Welcome to the Olivers Hill Fishing Guide. Oliver’s Hill is a rock wall found near Frankston on the Nepean Highway. This location has always been considered a productive fishing spot from a boat or kayak; however, it can also be very fruitful for land-based fishing from the Rockwall. The Rockwall creates an excellent ecosystem for local fish species with plenty of reef, rock, weed and food sources to keep the fishing productive.
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Things to do at Olivers Hill
There is a large car park here and basic amenities. There are shops and cafes. We recommend walking to the viewing point to appreciate the area and its fishing potential fully. Other attractions in the areas include the aquatic centre, artistic sculptures, botanic gardens, golf course and adventure playgrounds. During the summer, the sand sculptures are often a great attraction in the area. Frankston is also the gateway to the Mornington Peninsula and attractions such as the hot springs and highly acclaimed golf courses.
Fishing at Olivers Hill
At Olivers Hill, you can seasonally target
- King George Whiting
- Snapper
- Flathead
- Australian Salmon
- Squid
- Garfish
This location can fish well with both soft plastics and bait. Take some time to study the weather and tides before fishing here, as this can significantly impact your casting distance. Fishing on low tide can be very challenging as the waters will be shallow. It’s best to fish during a rising tide. Be prepared to bring multiple outfits and inevitably lose some gear along the rocks to snags. Over the years, some good-sized snapper have been caught here. Check out our guide on targeting snapper around Melbourne. The best time to target snapper here is between October and March, after a few windy days. Ideally, use a 9 to 12-foot surf rod and a heavy star or bomb sinker to allow you to cast a squid or pilchard out far into deeper waters and productive snapper grounds.
The whole area is surrounded by weedy vegetation, which makes amazing grounds for squid, whiting and garfish. King George whiting is a very common catch here in the warmer months and at night. Look for clearings amongst the reef, which are spots where whiting will often reside. Pipis on a running sinker or paternoster rig will be very productive during the right time. For Garfish good bait options for this will include glassies, silverfish, maggots or small pieces of pilchard or chicken. For garfish, a light and sensitive rod is essential. Ideally, an 8-foot fishing rod with a 1-3 kilo rod with a 2000 reel spooled with a 4-pound line is ideal. Then suspend your baits from a float and hook small enough to fit in a gar’s mouth.
In the cooler months, schools of salmon will congregate around Frankston. We recommend having some long casting metal lures, between 15 and 40 grams in weight, and a 9 to 10-foot rod ready, in case a school of salmon comes by. Catching salmon from piers can be fantastic fun if you happen to be there at the right moment.
Best Baits for fishing at Olivers Hill
At this location, we would highly recommend the baits suggested below. There are several ways to present baits, including a running sinker rig, paternoster rig, or dropper rig. The rig and sinker choice will be dependent on the species you are targeting and the conditions, such as wind and tidal strength.
- Pilchards
- Squid
- Pipis
- Blue bait
- Silver whiting
- Raw chicken strips
- Prawns
- Mussels
Lures and soft plastics for Olivers Hill
At this location, we would highly recommend the following soft plastics. Ideally rigged on a 1/12, 1/8 or 1/6 jig head in size 2-0 through to 4-0. Casting them out, allowing them to sink to the bottom, and working them slowly, imitating a wounded baitfish. This works excellently for pinkies, snapper, Australian salmon and flathead.
- Berkley Gulp Turtleback worm
- 2.5″, 3″ and 4″ curltails ( Gulp Nemesis, Daiwa Wave Minnow, Zman grubZ, Squidges Wrigglers )
- 3″ and 4″ paddletails in natural colours ( Keitech easy shiner, Zman StreakZ, Munroes 3.75-inch paddle tails )
- 4″ and 5″ inch jerk shads ( Zman scented jerk shads, Berkley Gulp
- Squid and Yabbie Imatations ( Nomad Squidtrex, Berkley Turbo Shrimp, Clone Prawn, Nomad Jerksquid )
- Shallow mid diving hard body lures ( Daiwa Double Clutch )
- Vibes and Blades ( Zerek fish trap, Samaki Vibelicious, EcoGear SX40 )
Targeting Whiting at Olivers Hill
Whiting is a bread-and-butter species which are fun to catch on light spinning gear and tastes great. Whiting school up in big numbers and they respond well to berley, so berley an isolated area with a mix of chicken pellets, Tuna oil and pilchards. Whiting fishing requires finesse, so we recommend a light 1-3 or 2-4 kilo spin rod around 7 feet in length. Coupled with a light 1000-2500 size reel, spooled with 4 pounds or 6-pound line and leader. When bait fishing a simple running rig with a small sinker to swivel, then 40cm of 4-pound leader to a small baitholder long shank hook or a paternoster rig with 2 hooks and a size sinker depending on your conditions.
