• Mulloway: the big prize of beach fishing. Mostly caught at night on big baits, and worth the wait.
• Skipjack trevally (skippy), tarwhine and dart: great fun on light gear.

Around the country, beach anglers chase tailor on K'gari (Fraser Island), mulloway on the Coorong and Stockton Bight, salmon and gummy sharks on Victoria's Ninety Mile Beach, and whiting and bream on almost every beach from Queensland to Tasmania. The principles in this guide work on all of them.

How to Read a Beach for Fishing

The most important beach fishing skill isn't casting distance. It's reading the beach: finding the spots that hold fish. Most beaches have long stretches of empty sand and a few spots where fish gather. Learn to find those spots and you'll catch more fish than anglers who cast twice as far.

• Gutters: troughs of deeper water running along the beach between the shore and a sandbank. They look darker, greener and calmer than the water around them, with fewer breaking waves. Fish patrol gutters looking for food washed off the bank.
• Holes: deeper spots within a gutter where fish hold, especially at low tide.
• Rips: channels where water flows back out to sea through a gap in the sandbank. Look for a band of darker water with fewer waves, often with foam or sand carried out on it. Rips carry food, and predators wait along their edges.
• Banks (sandbars): the shallow ridges where waves break. They mark the outer edge of the gutter.
• Corners: where a gutter meets a reef, rock outcrop or groyne. Often the best spot on the whole beach.
• Weed banks and reef edges: hold baitfish, herring and tailor.

A simple rule: dark or green water is deep, and white water is shallow. Walk your beach at low tide once, or look at it from the top of the dunes or on satellite maps, and you'll know where the gutters and holes are for the rest of the season.

When to Fish the Beach

• Dawn and dusk are the prime times for most beach species, especially tailor and salmon. Be set up and fishing 45 minutes before sunset, not arriving then.
• Night is the time for mulloway, and tailor often keep biting well after dark, especially on moonlit nights.
• Tide: the rising tide and the top of the tide usually fish best, as water floods into the gutters and fish move in to feed. Low tide is the time to look at the beach and find the gutters.
• Swell and weather: a moderate swell stirs up food and gives fish cover. After a big blow, a settling sea with some white water can fish very well. Flat, glassy days can be slow, and very big seas make it hard to hold bottom.

Best Beach Fishing Spots in Perth

• Northern beaches: Scarborough, Trigg, Mullaloo, Burns Beach, Ocean Reef and Mindarie. Classic tailor and herring beaches, with reef and weed close by.
• City and western suburbs: City Beach, Floreat and Cottesloe. Close to home and good for tailor, herring and whiting.
• Southern beaches: Woodman Point, Secret Harbour, Golden Bay and the Mandurah beaches.
• Day trips north: Guilderton (the Moore River mouth), Ledge Point, Lancelin and Wedge Island, with bigger tailor and fewer people.
• The south-west: Preston Beach, Yallingup, Injidup and Hamelin Bay, for salmon, tailor and mulloway.

Choosing the Right Surf Fishing Setup

There's no single "best" beach setup, because the right outfit depends on what you're chasing and how you want to fish. Think of it in three levels:

• Light (whiting, herring, bream, skippy): a 9'–10' rod, a 4000 size reel, PE0.8–1.5 braid or 10–15 lb mono, with small hooks and light sinkers.
• Medium (tailor, salmon, the all-round Perth beach setup): a 10'–12' rod, a 5000–6000 size reel, PE1.5–3 braid or 15–20 lb mono, with gang hooks, 2–4 oz sinkers and metal lures.
• Heavy (mulloway, big salmon, sharks): a 12'–14' rod, an 8000–14000 size reel, PE4–6 braid or 25–40 lb mono, with big baits, big circle hooks and 4–8 oz sinkers.

Surf rod length: how long should a beach rod be?

This is the most common question we get about beach fishing.

• 9'–10': lure casting on the beach, and light bait fishing for whiting and herring. Light enough to cast all day.
• 11'–12': the all-round Perth beach rod. Bait or lures, most beaches, most anglers.
• 13'–14'+: big surf, heavy sinkers, big baits and long-distance casting, mostly for mulloway and sharks.

Longer isn't always better. A 12' rod you can load properly will usually out-cast a 14' rod you can't. If you're unsure, 11'–12' is the place to start.

