Melbourne's landbased fishing spots

Most landbased fishing around Melbourne is done within Melbourne’s two large, shallow enclosed bays, Port Phillip and Western Port, but the city also has surf and rock fishing along the coast outside the bays.

Landbased fishing is generally done from jetties and rock walls, but there is beach and rock fishing to be had, and some riverbank fishing.

Some of the jetties have artificial reefs installed within casting distance.

Here’s some reliable landbased fishing spots in and around Melbourne.

– Cowes Pier, Phillip Island.
– Rhyll Jetty, Phillip Island.
– Newheaven Jetty, Phillip Island.
– San Remo Jetty, San Remo.
– Queenscliff Pier, Queenscliff.
– Barwon Heads Pier, Barwon Heads.
– Mornington Pier, Mornington.
– Sorrento Pier, Sorrento.
– Docklands, Melbourne.
– St Kilda Pier, St Kilda.
– Brighton Pier and Rock Wall, Brighton.
– Portarlington Pier, Portarlington.
– Flinders Pier, Flinders.
– Point Leo Beach, Point Leo.
– Patterson River, Carrum.
– Cunningham Pier, Geelong.
– Werribee River, Werribee South.
– Gunnamatta Beach, Fingal.
– Cape Woolamai Beach, Cape Woolamai.
– Cape Woolamai Back Beach, Cape Woolamai.
– Kilcunda Beach. Kilcunda.
– Stony Point Ferry Terminal, Stony Point.6. Altona Pier, Altona.
– Furguson Street Pier, Williamstown.
– Station Pier, Port Melbourne.
– Mordialloc Pier, Modialloc.
– Sandringham Rock Wall, Sandringham.
– Frankston Pier, Frankston.
– Princess Pier, Port Melbourne.
– Black Rock Pier, Black Rock.
– Balnarring Beach, Balnarring.
– Somers Beach, Somers.
– Mount Martha Rocks, Mount Martha.
– Shallow Inlet, Sandy Point.

Melbourne’s two vast bays are mainly sandy-bottomed, with seagrass beds. The bays produce flathead, king george whiting, pink snapper, yellowtail kingfish, black bream, Australian salmon, garfish, yellow-eye mullet, silver trevally, barracouta, mulloway, squid, flounder and leatherjackets.

Geelong’s jetties alone will keep family fishos occupied, with juvenile Australian salmon, squid and bream all reliable.

Elephant fish, gummy sharks, seven-gill sharks, school sharks, various rays and estuary perch are also caught.

What you catch will depend on where you fish, with the low-energy locations within the bays producing mostly smaller fish, and the surf and rock spots outside producing bigger fish.

You will need to gear up accordingly, with light spinning rod/reel combos with 4kg to 6kg line being ideal within the bays for smaller fish, and heavier surf gear required on the southside beaches.

Bigger fish can be caught from Melbourne landbased locations, especially at night, and you’ll need the right gear, such as a long gaff or drop gaff, to land big fish.

Elephant fish usually run in Western Port between March and May.

In the surf, Australian salmon prevail, with gummy and school sharks, mulloway, pink snapper and tailor adding excitement.

Gummy and school sharks are caught in the surf at night and are highly regarded as table fare.

Mulloway and snapper move in close after storms, and mulloway are targeted when rain flushes estuaries and creeks.

Melbourne landbased fishing sasons

In Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay, juvenile salmon bite all year, while bream are best from June to November.

Flathead, garfish and king george whiting are best in the bay in summer, with sand whiting biting through to April.

Silver trevally and snapper are best from October to May.

Mullet are from April to October.

Kingfish are best in summer.

Squid can be caught all year, but are usually best from June to October.

Mulloway bite well around Melbourne in winter.

Bait, lures and tackle

Pilchards, bluebait, prawns and squid are popular baits.

For pink snapper, fish fillets or small whole fish work well.

For those who make the effort, local bait such as worms and bass yabbies, can make all the difference.

Lure fishing is popular, especially for Australian salmon, barracouta and yellowtail kingfish, where chrome slices are a good all-round lure.

Bream and estuary perch are often targeted with small minnow lures and soft plastics.

Paternoster rigs are popular for bait fishing.

In Victoria’s estuaries, with small tides and often clear water, a light-tackle approach is crucial.

The fishing is easier in estuaries when the water dirties. Night fishing can also work wonders.

Melbourne landbased fishing weather

Victoria is the second wettest state after Tasmania.

At Melbourne Airport the mean wind speed is between 20km/h and 24km/h through the year, with April, May and June being calmest and August and September the windiest.

Melbourne winds tend to blow northerly in winter, and southerly in summer.

Easterlies are rare.

Winter fronts bring gales, while summer brings strong afternoon sea breezes.

Keep this is mind when planning your trips. Lee shores might be calmer for landbased fishing, but at times some wave action can be helpful when fishing.

Rock fishing outside the bays can be dangerous as wave action is far more severe.

Victoria’s tidal range is small, being near 1m at Portland and under 2m at the NSW border. Nonetheless, high tides tend to be the best time for Melbourne’s landbased anglers.