Where to find 'em - Jarrod Day

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Gummy
STronGhold!
Victoria’s Western Port holds what is without doubt Australia’s premier gummy shark fishery. Jarrod
Day hands out some valuable info on chasing these hard running, sweet tasting little noahs
By Jarrod day. Images By Jarrod day & ThInk BIg CharTers
The holy grail of gummy shark
fishing in Victoria - a 30kg plus
beast from Western Port
Known for their characteristic
‘trampoline’ impression on the
rod tip when hooked, gummy
sharks are highly sought along the
southern coast of Victoria. Although they are
found throughout the entire southern coastline
of Australia, it is within the confines of Port
Phillip Bay and Western Port in Victoria that
their popularity reaches its peak.
Although gummies are a year round affair,
it is during autumn and winter that the big
females enter these waterways to breed.
Female gummy sharks can grow in excess of
a staggering 30 kilos with the average size
around the 10 kilo mark. Males on the other
hand, grow to around 12kgs with the average
around 8 kilos. With fish of this calibre a
frequent fishing option which also yield some
fantastic eating flake for the table, it’s no
wonder gummies are so highly sought by
Victorian anglers.
Where to find ‘em
SPECIES
GUMMY SHARK
Gummy sharks are an opportunistic, demersal
feeder that don’t so much hunt food, rather
scavenge out an easy meal. Although they are
partial to taking whole fish and fillet baits,
they spend a lot of their time fossicking for
crabs in the shallows during a high tide.
Western Port’s vast mudflats swarm with
sentinel and solider crabs, which make up
the majority of the local gummy sharks diet.
Seeing gummies hunting crabs in the shallows
is a common occurrence, and usually occurs
in the upper reaches of the Port during a runout
tide. Although a big gummy swimming
right up into skinny water is sight to see, it
is within the deeper channels where gummy
sharks are most often targeted and caught.
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There are many different locations
throughout the diverse Western Port system
in which to target gummies. The upper
reaches of the Port tends to support larger
numbers of smaller gummies ranging from
2-10kgs, while the heavily tidal areas of the
North Arm and Western Entrance are home
to the much larger versions.
Gummy sharks don’t congregate in the
one location; rather they are constantly on
the move searching for food. Anglers need to
realise that in order to regularly encounter
gummy sharks, they need to find locations
that gummies may frequently pass by. Such
locations are the contour lines or channel
edges which the gummy sharks swim along
searching for food washed from the shallow
water areas by the moving tide.
The principle here is simple. Imagine the
gutter on a road. When it rains the excess water
runs into the gutter, taking with it any debris
that might have been sitting up on the wide open
road. A channel or contour line in the Western
Port system acts in the same way. As the tide
runs out, potential food items are washed off
the shallow banks and into and along the deeper
channels. The gummies will be lurking along the
channel edges looking for this free feed.
On the flood tides things are a little
different, especially when fishing amongst
the shallow banks in the upper reaches of the
Port. As the water level increases and covers
the banks, gummy sharks will swim from the
deeper channels onto the shallows to hunt
crabs, so your baits will have to be cast onto
the mudbanks rather than into the channels.
The use of a good GPS/chartplotter
system is the easiest and most precise way
to find locations within Western Port that
are frequented by gummy sharks. A GPS
chart provides a reference of all major
channel edges and contour lines within the
Port, and when used in conjunction with a
depth sounder, you should be able to anchor
accurately over a location that puts your baits
right in the gummy shark feeding zone.
Tackling Gummies
In Western Port and the southern end of
Port Phillip Bay, tidal influence plays a
major role in the outfits required for taking
on gummy sharks. While gummies can be
handled on relatively light gear, the fierce
tidal flow usually encountered in these areas
makes outfits under 10 kilo impractical if not
impossible to use.
For instance, during the middle two hours of
a tide cycle, the water is running at its hardest.
During these times you may need to fish with
as much as twenty ounces of lead to get your
bait on the bottom, particularly if you’re fishing
around the new or full moon spring tides.
Fishing these areas therefore requires rods and
reels able to support such heavy leads.
Traditionally, 12 kilo fibreglass Ugly Stick
rods were used for the purpose, and are still a
great choice for this style of fishing. However,
the introduction of graphite and composite
rods able to cope with heavy sinker weights
has seen these more modern sticks overthrow
the indestructible old fibreglass workhorses in
the popularity stakes, mostly because they’re
much lighter in the hand.
Along with rods of this calibre, reels
also have to do their part. Such strain on
the gearing can destroy reels just with
the continual retrieving of the sinker
against the tide, so look for reels with
lower gearing for added torque and
of better than average quality. I’m not
saying you’ll require the elite in reels, just
something affordable that will stand up to
the challenge. Shimano Charter Specials,
Toriums, TLDs and the Tekota range are all
good reels that won’t break the bank.
