Mornington Pier

Fishing locations guide Mornington Pier, located along Schnapper Point Drive in Mornington, is roughly a 50-minute drive from Melbourne. The Mornington pier was initially built in 1850 and today offers locals a vast array of fishing species to target all year round, making it an excellent land-based fishing destination. The pier had a 15 million dollar facelift in 2015, but was shut down with lengthy delays in 2017 after storm damage made the pier unsafe to use. The pier is only 250 meters long but is very popular for walkers, photographers, and scuba divers. For anglers, it provides good access to deep waters and close proximity to reefs that hold good volumes of fish.

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Things to do at Mornington Pier

This is a beautiful spot with surrounding beaches and scenic views. The immediate area is popular for swimming, walking, cycling, fishing, and scuba diving. Many locals enjoy walking the pier, taking in the views, and spotting sea creatures in clear waters, such as jellyfish. Nearby are local cafes, restaurants, shops, and bars within a lovely, vibrant township. Fishing charters operate directly from the pier if you want a day out on the water. There are rock pools close by, but do make sure the kids are closely supervised when on the pier. Recent renovations have included toilet facilities, a yacht club, and a vastly improved pier. There is also adequate parking close by. 

Fishing at Mornington Pier

At Mornington Pier, you can target

• Snapper
• Squid
• Garfish
• Australian Salmon
• King George Whiting
• Trevally
• Flathead
• Gummy Sharks
• Kingfish

Mornington Pier is considered an excellent land-based fishing location along the Mornington Peninsula. Great views overlooking Port Phillip Bay and some outstanding fishing on offer. It can be fished all year round, and many different species can be caught. The pier does get crowded during peak time, but it provides access to deep water and reefs, which is great for land-based anglers. Fishing off the end of the pier, you will access water up to 8 meters deep. In 2015, the pier received a significant upgrade as part of a 15.6 million dollar upgrade. It also had some major repairs completed shortly after being damaged by severe storms.

Prized catches at Mornington Pier include snapper during spring and summer fishing towards the end of the pier and the left of the pier, which has a known reef. These are great holding grounds for snapper. Especially after strong westerly winds pushing the snapper close to these reefs. You can also catch good volumes of squid year-round, especially during winter, and abundant garfish. Periodically, you also get massive schools of Australian Salmon. Fishing at dawn or dusk on the incoming high tide is often the peak time to catch fis,h especially when the wind is chopping up a little. Fishing is also generally better in the area during the summer and autumn. Good bait choices include pilchards, blue bait, silver whiting, raw chicken strips, prawns, maggots, silverfish, glacies, and squid tentacles. If you target species such as garfish, remember to frequently berley an isolated area, which will help greatly with catch rates. You can buy premade berley mix or make your own. A simple blend of bread and tuna oil will work well.

Soft plastics also work great for fishing at Mornington Pier. Good choices include small paddle tail and curl tail soft plastics, mixing up jig heads from 1/12 through to 1/6, depending on the needed casting distance. Species such as Snapper, pinkies, flathead and Australian Salmon will respond to soft plastics here. For targeting squid we recommend reading our detailed guide on How to catch squid around Mornington. Good gear choices for squid at Mornington include a light to medium rod between 7 and 9 feet, which is ideal. These longer rods allow you to cast a great distance and feel subtle enquiries. Take a range of squid jigs in different sizes and colours, and see what’s working on any particular day.

You will want to use an ultralight fishing combo for small species such as garfish, leather jackets and whiting. Ideally, a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo fishing rod with a 1000, 2000 or 2500 size reel spooled with light line. Then use small, long-shank hooks and small baits, as these fish have small mouths. Good baits for these species include small pieces of pilchards, prawns, silverfish, and maggots. These can be suspended from a float or a light running sinker rig. Otherwise, a general-purpose outfit will allow you to target a range of different species, such as flathead, snapper, trevally, etc. These are usually 2-5 or 3-6 kilo rods with a 3000 or 4000 size reel spooled with a slightly heavier line and ready to tackle various fish species. Good rigs for general-purpose fishing include pre-made paternoster rigs or a running sinker rig to a swivel and 50cm of a strong leader. Finished with a Pilchard tail, squid tentacles, raw chicken breast, or other bait fish will work very well.

 Recommended baits Mornington

At this location, we highly recommend the baits suggested below. There are several ways to present baits, including a running sinker rig, a paternoster rig, or a dropper rig. The rig and sinker choice will depend on the species you are targeting and conditions such as wind and tidal strength.

• pilchard
• silver whiting
• squid
• silverfish
• maggots
• pipi
• prawns
• sandworms
• blue bait
• salmon
• raw chicken strips
• mussels

Recommended lures and soft plastics Mornington

• Berkley gulp turtleback worm
• 4 inch grubs
• Zman slim Swimz
• Berkley powerbait grub
• Gulp 4-inch minnow
• eco gear ZX40
• Daiwa Double Clutch
• EcoGear SX40
• Squidges biotough grub
• Zman StreakZ

Gummy sharks are a welcome catch in this area, and not being too far from the entrance ( Port Phillip Bay heads into the Bass Strait), they can be common catches. They are magnificent-looking sharks that fight well and also taste great. We recommend targeting gummy sharks with a 7-8 foot rod that’s 5-10kg or 8-15kg paired with a 6000 to 8000 size reel spooled with 40-60 pound line and finished with a strong leader ranging from 40lb through to 60 pounds. Ideal rigs include a running sinker rig, single or double snelled rig, or a paternoster rig. You can use an Ezi rig, attach a sinker to the clip, and 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, & garfish.

Targeting Squid at Mornington

Squid is a commonly targeted species here as it is full of weed beds, making it the perfect squid ecosystem. You can learn more about targeting squid here by reading our detailed guide on How to catch squid. Stay nimble and look for signs on the pier, such as ink stains and visible weed beds. The best way to catch squid is with squid jigs cast out and worked with a series of lifts and pauses. Suspending a silver whiting or flesh bait on a prong can also work well.

There are plenty of egi rods on the market fit for purpose. Generally, a whippy medium to light rod between 7.5 feet and 9 feet in length is ideal. Paired with a 3000-size reel spooled with 10-pound braid and leader. Squid jigs can be prone to snagging in this area, and we have found a lot of locals using the smaller size of 2.5 and 3.0-gram jigs and working them slowly to avoid this problem. If the tide is running too strongly and your squid jig is not reaching the bottom, you can always add a small chin weight to get it into the strike zone. 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. 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 required.

Check out this instructional video guide on squid locally in Port Phillip Bay.

Targeting Salmon at Mornington

Australian Salmon are such a fun species to target. They school up in huge numbers and punch well above their weight. When hooked, they go on powerful runs, leaping out of the water with vigorous head shakes. Australian Salmon will happily take a range of soft plastics, lures, and baits. We have had the most success casting 3 and 4-inch paddle tail soft plastics in natural colours and long-casting metal spoons and working them at a fast to medium pace. You can target them with light spinning gear such as a 2-4kg or 2-5kg spin rod and 2500-size reel. If you target Australian salmon on the surf, watch for gutters and patches of deeper water that salmon swim through in schools. The darker colour of the water can identify these, and you will likely jump up to a 5-10 kilo rod between 9-12 feet in length paired with a 3000-5000 size reel spooled with a 15-20 pound braid.

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

There are often many rods being cast in a condensed area so be mindful of others casting around you. Especially if you have children teach them to be wary of those casting around them.