Watch our 25-minute whiting masterclass as we guide you through on everything you need to know to catch whiting.
Targeting Snapper at Olivers Hill
Locally, Snapper season starts around October and finishes towards April. The big reds migrate inshore due to the warmer water temperatures, which provide ideal spawning conditions. Dawn, Dusk, and tide changes are considered the best times to catch snapper. Snapper will take a variety of baits and soft plastics. For bait, a 7 to 8 foot rod with a 4-7 kg rating paired with a 4000 or 5000 size reel spooled with 15-30 pound line is excellent. Good bait options include pilchards, silver whiting, squid, and salmon. When it comes to soft plastics, a 7-foot 3-6 kilo rod paired with a 3000 size reel is great. Good soft plastics include jerk shads, whip baits, curl tails, or paddle tails between 3 and 5 inches in a variety of colours. We encourage you to read our detailed guide on how to catch snapper.
Check out this video guide on how to catch snapper with soft plastics filmed in Port Phillip Bay.
Targeting Flathead at Olivers Hill
We encourage you to read our detailed guide on how to catch Flathead. Flathead is a year-round prospect that can be caught at any time of the day. They are ambush predators that wait in disguise for smaller fish to swim by for an easy feed. This highlights the importance of keeping your baits and soft plastics towards the bottom. If fishing from a boat or kayak, we would recommend drifting around the sandy flats until you find a good patch of them. Also, keep an eye out for depth drop-offs, which are great locations for an ambush predator to be waiting. We recommend targeting flathead with a 7-foot 2–4 or 3-5 kilo fishing rod paired with a 2500 or 3000 size reel spooled with 8-12lb braid and equivalent leader. You can go lighter, but flathead has bristly teeth that can compromise your fishing line.
Flathead is not fussy and will happily have a go at many various soft plastics and lures. We highly recommend reading our detailed guide on the best lures and soft plastics for catching flathead. Top choices include worm and yabby imitations, paddletail and curl tail soft plastics, deep diving hard body lures, vibes, and blades. If you are targeting flathead with bait, we recommend using a paternoster rig or a running sinker rig. Good bait choices include pilchards, mussels, squid, chicken, whitebait, Pipis, blue bait and prawns.
Targeting garfish at Olivers Hill
Garfish or mini marlins are a fun local fish species to target. Generally caught between 20cm and 40 cm with no minimum legal-size limit, but a daily bag limit of 40. Garfish have a large snout but a tiny mouth, so the key to catching them is to use tiny hooks. Small long shanks between sizes 10 and 14 are ideal choices. The preferred rig setup should consist of using a pencil or quill float, then having a small split shot roughly 20cm above the hooks to keep the bait down. The floats will help suspend baits such as glacies, maggots or small pieces of fish flesh. berleying is an essential tool when targeting garfish. You can purchase premade berley pellets or powder from your local tackle shop or make your own using tuna oil, chook pellets and bread. Catching gars is all about finesse and an ultralight 1-3 or 2-4 kilo nibble tip rod that’s 7 to 9 feet in length. Paired with a 1000, 2000, or 25000 size reel spooled with 4-6 lb line, this setup will be a great choice.
Watch an instructional guide on pier fishing for garfish
Targeting Squid at Olivers Hill
Targeting squid is a fun form of fishing that’s growing in popularity, offering the reward of fresh calamari. Squid can be caught all year round, you will find them in shallow weedy areas and they respond well to jigs in clear water conditions. We recommend reading our detailed guide on How to catch squid around Melbourne. An egi rod between 7.5 feet and 9 feet in length is ideal, and there are plenty of egi rods on the market that fit the purpose. We recommend an 8-foot 3-inch rod paired with a 3000-size reel spooled with 15-pound braid. Squid jigs are prone to snags in this area, and we have found that using slow-sinking jigs in the smaller sizes of 2.5 and 3.0-gram jigs will help avoid this problem. Cast your squid jig to allow time for the jig to sink, then do a series of lifts and pauses to imitate a wounded prawn. The natural temptation is to strike. Instead, a subtle lift to keep line tension and a constant slow reel is all that’s required.
Check out this instructional video guide on how to squid filmed locally in Port Phillip Bay.
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