Surf rods we use

We carry Australia's largest range of Oceans Legacy and Yamaga Blanks, and these are the beach rods we use ourselves:

• Oceans Legacy Aurora Surf Light Spec (8'6"–9'2", PE2–3): a light, crisp lure rod for throwing metals, minnows and plastics at tailor, salmon and herring. Light enough to cast all morning.
• Oceans Legacy Aurora Surf Heavy Spec (10'6" PE4 and 12' PE6): a powerful bait and heavy lure rod for tailor, salmon and mulloway.
• Oceans Legacy Backline Slim (13'–14'): a slimmer, lighter long-range surf rod, designed in Australia for serious land-based anglers chasing mulloway and big salmon.
• Oceans Legacy Backline Big Bait Special (13'–15'): built to cast big baits a long way and lift big fish out of the surf. The mulloway and shark rod.
• Yamaga Blanks Blue Current 100 Beta Tuned for Surf (10', PE0.5–1): a premium Japanese light surf rod that casts small lures a very long way. Brilliant for whiting, herring and tailor on lures.
• Yamaga Blanks Early Limited (10'5"–10'9"): a premium lure rod for throwing minnows and metals at salmon and tailor.

For great value, the Shimano 24 Dynaflare covers everything from a 9' light beach rod up to a 14'6" heavy surf rod, and the Daiwa 26 Sensor Wave and Daiwa 21 Sensor Sandstorm are proven surf rods. See our full range of surf and beach rods.

Surf fishing reels

A beach reel needs good line capacity, a smooth drag and, above all, good sealing against sand and salt water. Match the reel size to the rod:

• Light beach rods (4000 size): the Shimano 25 Nasci FD 4000XG, the Shimano 23 Stradic FM 4000XG, or the Shimano 24 Twin Power FE C5000XG.
• Medium rods for tailor and salmon (5000–6000 size): the Shimano Spheros SW 5000XG, the Shimano 24 Stradic SW 5000XG or 6000, or the Shimano Saragosa SW 5000XG or 6000HG. All are built with extra sealing against water and sand.
• Heavy rods for mulloway and sharks (8000–14000 size): the Shimano Saragosa SW 8000–14000, the Shimano Twin Power SW, or the Shimano Baitrunner LC Long Cast XT, whose long spool and Baitrunner feature let a mulloway run with the bait before you set the hook.

The Daiwa Sensor Surf 45 SCW is another excellent purpose-built long-cast surf reel. We also carry a massive range of Shimano and Daiwa spinning reels.

Surf fishing rod and reel combos

If you want one purchase that's ready to fish, the Shimano Hyperloop combo comes pre-spooled in 10' and 12' surf models with a 6000 size reel, and is a great-value way to start. Browse all rod and reel combos.

Line and Leaders for Beach Fishing

Surf fishing: braid or mono?

Both are right, for different jobs.

• Braid casts further, has no stretch so you feel every bite, and is thinner for its strength. It's the choice for lure fishing and light beach fishing. The downsides: it tangles more in the wind, and it can cut easily once it's been frayed by sand.
• Monofilament stretches, which absorbs the shock of waves and big fish, handles sand and wind better, and is easier for beginners. It's the choice for bait soaking and gang rigs. Platypus Platinum is a long-time Australian favourite for the beach.

A common all-round setup is PE2–3 braid with a 40 lb mono leader for tailor and salmon, or 15–20 lb mono straight through for bait fishing.

Shock leaders: an important safety point

When you cast a heavy sinker, the force at the start of the cast can be more than your main line can take, and the sinker can snap off and fly like a bullet. A shock leader is a length of heavier line between your main line and your rig that takes that load. The rule of thumb is 10 lb of leader for every ounce of sinker weight: a 4 oz sinker needs a 40 lb shock leader, and a 6 oz sinker needs 60 lb.

The leader should be long enough to wrap around the reel spool five or six times with the sinker hanging at the rod tip, usually 8–10 metres on a 12' rod. Join it with a slim knot like an FG or Albright so it runs smoothly through the guides. Oceans Legacy Duelist Shock Leader is made for exactly this. See all leader.

Beach Fishing Rigs

You only need a few beach fishing rigs to cover almost everything. Here's what they are, what they're for, and pre-tied options if you'd rather not tie your own.

