Pier Fishing Melbourne & Victoria

Pier fishing in Victoria offers access to a lot of great species including flathead, whiting, bream, garfish, calamari (squid) and snapper amongst others.

Fishing from a pier is one of the easiest ways for land-based anglers to reach fish. Piers provide more than the opportunity to get out into deeper waters. They also provide habitat for marine life which attracts fish species into the area.

Pier Fishing Melbourne & Victoria FAQ

What fish species can be caught from Victorian piers?
What rod size should I use on a pier?

Ferguson Street Pier Williamstown

Ferguson Street Pier, being close to the city of Melbourne, means it can get crowded – especially weekends. However, during the week and cooler weather, it can be a great spot. You’ll see a lot of kids targeting mullet at times. But don’t be fooled by that. Some sizeable snapper and even gummy sharks are [...]

Fishing Altona Pier

Altona Pier Fishing Tips Altona Pier, in recent times, had an artificial reef placed just off the end of the pier. That’s the facing south end looking out into Port Phillip Bay. The reef is designed to improve fish stocks in the locality of the pier by providing a structural habitat. The deepest part of the [...]

Fishing Mordialloc Pier

Mordialloc Pier is a beautiful long pier extending 174 metres (570.86 feet).

Fishing Port Melbourne – Easy Access, 10 Mins From City

Port Melbourne is the closest Port Phillip Bay fishing to the city. Many of the local fishing spots are shared with commercial activity. Being Melbourne’s principal port the navy, ferry service to Tasmania and container ships use the area. As such some areas are off-limits permanently, while others close according to usage. For example, Station [...]

Fishing Portarlington Pier

Fishing Portarlington Pier Fishing Tips Portarlington Pier is a great, comfortable pier to fish. Good water depth. A nice reef just off the far end. Portarlington is located just on the within Corio Bay, which is a part of Port Phillip Bay and not that far from Port Phillip Heads. It can be busy during the summer [...]

Fishing Sandringham Jetties, Rockwall & By Kayak

Fishing Sandringham has proven to be very successful for me. Sandringham is a bayside suburb located on Melbourne’s beautiful Port Phillip Bay. In the right conditions, the fishing has been good if not excellent at times. It’s easy to overlook as it’s not visible from the road. Home of the Sandringham Yacht club. It sports [...]

Fishing St Kilda Pier

St Kilda Pier has seen some pretty major modifications in the last 20 years. It’s still a major icon on Port Phillip Bay and is rich in history. Going back to 1853! The addition of a rock wall and the harbour adjoining it significantly altered the longshore drift. That’s to say – the currents that deposit sand and [...]

Gem Pier Fishing

Gem Pier gets pretty busy. I’d look at fishing weekdays and evenings or early mornings. Over weekends and public holidays, it’s really too busy for my taste. A lot of Pinkies, Flathead and Bream get reported as caught from the pier at times. Often on pilchards and prawns. But I’ve seen some effective use of soft [...]

Kerferd Road Pier

Kerferd Road Pier produces the usual fishing suspects on Port Phillip Bay. Snapper, Flathead, Flounder, Trevally and Mullet and Calamari are all caught by anglers. There’s the odd big snapper – especially during a big blow, with the vast majority of catches being smaller pinky snapper and flathead. Fish the rising tide for snapper and [...]

Lagoon Pier

Lagoon Pier is known to produce fish all year round. Because it’s so close to the city it can get busy at times. I’ve tended to catch smaller flathead and pinkies here. Most I returned to the water, a few were of legal size. Some fishos report catching bream, mullet, salmon and trevally. The pier [...]

Pier Fishing Melbourne & Victoria: Fishing FAQ

What fish species can be caught from Victorian piers?

Most piers are found on saltwater bays, estuaries and inlets in Victoria. Some are situated on freshwater, but they are nowhere near as common there.

In freshwater pretty much any species occurring in the lake or river can be caught. Including freshwater staples like Murray Cod, trout, redfin, yellowbelly and European Carp.

In saltwater, depending on the area, common catches include bream, garfish, immature “pinky snapper”, adult snapper, flathead, whiting, calamari (squid), Australian salmon, tailor and many more.

As in all fishing target a specific species and use bait and rig accordingly. You stand a higher chance of catching fish by being specific, rather than hoping to catch anything that’s passing by,

What rod size should I use on a pier?

Choose your rod according to what you are hoping to achieve inline with the location you are fishing.

If your goal is to cast out and reach a reef area beyond the pier then a 10-foot or longer rod will be useful.

Whereas if you’re spinning lures or soft plastics you may find a shorter rod between 6 to 9-foot to be more usable.

Match your reel to the size of your rod. Bigger isn’t necessarily better.

Some pier fisho’s use telescopic rods that extends anywhere from 12 to 22-feet. They often employ floats, when using this technique. Sometimes with no reel at all. Simply collapsing the rod to retrieve hooks or their fish.

About Dave

Dave spends most of his time split between fishing, working on Getfished and on boating and kayak fishing. After 30+ years as a programmer spending more time as a fisho has allowed him to grow his passion for the hobby. Running Getfished has meant Dave's been able to share some of the places he loves to fish at. As well as some of his favourite tackle and gear.