Webb Dock

Welcome to the Webb Dock Fishing Guide. Webb Dock is a shipping dock facility along Fisherman Bend near Melbourne, initially built in 1960. The facility has a total of 8 berths, responsible for much shipping in and out of the state, including automotive imports. This is an interesting fishing location hidden within Port Melbourne overlooking Port Phillip Bay. Parking at the entrance, followed by a walk past the park and along a long sandy pathway full of fishing opportunities. It can produce all year round, but can provide spectacular Snapper fishing in the summer months. Located on the corner of The Blvd and Todd Road, there is ample parking followed by a 10-minute walk along the gravel tracks to fish one of the jetties or along the rock wall at the end. Port Melbourne is Australia’s busiest container port. There has been significant investment in this place, including a $ 1.6 billion redevelopment of shipping and gantry facilities. There are some nice touches, though, including a new state-of-the-art adventure playground.

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Things to do at Webb Dock

Port Melbourne is a stylish township where high-rise residential buildings and cafes run along the bay. It’s a great place for dinner with many restaurants along Bay Street. You are only a short distance away from the West Gate Bridge, Melbourne CBD. This stretch is very popular for walking, cycling, and jogging along the paved walkways along the beach. There are also dog-friendly beaches. A great time to walk along the coast is sundown. A scenic area is great for photo opportunities. Take the kids for ice cream and play in the sandy beach area. There are many piers along this stretch, such as Kerferd Road Pier, Lagoon Pier, Station Pier and Princess Pier. Due to its deep waters, many large boats will be moored along the station pier, including the Spirit of Tasmania, Queen Elizabeth, large shipping vessels and navy vessels.

You can take a hot air balloon ride a short distance away and overlook the bay, piers, and Port Melbourne. You can also jump on cruise ships that will take you around Port Melbourne, Williamstown, and stretches of the Yarra River. Of course, this area is also well known as a top fishing location around Melbourne. Deep waters are easily accessible, and excellent catches of snapper annually. This isn’t a kid-friendly location, with steep rock walls and limited space for play. However, there is a very cool state-of-the-art adventure playground installed recently and direct access to the beach.

Fishing Webb Dock

This is an exceptional land-based fishing destination for snapper in the warmer months. You can also catch flathead, snook, flounder, bream, salmon, trevally, mullet and gummy shark throughout the year. Staple bait options include pilchard, silver whiting, raw chicken, and squid. This area is full of rocks that you will frequently snag your line on, so casting out a far distance is key. I would suggest a medium to light 8 or 9-foot rod. You’re most likely to catch many small Pinkies and Flathead, so you don’t want to fish too heavily, but you need to be prepared for the odd large snapper. Often, I will use a running sinker rig to a swivel and 50cm of strong leader finished with a Pilchard tail or small squid head. If you are chasing pinkies, then a paternoster rig with raw chicken breast will fish very well. This is also a good spot to flick soft plastics. You will need to use a heavy jig head to cast out further. Soft plastics slowly retrieved or hopped will allow you to catch flathead and pinkies. Worm, grubz and minnow imitation soft plastics are great choices. Z-man grubZ, squidgee wrigglers, Savage Gear pro grubs, Z-man slim swimZ, Savage Gear slim minnows are all good choices. This spot usually fishes well on the tide change often seeing Pinkies caught on the incoming high tide and flathead caught on the outgoing low tide.

Below is a video highlighting great land-based fishing spots around Port Melbourne

Targeting Gummy Shark at Webb Dock

We would recommend targeting a gummy shark with a 7 foot 8-15 kilo rod paired with a 4000 to 6000 size reel spooled with a 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, attach a sinker to the clip, and then tie it 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 Salmon at Webb dock

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 Mulloway at Webb dock

Mulloway, AKA Jewfish, are a prized catch that sits at the top of many Victorian anglers’ bucket lists. A stunning fish with a large mouth and distinctive silver or bronze colour. Patience and dedication are required to catch the elusive Mulloway, which can reach up to 1.8 meters and 60 kilos. The minimum legal size is 60cm, with a daily bag limit of 5 over the legal size. Live baits such as mullet, salmon, and whiting are a top choice when targeting mulloways, and pinning them behind the neck allows the bait to swim freely. Other staple dead baits can include pilchard, trevally, garfish, prawns, chicken & squid. A running sinker rig to a single 5/0 – 8/0 hook or a double snelled hook to present the bait nicely. Soft plastics between 80mm and 100mm are also a great option. Good options include flick baits, shads, paddle tails and grubz. You can also purchase pre-made rigs and swimbaits, which are designed to imitate a fish in its surroundings, such as a mullet. Choosing a Mulloway outfit. Recommended gear to target Mulloway 6-10, 10-15 or 12-24 kilo rod paired with a 4000-8000 spin reel spooled with 20-50 pound line and equivalent leader. Mulloway reside near river mouth entrances. They are often caught near structures such as bridges and pylons. Try to present your baits and lures as naturally as possible or use live baits. Mulloway can be caught at any time of the day, but are most active at the night, during peak tides and moon phases. We have found that lures are quite productive during the day, and bait is more productive at night.

Targeting mullet at Webb dock

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 it is 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 has a small mouth, 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.