Portarlington Pier Rockwall

Welcome to the Portarlington Pier Rockwall Fishing Guide. Make no mistake, Portarlington pier and extended rock wall is one of the best land-based snapper fishing locations in Victoria. It’s very popular and fishes incredibly well from early Spring through to early Autumn. In 2012, VFA deployed multiple artificial reefs between 40 and 70 meters from the outer edge of the rockwall, creating a fantastic ecosystem for snapper.

The pier extends out to a rock wall, providing lots of land-based fishing opportunities. Locally, Portarlington is a popular township, only 30 kilometres past Geelong, and is roughly a 70-minute drive from Melbourne. It’s a popular holiday destination with clean beaches and a good mix of accommodations. The Portarlington Pier is located off Pier Street. The pier consistently produces a wide variety of species both day and night, which is great for anglers of all different abilities. Many visitors travel up a little further to Portsea to catch the ferry between Portsea and Queenscliff.

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Things to do at Portarlington

Portarlington Pier has a daily ferry that runs back and forth from the Docklands, Melbourne, to Portarlington. This is a vibrant town full of cafes, bakeries, golf, and shops. Enjoy breathtaking beach views and take in the sights of ferry rides overlooking the Bellarine Peninsula and the entrance of Port Phillip Bay. Portarlington is the home to good local produce, such as mussels and wine, with many vineyards just beyond the town’s doorstep. Nearby attractions in Portarlington include the historical mill and the nearby miniature railway for kids.

The closest townships to Portarlington are Geelong, located 70 kilometres away from Melbourne, with many shops, parks, piers, restaurants, cafes, and adventures. The town is home to roughly 75,000 residents, making it a large township within Victoria. Some of the local attractions include the Geelong Botanic Gardens, with fantastic landscaped gardens for the whole family to enjoy. If you’re after a bit more excitement, then look no further than Geelong Adventure Park, which has rides and waterslides, including the new Tsunami. There is also the Serendip Sanctuary, near Lara, which provides free access to Australia’s wildlife and gardens. The Geelong waterfront area is a lovely, vibrant spot full of piers and great for walking, picnics, and eating. There are also several local breweries, markets, and art exhibitions. Before Geelong, you can also visit the You Yangs.

Learn to catch snapper land-based at Portarlington.

 

Fishing at Portarlington Pier

At Portarlington pier, Rockwall, you can target a wide variety of species. It’s crucial when fishing here to have a target species in mind, as your gear choices and rig setups will be significantly different.

• Snapper
• Garfish
• Gummy shark
• Australian Salmon
• Squid
• King George Whiting
• Silver Trevally
• Flathead

Portarlington Pier is one of the best land-based snapper fisheries in Victoria. The breakwater rock wall, which starts at the end of the pier and stretches for roughly 500 meters, provides plenty of fishing space. Make sure you have a long net or gaff on hand, as landing fish on the rocks can be tricky. The end of the rock wall provides access to deeper waters, and within 40-70 meters, artificial reefs deployed by the VFA in 2012 attract many snapper into the immediate area. It’s best to target snapper from spring through Summer and early Autumn. However, snapper will be most active early and late in the season when water temperatures hover between 14 and 17 degrees. Late summer, when water temperatures are high, many snapper will go out to deeper waters seeking cooler water temperatures.

Therefore, it’s best to target Snapper during Spring and early Summer, fishing from the end of the rock wall, casting out as far as you can towards the artificial reefs, ideally, with a light to medium surf rod. The longer length rods and heavier sinkers allow you to cast a reasonable distance from the end of the pier to get fresh baits in prime areas. Fresh baits such as freshly caught squid will help your catch rates immensely; however, staple baits like pilchards will also work fine. You can apply some baitmate if your bait is falling off whilst casting. We recommend using a dropper rig, paternoster rig, or running sinker rig. Then finished with a squid strip or pilchard tail on a 4/0 or 5/0 hook. If you’re chasing pinkies and flathead, then a paternoster rig with pilchard tail or raw chicken on a size 2/0 or 3/0 will fish very well. 

The following image shows the artificial reefs of Portarlington, which attract snapper annually.

Portarlington Pier has been upgraded and extended over the years. It now includes a marina for boats and a 500-meter-long rock wall which protects the harbour. The pier recently received another major upgrade of $9.6 million approved in 2020 to install a new covered walkway for ferry passengers, a new pier head, and an improved accessible low landing. The deck will be widened between the shore and the low landing, while sections of the outer arm and berthing area will be reconstructed. Recent upgrades were only completed in 2017, already making it a popular fishing, boating, and diving spot. It’s also home to 20 of the Port Phillip to Docklands ferries. The old Portarlington pier, which closed in 2018, will be demolished.

