Point Lonsdale Pier

Welcome to the Point Lonsdale Pier Fishing Guide. Point Lonsdale is one of the best fishing piers in all of Victoria. Beautiful backdrop with the historic lighthouse in the background overlooking Port Phillip Bay located off Point Lonsdale road. The surrounding beach is beautiful with rock formations, clean water, rock pools, and reef. Because this pier is close to the rip it means that you can target a wide variety of species from sharks to snapper to squid and much more. Careful consideration will need to be taken before fishing here. Ideally choose which species you plan to target and rig up accordingly before making your way down to the pier.

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Things to do Point Lonsdale

Point Lonsdale is a beautiful coastal township in the Bellarine Peninsula overlooking the entrance to Port Phillip Bay overlooking The Rip which is a dangerous stretch of water which ships navigate the narrow gap between Point Lonsdale and Point Nepean. Local attractions include the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse. Which takes tours daily and is a great spot to take in magnificent views. There is golfing action close by at Lonsdale Links, wineries and great outdoor recreational activities including walking, cycling and snorkelling. Port Lonsdale beach is a beautiful and scenic beach full of great rock formations, rock pools, shallow reefs and good amenities including a children’s playground. At Point Lonsdale Pier there are public toilets and ample parking on Point Lonsdale road.

Fishing Point Lonsdale Pier

Please note that this area is a marine sanctuary and that fishing is only permitted directly from the pier. Signs on the entrance at the car park provide further details. Point Lonsdale Pier is a long pier that stands quite high above sea level. It has a wide variety of fish species which you can target all year round. As your walk along the pier, you will notice areas with a good cover of weeds. These spots make great grounds to target squid, whiting and garfish. If you plan to specifically target whiting and garfish then consider using a light rod 1-3 or 2-4 kilo coupled with a light 1000-2500 size reel, spooled with 4 pounds or 6-pound line. Smaller size hooks will also be required as garfish and whiting have quite small mouths. 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.

As mentioned earlier this pier is a great location for squid and they can be caught in good sizes here due to the clearwater and good weedy habitat. When walking the pier search for weedy zones and ink stains which is a good giveaway of areas to concentrate on. Take a few squid jigs with you in different colours and sizes and cover ground until you start getting some catches.

Good bait options will include pilchards, silver whiting, pipis, raw chicken, squid strips, maggots, silverfish. You can also fish this area with soft plastics to target pinkies and flathead. Picking the right conditions will be important to ensure you can cast your soft plastics far enough out. Also, keep in mind that this area is all rock so you are very prone to having your sinkers and jog heads snagging up on the rocks. This might take some time to work out how to effectively fish this area without losing to much gear.

Point Lonsdale is a great fishing location famous for its annual snapper run between October and March. You can read more about fishing for snapper by reading our Snapper Fishing Guide this article contains lots of helpful tips to help you catch a big red. This, however, is a year-round fishing destination. Many of the fish species are seasonal so gummy sharks and salmon will be more active in the cooler months and snapper pinkies will be more active in the warmer months. bread and butter species such as squid and flathead can be caught all year round.

Point Lonsdale is the land base spot to target big fish including sharks. We have seen some huge sharks landed here over the years. Using a heavy overhead game rod, 50+ pound line and a wire trace finished with a set of size snelled 8 hooks with a large chunk of salmon, tuna, trevally, silver whiting or pilchard is a great setup to target a shark. Be prepared to put in some hours and even fish through the night to land a trophy size shark.

At Point Lonsdale Pier you can catch.

• sharks
• snapper
• Whiting
• squid
• garfish
• salmon
• flathead
• snook

Sometimes massive schools of salmon make the fishing chaotic as this video highlights

Baits Point Lonsdale Pier

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

Lures and soft plastics for Point Lonsdale Pier

• squid jigs
• Berkley gulp turtleback worm
• Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
• Daiwa Baitjunkie 5 inch jerk shads
• Berkley gulp turtleback worm
• 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

Rod, Reel and line setup for Point Lonsdale Pier

There are literally so many options and it really depends on the species of fish that you’re targeting. For bread and butter species such as flathead and whiting a 2-4 or 3-5 kilo rod that’s between 6 foot 6 and 7 foot in length coupled with 2000, 2500 or 3000 size reel spooled with 8-15 pound line and equivalent leader. You can also use a similar outfit when targeting squid however you may choose to go to a slighter longer rod and a slighter heavier line and leader.

When targeting snapper a rod between 7 and 8 feet in 4-7 kilo class is perfect. Coupled with a 3000, 4000 or 5000 size reel spooled with 15-30 pound monofilament line. Bait runners are an excellent choice for snapper fishing and should be an item you consider. When rigging for snapper go with single or double snelled size 5 or 6 hooks. You can fish these with a very small sinker or completely unweighted. We like to simply use pre-made snapper rigs which work great in this area. Often I will use pre-made rigs and simply run a very small size 1 ball sinker on the inside of the leader. This would also be a suitable outfit for targeting small gummy sharks. However, if you are chasing a bigger model gummy shark then we would recommend a heavier outfit. Perhaps a 7 foot 10-15 kilo rod spooled with 20-50 line and equivalent leader.

Targeting Gummy Shark at Point Lonsdale Pier

We would recommend targeting gummy sharks 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 to single or double snelled rig or 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 Snapper at Point Lonsdale Pier

Targeting Salmon at Point Lonsdale Pier

Winter is a great time to target salmon as they’re active and schooling up in big numbers. Salmon is a powerful sports fish that punches well above its weight. When hooked they produce strong 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. These can be identified by a darker colour of the water. When bait fishing pick a surf rod between 12-15 foot in length which allows for long casts with heavy sinkers and to keep 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 2 baits at different heights. You could also attach a surf popper above. Port Phillip Bay Fishing Guide

When lure fishing first consider what weight lures your likely to be casting. We would recommend rods between 9-12 foot in length in 5-10 kilo class paired with a 3000 size reel spooled with 15-pound braid. Good lure options include Savage Gear Missile, Halco twisty, Ecogear Teibo, JM Gilles pilchard baitfish, Rapala X-Rap SXR, Lazer spoons, Zman slim swimz, trick swimz, Halco laser pro

At Port Lonsdale, there is no shortage of pest species which can be quite dangerous. These would include stingrays and toadfish. Flathead is the most common catch and you will need to be careful when handling them due to their venomous spines located behind their heads. Other fish with venomous spines that can be caught in Port Phillip bay include gurnard and scorpionfish so do handle with extreme caution. Always be careful when out on the boat ensure you take all the safety precautions and show mother nature the respect she really deserves.