You may notice I’ve mentioned only
overhead reels in my above suggestions.
There is a reason for this. While overhead
or threadline is always a personal choice,
in my view overheads are superior for this
style of fishing due to their ability to deal
with fairly heavy pressure applied directly
onto to the spool while the outfit is in the
holder waiting for a bite.
The author with a nice
fish around 16kg taken
from the western entrance
of Wester Port
SPECIES
GUMMY SHARK
Commercial over-fishing has
had a serious impact on gummy
shark numbers in Victorian
waters. Because of this, many
gummy enthusiasts are now
choosing to release the majority
of sharks they catch
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SPECIES
GUMMY SHARK
Although a large net is all that’s
required to get a big gummy in the
boat, you will need to restrain the
shark to prevent her from doing any
damage to you, itself or the boat
A typical tide in Western Port can run at
up to 8 knots, and at this strength can pull
line from a reel even when it’s just sitting in
a holder with a bait out. Spin reels require a
decent amount of drag dialled in to stop this
from happening, and you’ll notice that when
left like this waiting for a run the drag will
become quite sticky; almost semi-locked up
in fact. A fish suddenly tearing off with the
bait could possibly reel rip the rod from the
holder. Overhead reels seem to be able to
cope with the constant tidal pull on the line
much better, requiring less drag to be set.
The use of braided lines is also advisable
to cut down on water drag. Being finer in
diameter, braid will create less drag through
the water than conventional mono lines. I use
a mixture of both 30 and 50lb strengths, which
although is on the heavier side of things, are
required when you hook an unwanted stingray,
seven gill shark or other big pest in such fast
current. You don’t need to be battling out with
one of these slug fish for hours.
If you’re more into the light tackle aspect
of sportfishing, the upper reaches of the Port
and areas around Corinella can allow you to
break out the fun sticks. In these areas outfits
around the 8kg mark are more than suitable,
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even when the tide is running. Considering
you may only need to run a 10 ounce sinker
or lighter, threadline outfits rated to 8kg and
running 20lb pound braid will be adequate.
However, if you’re fishing the upper reaches in
the channels or near Crawfish and Eagle rock,
heavier tackle may once again be needed.
Once you have the gear side of things
sorted, leader line and terminal tackle are
what will make the difference between
successfully catching a good gummy or not.
The Paternoster rig has caught its fair share
of Western Port gummies; however a running
sinker rig is far better option since gummies
feed along the bottom.
The running sinker rig should be made
from a metre length of 80lb trace to
protect not from the gummy shark’s noted
toothless maw, but rather from sharp reef
or chaffing on the shark’s tough hide and
raspy jaw plates. One end of the leader
should have a rolling or crane swivel
attached to prevent line twist, and the
other ends at your hook.
There are several different kook setups
you can employ. For catch and release
purposes, I tend to use a single circle hook
attached directly to the end of the leader.
This is either a 5/0 or 6/0 KL design. Given
you may also encounter school and seven
gill sharks, the circle hook is a good option
as it will often allow a solid jaw hookup
that avoids bite-offs from these well
dentured shark species.
I also use a twin hook setup; the top
hook is a 6/0 circle attached by binding
it to the leader with bait elastic, and the
bottom hook is a 5/0 suicide tied to the end
of the leader. The advantage of this rig is
that the bait elastic-bound circle hook can
slide up and down the leader to cater to the
size of bait being used.
Alternatively, a snooded twin hook setup
is also widely used with two 5/0 or 6/0
suicide hooks. Note however that none
of the three hook setups mentioned will
be any better than the others; the choice
between them just comes down to what an
individual angler prefers.
Bait Selection
Gummy sharks will take almost any bait on
offer. In saying that, like all species they do
have their preferences.

I like to use what is available at the time I’m
fishing, meaning what bait species are around in
the waters at the particular time of year. During
the winter months, fresh salmon fillets or cubes
are preferred, and my results have usually backed
this up. Salmon are abundant in both Western
Port and Port Phillip Bay during this time of year,
so it makes sense to use this excellent fresh bait
when the sambos are easy to catch.
The same goes for calamari squid. Squid
are available throughout the year and should
be taken on every gummy session; such is their
effectiveness as a gummy shark bait. Calamari
are abundant throughout the Port and there are
plenty of weedbeds that support good populations.
Surprisingly though, very few people take
advantage of this A-grade bait source.
