Swan Bay Jetty

Welcome to the Swan Bay Jetty Fishing Guide. Swan Bay is a lovely rural township found between Geelong and Queenscliff along the Bellarine Peninsula. The Jetty is a narrow pier over relatively shallow and weedy water located on Swan Bay Road. The pier can provide good land-based fishing. Species such as garfish, leatherjackets and gummy sharks are common catches in the immediate area. Whilst most of the pier will see you fishing in relatively shallow water, the final section of the pier will get you into deeper areas.

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Things to do at Swan Bay

Swan Bay is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria. This is a beautiful spot with surrounding beaches, rock pools, ocean views and plenty of photo opportunities. Cycling along the patched pathways overlooking the bay is a popular activity in the area. Nearby townships, including Queenscliff, are spots to catch the renowned ferry to the Mornington Peninsula. It’s the direct entrance to Port Phillip Bay, and the ocean surrounds the township. The town has lots of character with lovely beach fronts, historic shop fronts, restaurants and cafes, many overlooking the harbour. There are several local attractions, including the landmark lighthouse, museum, gallery, observation deck, Bellarine railway and grand hotel. The town is well known for catching the ferry between Queenscliff and the Mornington Peninsula to visit popular townships such as Sorrento and Portsea. The rail line is often an attraction featuring large steam train as Thomas the Tank characters.

Fishing at Swan Bay Jetty

The jetty is located in a relatively isolated area, which generally has ample room for fishing. The kids will need to be closely supervised when on the pier, as it’s very narrow. Despite being narrow and over shallow waters, we do see occasional good-sized fish caught from this jetty. Adjacent to the jetty is the new boat ramp, which was established in 2011 as the first of Victoria’s environment-friendly ramps built without any timber and is expected to last significantly longer than traditional timber jetties. It’s suitable for boats under 5 meters in length.

At Swan Bay Jetty, you can seasonally target

• garfish
• leatherjacket
• gummy shark
• whiting
• mullet
• flathead
• trevally
• salmon

Best Baits Fishing Swan Bay Jetty

• pilchard
• pipis
• blue bait
• silver whiting
• salmon
• raw chicken strips
• prawns
• maggots
• squid
• mussels

Lures and soft plastics for Swan Bay Jetty

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 garfish at Swan Bay Jetty

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 very small hooks. Small long shanks between size 10 and size 14 are ideal choices.  The preferred rig setup should consist of using a pencil or quill float, and 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.

Targeting leatherjacket at Swan Bay Jetty

Leather Jackets are unique-looking fish. In Victoria, there are the six-spinned, Chinaman,  Horseshoe, toothbrush, Mosiac and fan-bellied, to name just some. They have bright colours but can be challenging to catch as their sharp teeth can easily cut through the line or crush hooks. You’ll often find them around shallow reefs and weedy areas. With a scientific name of Monacanthidae, Leather Jackets have no minimum legal size limit but a daily bag limit of 20. We find that most leather jackets caught are between 20cm and 30 cm, but can grow just up to 70cm in size. An underrated eating fish. They have very few bones, making them easy to clean, and their flesh is soft and sweet. Leather jackets have sharp teeth and a tendency to shred your leaders. Berley will help attract leather jackets, and using small, strong hooks is essential. Occasionally, jigging your bait off the bottom helps encourage bites. Leather jackets have small mouths Often the same setup which you would often use to chase whiting would be an ideal choice a light 1-3 or 2-4 kilo spin rod around 7 foot in length. Coupled with a light 1000-2500 size reel, spooled with 4 pounds or 6-pound line and perhaps a stronger leader. A small running sinker rig with a long shank hook and a small running pea-size sinker will work well.

Targeting Gummy Shark at Swan Bay Jetty

We would 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, a 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 Whiting at Point Lonsdale Pier

Whiting is a bread and butter species which are fun to catch on light spinning gear and tastes excellent. 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 everything you need to know to catch whiting.

Targeting Flathead at Swan Bay Jetty

Targeting Salmon at Swan Bay Jetty

I prefer targeting Australian Salmon with light spin gear. It makes the experience enjoyable and easy to use. A 7-foot 2-5kg spin rod paired with a 2500 or 300 size reel and 12lb braid and leader works excellently. When schooled up and actively feeding, they will smash soft plastics, ideally 4″ paddletails and curltails in natural colours, which imitate a baitfish that they are feeding on. They will also happily take staple baits like pilchard and squid from a pasternoster rig or running sinker rig. Winter is a great time to target salmon as they’re active and school up in big numbers. Salmon is a powerful sports fish that punches well above its weight. When hooked, they produce intense bursts of speed, powerful runs, and vigorous head shakes. Do 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. When bait fishing, pick a surf rod between 12 and 15 feet in length, which allows for long casts with heavy sinkers and keeps your lines high above the crashing surf. These will be 6-10 kilo class. We recommend a Paternoster rig with a star sinker. Giving you two baits at different heights. You could also attach a surf popper above.

Targeting Trevally at Swan Bay Jetty

Trevally pound for pound is one of the best fighting fish. In certain parts of Australia, surface popping for Giant Trevally is one of the bucket list fishing experiences that you must tick off. However, in Victoria, you will mainly be catching the much smaller silver trevally. Good bait options include blue bait, whitebait, raw chicken, pilchards, pippies, squid and mussels. Trevally will also take a range of soft plastics, including worm and minnow imitations, small surface poppers, and small metal spoons. We recommend targeting trevally with a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 2000 or 2500 reel spooled with 4-8-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader. If there are larger trevally in the area, then you can go heavier, moving up the scale to a 3-5 kilo class spin rod spooled with fine 8-12-pound braid and equivalent fluorocarbon leader.

Targeting mullet at Swan Bay Jetty

This is a great location to mullet a bread and butter species that schools up in big numbers. They are fun to catch on light spinning gear and a great fish species to introduce beginners to fishing. Mullet respond well to berley, so use berley in an isolated area with a mix of bread, tuna oil, and chook pellets. Good baits include bread, dough, live maggots, pilchard, and prawns. Remember that Mullet have small mouths, so cut these baits into small pieces. You can also use soft plastics, such as small minnow and grub style soft plastics, with a slow, constant retrieve. Scents such as S-Factor or Procure certainly help. Most mullet are pretty small; therefore, a 7-foot rod in a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo class, paired with a 1000, 2000 or 2500 reel spooled with 2-6-pound braid and equivalent leader.

Here are some helpful tips on catching Mullet with soft plastics.

Images of fish supplied VFA and DEPI. Image from fruitproperty.com. All other photos and videos shown on the Swan Bay Jetty are Fishing Mad originals. Thank you for visiting the Swan Bay Jetty Fishing Guide. If you feel this location guide is missing any key information or needs any corrections, then email us at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au