Anderson Inlet exposed by Will Thurston

I stumbled across this marvellous fishery a little while ago and it has become one of my favourite places to head for a little escape.

Andersons Inlet and its adjacent town of Inverloch are around two hours from Melbourne. It's extremely accessible and has plenty of options for the adventurous angler and family.

I find myself going down here for the odd night here and there and generally come home with a good feed and a great time.

It's a very quiet, picturesque area and I believe the fishing is quite underrated too! A major factor for me is that it's protected from most winds and it is usually easy to find somewhere protected in a blow.

Most people probably know Andersons inlet for it sensational Australian salmon fishing in the winter months.

For me it is far more than that: the excellent gummy shark action to be had in here along with the variety of other fish that can make for exciting fishing on any given day.

THE INLET

Anderson Inlet and its mangrove habitat provides an excellent environment for whiting, trevally, flathead, pinkie snapper, mullet, salmon, tailor, estuary perch, bream, mulloway and the awesome gummy shark.

The estuary has a strong tidal influence, with distinct channels and sand flats that are exposed at low tide. The channels can reach around 10m deep, but average around the 7m mark. Be careful when boating here for first time as the channels move and markers are not always accurate. So don't just speed around indiscriminately - I have seen a few come unstuck this way.

The inlet can be fished everywhere but the most common places are the Kiosk, near the mouth, which has whiting and salmon and the Snags, which is just upstream from the Inverloch ramp. Here it is one of the deepest areas and as the name suggests has plenty of structure.

Every species in the inlet can be caught here and is a great place to start. Further upstream there is Stevies Gutter, a renowned whiting area. Then you get to Mahers Landing, which is a good land-based spot where you can cast to a deep channel and hook almost anything.

Further up from here it is an explorers dream. The inlet works up into the Tarwin River. Plenty of trevally, Australian salmon, mullet and flathead can be found in the channels up there.

The Tarwin River itself produces mullet, trevally and plenty of estuary perch. Every now and again we hear reports of good-sized bream as well, although it is fair to say they are not common.

For those fishing the inlet for the first time call into Rod Bendings Tackle Store in Inverloch - you will get some great information there.

GUMMY SHARK

There are a good number of this great species in the inlet. I have encountered