1. The running sinker rig

The simplest beach rig: a sinker that slides on your main line above a swivel, then a leader of 50 cm to 1 m and a hook. A fish can pick up the bait and move off without feeling the weight. Use it for whiting, herring and bream in calm conditions, and for tailor with an unweighted or lightly weighted gang of hooks. A pulley-loop sinker like the Vexed Beach Sinker with Pulley Loop makes it easy.

2. The paternoster rig

The workhorse beach rig. The sinker sits at the bottom of the rig, with one or two hooks on short droppers above it. The sinker anchors the rig in the surf while the baits sit just off the bottom where fish can see them, and it tangles less than a running rig when you cast. It's the rig to use in rougher water and when you need to hold the bottom.

Pre-tied options include the Jarvis Walker Surf Paternoster Rig, and the Vexed Long Cast Surf Rig, which clips the bait under the sinker for a streamlined long cast and releases it when it hits the water.

3. The pulley rig

A pulley rig is a paternoster where the sinker sits on a loop that slides. It casts like a paternoster, but when a fish takes the bait, it pulls the sinker up to the hook rather than dragging it, so the fish feels less resistance. The rig also lifts the sinker away from reef as you wind in. It's a great rig for tailor, salmon, snapper and mulloway. Try the Vexed Premium Surf Pulley Tarpon Gang Rig or the Vexed Dingle Dangle Pulley Surf Rig.

4. The gang hook rig for tailor and salmon

A gang is three or four hooks linked eye to point so a whole pilchard (mulie) can be threaded along them. It's the most effective tailor and salmon rig in Australia. A 4/0 gang suits an average pilchard. Step up to 5/0 or 6/0 for bigger baits and bigger fish. Fish it on a paternoster or pulley rig in the surf, or unweighted in calm conditions with a slow wind back to keep the bait moving.

Use ready-made gangs like the Vexed Tarpon Gang or Konan Gang Hooks, make your own with Vexed Gangable Tarpon hooks, or grab a pre-tied Vexed Premium Long Cast Tarpon Gang Paternoster.

Tip: use black swivels, not shiny ones. In a hot tailor bite, anything shiny gets bitten off.

5. The mulloway rig

For mulloway, go bigger: a heavy leader, big circle or snelled hooks (6/0 to 10/0), and a sinker heavy enough to hold in the surf. Fish it on a running sinker rig with a 1–2 m trace or on a heavy paternoster. The Vexed Premium Ultimate Mulloway Paternoster Rig is ready to go.

Sinkers and hooks

Use the lightest sinker that holds the bottom. Ball sinkers of 1/2 to 2 oz suit calm beaches. Star, grapnel and breakout sinkers of 3 to 8 oz grip the sand in surf and current. The Gemini breakout sinker has wire arms that dig in and hold, then fold back when you wind in. For hooks, see our hooks range, and browse all rigs.

Surf Fishing Best Bait

Fresh bait catches more fish. If you can catch your own on the day, you'll out-fish frozen bait almost every time.

• Pilchards (mulies): the number one tailor and salmon bait. Rig them whole on a gang. They're oily and leave a scent trail in the water.
• Blue sardines and whitebait: smaller, softer baits that are great for herring, tailor and salmon.
• Squid: tough, stays on the hook, and catches almost everything. Strips for whiting and herring, and whole squid or heads for mulloway. Catch your own with our squid fishing guide.
• Beach worms and blood worms: the best whiting and bream baits there are.
• Prawns: fresh or peeled, for whiting, herring and bream.
• Fresh fish fillets, strips and heads: tailor, herring, mullet and salmon fillets or heads make excellent mulloway and shark baits.

Match the bait to the fish. Small baits on small hooks for whiting and herring. Whole pilchards on gangs for tailor and salmon. Big fresh fish baits for mulloway.

Beach Fishing Lures

Lure fishing from the beach is a lot of fun. You cover more water, you don't need to carry bait, and you can move along the beach until you find the fish.

• Metal lures (slices and slugs): the most useful beach lures there are. They cast a mile into the wind and catch tailor, salmon, herring, skippy and more. Try the Halco Twisty, Surecatch Knight, Oceans Legacy Slingshot or the Enso Entoshi Longcast. Cast out, let them sink, then wind back fast with some rips of the rod.
• Minnows and stickbaits: long-casting minnows like the Duo Tide Minnow Slim 140 imitate garfish and baitfish in the gutters. The Halco Laser Pro 120 is a tailor classic, fished with a "rip and stop" retrieve.
• Poppers: at dawn and dusk, tailor and salmon will smash a popper like the Halco Roosta Popper 105.
• Soft plastics: small paddle tails and minnows catch herring, whiting, flathead and salmon. Tailor's sharp teeth chew through them, though.

