The trip was planned well in advance , remembering the last time we went to Merimbula there were no children in the car ,that was nearly 7 years ago ( geez time flys) and now the is a 61/2 year old and a little one of 14mths to contend with . Having driven to Merimbula many times before we knew that it was a bit of a long one and something I did not want to submit the kids and ourselves to for the amount of hours it would take to get there. Just imagine the “are we there yet, are we there yet” torture for 7 hours , we decided that the trip would be done in two parts.
The first would be to Stop at Lakes Entrance overnight and then on to Merimbula the next day. Merimbula is about 3 hrs from Lakes Entrance so leaving Lakes in the morning gives you a fairly easy drive up the highway, it also allows you to be fresh enough to do a bit of sight seeing before the check in time of 2pm. There is plenty to do for the family in and around Merimbula, it's not all fishing.  First off there is Magic Mountain ,  the main attraction are the 2 water slides ,the water is warmed to around 25 deg Celsius .This is great fun for everyone from the age of about 6 and toddlers pool is in the compound so mum and dad can take turns watching the little ones while they take turns on the slide .	Lakes Entrance
There is also a roller coaster, toboggan ride, go-carts, mini golf and a walk through maze. All these rides and activities can be done as many times as you wish once you pay the entrance fee. Fast food facilities are also in the park but it is a good idea to make your lunch for the day before you go ,this is a real money saver .The park opens at 10am and in the summer months it's best to get there on time before the rides fill up too much . The water slide shuts down after the NSW School holidays at the end of April, it is too hard to heat the water as the cooler months come along. This easily takes up the whole day . To be honest I was a bit sceptical upon arrival as to what it would be like here but walked out pleasantly surprised, it really was a good day.
Roller Coaster	The Merimbula aquarium is worth a bit of a look ,it's not big but has a decent range of fish and a large tank with snapper ,trevally etc ,about $10 entry per person and approx $16 familly . Top Fun at the top of  Market street has tenpin bowling mini golf and video games.  Into Bega, there is the Bega cheese factory and cheese museum. This is a good look into the past and present of cheese making in the area, crafts and cheese sales here with free entry. Back down to Eden there is the Killer Whale Museum, its good look into the history of whaling in the area.
The beaches around Merimbula are fantastic. The main beach has miles of clean sand and stretches all the way down to Pambula, the water was still around 18 deg in April and was very comfortable to swim in. Good for the kids, mums, and dads to get out the body boards or surfboards and have some fun. There is plentiful car parking in the area plus toilets and showers. Boards can be hired at various outlets so no need to worry if you don't have any. There are also bikes for hire at reasonable rates, cycling around Merimbula is a good option, there is also a bike track that goes into Pambula from the airport and Merimbula-Pambula golf course.	Bega cheese factory
Just out of Pambula to the south, there is go-cart hire,this is sign posted about 3 kms out of Pambula .Nth of Merimbula At Tura Beach there is a very nice golf course with restaurant.

Bream, Sand Whiting, Mullet, Flathead, Squid, Pinkies, Prawns, Trevally, Kingfish, Salmon, Gummy are all fish that can be caught around here and there are many more that I have missed. Most of this is catchable to the land based fisho. Don't fret if you don't have a boat around here, you don't need one. So many places are accessible just by either a short walk or drive.  Fishpen road on the south side of the Merimbula Lake has 4 or 5 dedicated fishing platforms. The first 3 heading east are probably the pick of the bunch. In front of these, there is a sandy area about the size of half a cricket ground surrounded by weed. The best time to fish here is about 1hour either side of high tide. At low tide the water is just too shallow, we did however have some success early in the run in tide. The platform at the end of Marne Pde has slightly deeper water in front of it  2ft ) so it is possible to fish here most of the time. From this platform we managed to catch a nice Bream of 890 grams and 39 cms in length ,the water depth was only just over 2 ½ ft .We also got onto one of the large rays that cruise around the area but could not even slow it up at all. Bait used was striped tuna fillet, this bait is all I used for the week and it worked on everything.
The other few platforms don't have much area before the weed beds (5 mtrs) so are a bit harder to fish. A bit of a look at low tide will show you where the weed beds are. Further along past Calendo Crt is the area that gives the Fishpen it's name. There are numerous moored game boats, the main channel goes past here as well. Casting out to the boats and into the channel gives you a great chance of catching Bream, mullet, whiting, flathead, trevally, tailor and many more types of fish . Down towards the mouth along the sand the channel is only about 2-3mtrs out ,with good bait Kingfish are a definite possibility here.While fishing here on an incoming tide beware of the fast water moving over the sand bank, especially at night. We nearly lost some gear floating of into the night. Although this was hysterical (to me anyway, wasn't my gear) at the time it could easily spoil the whole holiday.
		Fishing Platform
Across at Bar Beach there is a small area of sand suitable for fishing, at low tide you can get to a bit more to the nth over the rocks.From here i have caught trevally and flathead. As the name suggests the Merimbula Bar is just out from here, at times you can see fish surfing the waves coming in. Merimbula Beach is a good spot for a bit of surf fishing .There are quite a few deep gutters all the way along here and ,one is only a matter of 30 or so mtrs from the entrance to the lake .
