Dromana Pier

Welcome to the Dromana Pier Fishing Guide. Dromana is a popular township along the Mornington peninsula. Roughly 80 kilometers or 70 minutes away from Melbourne. The Dromana pier is located off Point Nepean Road and travels roughly 200 meters long pier over shallow water. It’s not quite as productive as neighboring piers Blairgowrie, Rye, and Sorrento but provides consistent fishing for garfish and squid. Watch the large boats in the nearby shipping channels or visit the annual spider crab migration and the entrance to Port Phillip bay directly opposite the Bellarine Peninsula. 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 Dromana

Dromana is a popular destination along the Mornington Peninsula next to popular townships such as Sorrento, Rye, and Portsea. It’s a nice location for snorkeling or enjoying scenic cliff sides and rock pools. The beaches are busy with people swimming, kayaking, and snorkeling. There are terrific walks along the cliffside to take in the multi-million dollar houses overlooking the ocean and playgrounds for the kids. It’s a beautiful spot with surrounding beaches, rock pools, ocean views, and plenty of photo opportunities. The pier is located opposite the main town shopping strip and has available parking, toilets, shops, parks, BBQ, and cafes. It’s also a spot to catch the renowned ferry to the Bellarine peninsula. It’s the direct entrance to Port Phillip and the township is surrounded by the ocean. The town has lots of character with lovely beach fronts, historic shop fronts, restaurants, and cafes many overlooking the harbor.

At night snorkeling is a great option to encounter squid, octopus, sea dragons, crabs, and stingrays. There are also local charter boats ready to take you out for a day’s fishing. Not too far away includes a scenic walk or bike ride of the point Nepean trial to see the further point of the Mornington Peninsula. There is also a championship golf course. In the not-too-far distance, you have the Peninsula hot springs, wineries, lighthouses, championship golf courses, maze and gardens, adventure playgrounds, and much more. The Mornington Penisula is a great destination for families with many activities to suit everyone in the family. Nearby townships include Cape Schnack, Rye, & Sorrento.

Nearby attractions include the Mornington Peninsula hot springs and world-class golf courses such as Moonah links, St Andrews, the dunes, eagle ridge, rosebud, and more.

Fishing at Dromana Pier

At Dromana Pier, you can catch

• Garfish
• Squid
• Snapper
• King George whiting
• Australian Salmon
• Gummy sharks
• Flathead

Dromana Pier covers quite shallow waters and because of this, it fishes better during an incoming tide or peak of high tide. Historically we haven’t seen a lot of big fish caught here but plenty of small ones in good numbers. Garfish and squid are the most targeted species here and berleying will be a key component of bringing them in. At night time the pier comes alive with great squid fishing with local anglers focusing their energies on areas lit up with lights on the pier using size 2.5 and 3.0 squid jigs. The pier passes plenty of weed beds making a great ecosystem for squid. Cuttlefish and Octopus as welcome bycatch.  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 colored 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 a 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.

Check out a recent video of us fishing the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsula.

You can also catch whiting, snapper, salmon, flathead, mullet, garfish, trevally, wrasse, leather jacket, rays, gummy sharks and bronze whaler sharks at this destination. Fishing for 2 hours on either side of the tide is best or fishing at dawn or dusk. A good all-around option is a general-purpose fishing rod combo which will allow you to target multiple species at once. This might be a 3-5 kilo fishing rod coupled with a 3000 size reel spooled with an 8-pound line. You’re most likely to catch many small pinkies, whiting, garfish, leather jackets, and flathead so you don’t need to fish too heavily but need to be prepared for the odd large snapper. Using a basic paternoster rig with some fresh bait will work well for many different species of fish on the Portsea pier.

If you are specifically targeting garfish, whiting and leather jackets then consider using small hooks as these species have small mouths, and using small hooks such as a size 12 long shank will increase your catch rates. We would also recommend berleying the area you are fishing which is a great way to attract garfish and whiting. You can buy premade berley or make your own using breadcrumbs and tuna oil. Good bait options will include pilchards, silver whiting, pipis, raw chicken, squid strips, maggots, and silverfish. You can also fish this area with soft plastics to target pinkies and flathead.

Baits Dromana Pier

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.

• silverfish
• maggots
• squid
• pilchard
• pipis
• blue bait
• silver whiting
• garfish
• salmon
• prawns
• mussels

Lures and soft plastics for Dromana Pier

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

• Squid jigs
• metal lures
• Berkley gulp turtleback worm
• Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
• Daiwa Baitjunkie 5 inch jerk shads
• Savage Gear Fat Curl tails
• Daiwa Bautjunkie 4 inch grubs
• Zman slim Swimz
• Berkley powerbait grub
• Gulp 3 inch minnow
• Dawia Bait Junkie paddle tail minnow
• Zman grubZ
• eco gear ZX40
• Daiwa Double Clutch
• EcoGear SX40
• Squidges biotough grub
• Zman StreakZ
• Munroes 3.75 inch paddle tails
• Kietech swim impact fat
• Zerek fish trap
• Samaki Vibelicious

Targeting garfish at Dromana 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 very small mouths so the key to catching them is to use very small size 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 a very important tool when targeting garfish, You can purchase premade berley pellets or powder from your local tackle shop or make your own use 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 foot in length Paired with a 1000, 2000 or 25000  size reel spooled with 4-6 lb line will be a great choice.

Targeting Squid at Dromana Pier

Targeting squid is a fun form of fishing growing in popularity with 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 fit for 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 size 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 Whiting at Dromana Pier

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 whiting masterclass as we guide you through everything you need to know to catch whiting.

Targeting Snapper at Dromana Pier

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 great. 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 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.

Targeting Salmon at Dromana Pier

Salmon are powerful sports fish that school up in big numbers. They punch well above their weight and when hooked produce strong bursts of speed, powerful runs, and vigorous head shakes. Keep an eye for gutters which are patches of deeper water that Salmon will swim through in schools. These can be identified by the darker color of the water. 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.

Check out this instructional video guide on how to catch salmon on soft plastics. Crazy action in this one.

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 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.