Browse all fishing lures.

How to Fish From the Beach: Techniques That Work

Bait fishing

• Cast into the gutter, not over it. Most fish feed close in. Casting as far as you can often puts your bait on the sandbank behind the fish.
• Keep your line tight and watch the rod tip. Set your rod in a sand spike so you can see every bite.
• Keep fresh baits going out. For tailor, a steady stream of fresh pilchards cast to the same spot keeps the school around you. When the baits stop, the fish move on.
• Use a sand spike. It keeps your reel out of the sand and your rod at the right angle. Try the Mastergrip Aluminium Spike Rod Holder, the I Catch Metal Beach Rod Holder Spike or the Jarvis Walker Surf Rod Holder.

Lure fishing

• Keep moving. Make a few casts, take a few steps, and cast again. Cover the gutters, rips and corners until you find the fish.
• Watch for birds and bait. Birds diving and baitfish spraying out of the water mean tailor and salmon are feeding underneath. Get a lure there fast.
• Vary your retrieve. Fast, slow, rips and pauses. The fish will tell you what they want.

Night fishing for mulloway

For much more, see our mulloway fishing guide.

Fish the gutters and holes on the rising tide after dark, especially around a full or new moon. Use the freshest, biggest bait you can get, keep your rig still, and be patient. Mulloway often pick up a bait gently, so let the fish run before setting the hook, or use circle hooks and let the fish hook itself.

Beach Fishing for Beginners

If you're new to beach fishing, keep it simple:

1. Start with an all-round setup: an 11'–12' rod with a 5000–6000 size reel and 15–20 lb mono or PE2 braid.
2. Carry two rigs: a paternoster with small hooks for herring and whiting, and a gang rig for tailor.
3. Bring a mix of bait: pilchards, squid and prawns cover most species.
4. Go at dawn or dusk on a rising tide.
5. Find the gutter and cast into it.
6. Pack the extras: a sand spike, a bucket, a headlamp, pliers, a knife and a bait board.

Beach Fishing Safety

• Watch the waves. Never turn your back on the ocean, and be careful on beaches with shore dumps or rips.
• Use a shock leader with heavy sinkers, and check behind you before you cast.
• Take a headlamp at night, and tell someone where you're going.
• Be careful on rocks and reef. They're slippery, and waves can come out of nowhere.

Beach Fishing FAQ

How do you fish from the beach?

Find a gutter, rip or hole where fish gather, fish it at dawn or dusk on a rising tide, and cast a paternoster or running sinker rig with fresh bait into it. Or walk the beach casting metal lures into the gutters.

What is the best bait for surf fishing?

Pilchards (mulies) on a gang are the best tailor and salmon bait. Squid, worms and prawns are best for whiting and herring. Fresh fish fillets and heads are best for mulloway.

What is the best beach fishing rig?

The paternoster is the most versatile. It holds bottom in the surf and presents baits where fish can see them. Use a gang hook rig for tailor and salmon, and a running sinker rig in calm water.

What length rod is best for beach fishing?

An 11'–12' rod is the best all-rounder for Perth beaches. Go 9'–10' for light lure fishing, and 13'–14' for heavy surf and mulloway.

What size reel do I need for beach fishing?

A 4000 size reel suits light beach rods, a 5000–6000 is the all-round choice, and an 8000–14000 is for heavy surf and mulloway.

Should I use braid or mono for surf fishing?

Braid for lure fishing and long casting, and mono for bait fishing and rough water. Many anglers use braid with a mono leader.

Where is the best beach fishing in Perth?

Scarborough, Trigg, City Beach, Cottesloe, Mullaloo, Burns Beach and Secret Harbour are all good metro beaches. For bigger fish, head north to Guilderton, Ledge Point and Lancelin, or south to Preston Beach and the south-west.

Get Set Up for Beach Fishing

Whether you want a simple outfit to take the kids chasing herring, a long-range surf rod for mulloway, or a light lure setup for tailor and salmon, we can help you put together the right beach fishing setup. Come and see us at Level 1/154 Stirling Highway, Nedlands, or call us on (08) 9389 1337. We fish Perth's beaches ourselves and are always happy to talk rigs, spots and tactics.

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