Looking over the Entrance from above Bar Beach	Merimbula's Main Beach
Fishing Beach St at high tide is best because it is very shallow out from here. You can get out on the sand at low tide to access some deeper water both to the left and out to the channel. This is where the Merimbula Game Fishing club is situated, it has a pier out the front, and some swings for the kids and car parking. The Merimbula Marina has plenty of hire boats moored along a floating pontoon, when the larger game boats are out people often fish from the jetty during business hours, access gates are locked at other times. On the nth west side of the bridge there is a small car park. Water under the bridge accessed from here as can the channel heading to the south along the roadway and some sandy areas .This area has every fish travelling through it that resides in the lakes. Prawns and squid are included in these .There is plenty of live bait around here with large shrimp living amongst the rocks and weed, a good bait net will help out in the collection, even with live bait fish .During our time under the bridge we saw lots of mullet hanging around the edges . Walking further to the west there is a boardwalk that runs all the way to the Top Lake boat hire marina, this walk runs along the edge of the shallow sand banks for around 2kms. Lure casting and bait fishing here for flathead if high tide coincides with dawn and dusk are a definite possibility. You can see many a small baitfish hiding in the shallows while walking through here of a night, live bait techniques would work well here. Prawns were also evident scuttling around on the bottom . Throwing on the waders with a torch and a prawn net can get you some nice sized ones around here.Wading while casting for flatty is a good option as well . Just out from this platform there are a couple of oyster leases that are a around 15 to 20 meters away. You can see the fish swimming through there, they look very big .There are plenty sand flats exposed between the hire boats and about half way along the walkway during the outgoing and incoming tides , great for pumping bass yabbies.
Fish Pen	Access to the rest of the top lake is restricted from the boat hire as most is private property, having a small boat here is a definite advantage. Oyster leases, shallow sand flats, weedy areas and small bays are on the northern side of the lake, all good spots for bream and flathead. Out in the middle of the top lake the water gets down to about 6 metres deep in some spots. Trevally and very small pinkies are all that we caught on one occasion we fished in deep water. A few deep holes at the western side of the top lake are known to produce some very large flathead. The southern side of the top lake dotted by oyster leases is very shallow nearer to shore. This are can be waded most of the time wether it's high or low tide, it is one very good area for prawns during the season. Prawn season ends early to mid April .Wait for the runout tide, grab yourself a prawn net, a strong light and scoop them up as they float past. Do not chase them or they will shoot of into the night, you can see the eyes glowing and orange red colour. Let them float into the net .
Short Point beach, turn left at the roundabout on Cliff St is a bit rocky to the right so is a good spot for a surf fish, easy access, plenty of parking and a short walk to the beach make it a dream to fish. Rocks are here to the sth east and at low tide access can be gained and from the tracks above on the cliff. All the normal precautions taken when rock fishing should be taken when fishing here.
Accommodation around here is as varied as anywhere you will find, high dollar units and flats to caravan parks it's all here. We stayed in the Fishpen at The Sands holiday units and while in no way this is meant to be an add I felt it was worth a mention as the hosts ,Ted and Jen were both great and they include everyone in the family atmosphere. The thing that was great here is that it is in a court, great if you have kids. 2 minutes from the bottom lake and 5 minutes from the beach. In the summer months of November through to March should see most fish on the go, accessing the lake or channels on the outgoing tide should allow you to get onto the sand bars, which would not be fishable at high tide. In these situations families can be seen wetting a line on the eastern side of the bridge, a car park entrance is situated on the left hand side entering into town.		Short Point Beach (see the rip ?)
The top lake is accessible via the boat hire near the moored game boats in the bottom lake ,there is also boat hire on the top lake at the end of Lakeside Dv. .There are a few sand bars in this location and this is a great spot for the kids to try there luck at garfish although while there we did not see any being caught. Good baits are prawns , worms, fresh chicken breast small amounts on a long shank no 12,10 under a float should see kids smiling with a gar or two ,even some of those big flathead and bream in this area have fallen here to these baits . A general purpose running sinker rig with a size 4, 6 or 8 hook in a bait holder pattern is suitable for most species like flathead, tailor. The flatties and tailor will take most bait frozen or fresh. Bream tend to prefer a bass yabby,live prawn , or a small piece of tuna drifted towards an oyster lease accompanied with a few small pieces added as berley should see some action , keep in mind bream here tend to be light biters most of the time ,when they do hook up they are very tenacious and dirty fighters .
Whiting fishing is worth a go in the channels along the edge of the weeds, much like the way we fish here for them. However getting to the right spot within the channels can be a tricky bit of work . This is where it is best to ask one of the locals at the tackle shops to lend a hand with directions. Tackle for targeting whiting in these areas requires a light running sinker rig. Use a sinker heavy enough so as it will not be dragged off by the running water so it stays on the bottom, baited with worms, bass yabies or small soldier crabs fished towards the end of the bank were whiting might be searching for a feed. The other good areas especially for the family holiday maker is the area from the bridge towards the mouth of the lakes .The southern side of the bottom lake is one of the best spot for families to dangle a line both during the day and at night . You can see the flathead cruising the shallows looking for a feed during the day, at times these can be a real pain to hook but for a nice day with the kids, it's not to bad. There is good access here for cars and there are picnic areas also. Further along at the spot called the "Fish Pen" is a good spot to fish for bream, flathead and at times whiting. I hope this helps a bit when you are wondering what and where at Merimbula. It can take a couple of days without any help to find where to go ,at least this is a start .