During the summer months, swarms of slimy
mackerel and yellowtail scad make their presence
felt in these waters, sniffing out every berley trail
that hits the water. This is very handy as both
species make great fresh baits. I’m also a fan of
using silver trevally fillet, and can’t go past sending
down the humble pilchard from time to time.
One great gummy bait that many aren’t
aware of is the redbait, aka red rocket. This
little pink sided pilchard look-alike makes its
home in the offshore waters of Bass Strait. It is
20% higher in oils than a pilchard, with a much
tougher skin like that of a yellow-eye mullet. Put
one of these guys on the end of a running sinker
rig and just watch the results that unfold.
Another oily bait that has found popularity with
Victorian gummy shark hunters is cured eel fillet.
Eel is also a very oily yet very tough bait thanks
to its leather-like skin. The latter is largely what
makes this bait so popular amongst gummy shark
anglers, as it is a bait that resists pickers well.
If I can offer one last but most important word
of advice when it comes to deploying a gummy
shark bait, it has to be to always check your bait
in the water before casting. Once rigged, drop
your bait over the side and watch how it behaves
in the racing tide. A bait that spins in the water
will deter fish, no matter how tasty it is, so it is
absolutely essential you trim the bait up nicely
and place the hooks in the correct points to
avoid this from occurring. If it takes half a dozen
attempts to stop the bait spinning then do it. It
WILL increase your success rate.
Land-Based Gummies
Given their willingness to get right up into shallow
water, gummy sharks are also a viable option for
land-based anglers fishing Western Port and Port
Phillip Bay. Western Port has limited shore-based
access, yet there are still plenty of locations where
gummies are frequently targeted and caught.
Whole fish heads make great baits for big gummies,
but must be rigged so they do not spin in the strong
current Western Port is known for
SPECIES
GUMMY SHARK
Anglers need to realise that in
order to regularly encounter
gummy sharks, they need to
find locations that gummies may
frequently pass by. Such locations
are the contour lines or channel
edges which the gummy sharks
swim along searching for food
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SPECIES
GUMMY SHARK
dusk heralds the start of
the peak feeding time for
gummies in the shallow
waters of Western Port
This is about the average size of
Western Port Gummies. Even at
this size they still fight hard in
the fast current
While gummies can be handled on
relatively light gear, the fierce tidal
flow usually encountered in these
areas makes outfits under 10 kilo
impractical if not impossible to use
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Those in search of a land-based gummies
spend large amounts of time fine-tuning
techniques, researching locations and enduring
countless fishless hours. The guys that
repeatedly have success from the sand do one
thing that most don’t, and that is to continue to
fish the same location time after time.
Doing this can reveal priceless information
about the times, tides, baits, weather conditions
and such that produce fish. Gummy sharks
are creatures of habit, so building up all this
invaluable local knowledge is what gets you that
often difficult to achieve land-based success.
Targeting gummies from the land may
require a lot of knowledge of the area but the
best baits, techniques and tides are relatively
similar to those of boat-based fishing. The
only real difference is that you need to alter
your tackle for long-distance casting.
As the need to fish deeper water is paramount,
most land-based gummy chasers fish from piers
and have good success. Other popular locations
include Stockyard Point, where smaller fish
are caught but in greater numbers, as well as
Merricks, Somers and Balnarring beaches which
are all also consistent gummy shark haunts.
All of these beaches fish extremely well on a high
tide as the areas around them are predominantly
shallow mudflats with a few deeper channels
dissecting. On the high tide, gummies pushing into
these shallow waters hunting for crabs seems to be
a regular occurrence, thus the dedicated land-based
fishos find continued success from the sand around
the top of the incoming tide.
Setting up for land-based gummy fishing
requires the use of a surf rod to aid in longer
casting of big baits. The standard rod would be
around the12ft length, in a 8144 or similar blank.
While this rod will have no trouble casting a 6oz
weight and 250g bait, I tend to prefer lighter
weight rods such as the Wilson Suregraph. This
rod is far lighter in the hand making casting
easier, yet still pegs a bait a fair distance.
Any reel capable of holding at least 300 metres
of 30lb braid is adequate, but the trusty baitrunner
style reels are recommended. Gummies don’t often
nail a bait and run, so when in baitrunner mode
the fish can nibble the bait, swallow it, turn and
swim off, all without feeling any resistance that
might cause it to re-think its meal.
Fishing for gummy sharks in Victoria’s coastal
waters is hugely popular throughout the year, with
literally crowds of anglers chasing these fish at
times. Most struggle to catch the odd gummy, while
a those that refine their techniques consistently
enjoy fantastic fishing for these grey beasts.
The key really is just time on the water spent
unravelling the pieces of the puzzle that make up
the world of the Western Port gummy shark. SWF