Portarlington Pier is also great for bread and butter species like flathead, trevally, squid, garfish, and king George whiting. It’s also productive for flicking metal lures and soft plastics for Australian salmon. It’s a genuine mixed bag here, and you need to be prepared for different species. We recommend using a paternoster rig at this location. Having the sinker at the bottom will give you great casting distance, and you can present 2 baits at different heights. You can also change sinkers and get ample casting distance. Then finished with a half pilchard, squid strip, or other fleshy bait on 4/0 or 5/0 hooks, as the images below show.

You can also use Paternoster rigs to present two chunks or strip bats, such as squid and pilchards. Having an interchangeable sinker at the bottom allows you to get ample casting distance. 

Below shows a double-snelled rig and above an Ezi rig slier with interchangeable sinkers. This is great for land-based fishing when using whole baits like pilchards and silver whiting. 

 

The pier passes plenty of weed beds, making a good ecosystem for squid, gars, and whiting. You can learn more about targeting squid here by reading our detailed guide on how to catch squid. We have done well here on dawn and dusk using red, black and white coloured squid jigs and working them slowly with occasional erratic lifts. If you are chasing squid, then a light fishing rod between 7.5 feet and 9 feet in length is ideal paired with a 2500 or 3000 size reel spooled with 10 to 15-pound braid and equivalent leader. There are plenty of egi rods on the market fit for purpose. For other fishing in this area, a general-purpose medium fishing outfit is ideal. This will allow you to cover a whole range of fish species. Perhaps starting with a 7-foot or 8-foot rod paired with a 3000 or 4000 reel spooled with 10-15-pound lines.

 

Places to fish near Portarlington Pier Rockwall

Not far from Portarlington Pier, you can also try fishing at these destinations.

• St Leonards Pier
• Queenscliff Harbour
• Swan Bay Jetty
• Clifton Springs
• Geelong Waterfront

Watch this video of FishingMad catching snapper at St Leonards pier

Essential Tips when fishing at Portarlington Pier

• It can get crowded, especially during spring and Summer—additional foot traffic due to walkers and those catching the ferry.
• Make sure to bring a long net or gaff, as you’ll need it to lift a decent snapper out of the water onto the pier, which can be very challenging due to the pier’s height. Not to mention the rocky ledge a few meters out from the end of the pier.
• Expect to catch some pest species like banjo sharks, Port Jackson sharks and Rays.

Targeting Snapper at Portarlington Pier Rockwall

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 instructional video guide on how to catch snapper with soft plastics filmed locally in Port Phillip Bay.

Targeting garfish at Portarlington Pier

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 large snouts but tiny mouths so the key to catching them is to use tiny size 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 will be a great choice.

 

We recommend targeting gummy sharks with a 7-foot, 8-15-kilo rod paired with a 4000 to 6000 size reel spooled with 20 to 40-pound line. Finished with a strong leader ranging from 40lb through to 60 pounds. Ideal rigs include a running sinker rig to single or double snelled rig or a paternoster rig. You can use an Ezi rig, attaching a sinker to the clip and then tying on a pre-made double snelled rig. Octopus or circle hooks from 5/0 to 7/0 are preferred for presenting chunks of salmon, trevally, squid, mackerel, Eel, mullet, pilchard, yakka’s, & garfish.

Targeting Squid at Portarlington Pier

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 are suitable for 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.

 

Targeting Australian Salmon at Portarlington Pier

Salmon are powerful sports fish that school up in big numbers. They punch well above their weight and when hooked produce intense bursts of speed, powerful runs, and vigorous head shakes. Keep an eye out for gutters, which are patches of deeper water that Salmon will swim through in schools. The darker colour of the water can identify these. Salmon will happily take a range of soft plastics, lures, and baits. Including 3 and 4-inch soft plastics and long-casting metal spoons. You can target them with light spinning gear such as a 2-4 kilo rod and 2500-size reel. However, if you are targeting them land-based on the beach or surf, then you will likely jump up to a 5-10 kilo rod that’s between 9-12 feet in length paired with a 3000-size reel spooled with 15-pound braid.

Whiting is fun to catch on light spinning gear and tastes excellent. They school up in big numbers and respond well to berley. Whiting fishing requires finesse, so we recommend a 7-foot, 2-4 kilo spin rod paired with a 2500 size reel, spooled with 6-10 lb line. A simple running sinker rig to swivel, with 50cm of leader to a small baitholder long shank hook, or a paternoster rig with two hooks and an interchangeable sinker, depending on the conditions. Whiting are also great fun to catch on soft plastics, including worm or yabbie imitations with lightly weighted jig heads, and surface lures.

Watch our 25-minute whiting masterclass as we guide you through everything you need to know to catch whiting.